How To Nix Bunion Pain in Pointe Shoes

It's inevitable, there is going to be some degree of pain associated with pointe work. I've learned through 2 decades of trial and error what really works, and what does not. I've gone as far as purchasing a medieval looking iron clamp at my local dancewear store (I believe it was intended to soften leather dress shoes?) thinking it was my way out of bunion pain. It was in fact as silly as it sounds, and did not help.

One day my mom picked up a set of silicone "bunion guards" at the grocery store next to the Dr. Scholl's foot section, thinking, "these might help", and they absolutely changed my life.

I remember being a student in pointe class in the hardest shoe imaginable (Freed Studio II's) because I needed a hard shank to support my feet and last long. I was always hesitant to step on the box for risk of deadening the shoe and losing support (and $$$!). The bunion pain was unbearable until I found bunion guards.

Link to Bunion Guard on Amazon

Here's how to wear them:

Slip the toe ring over your big toe with the guard covering your bunion. Mark where your bunion bone juts out and cut the guard around your bunion joint so that it creates a donut around the bunion. The key is displacing the pressure onto the silicone and filling in the gaps that leave your bones vulnerable to becoming painful pressure points. You can cut a donut shape out of the silicone, or cut the entire guard in half, at the point right before it hits the bone to fill in the dip between the toe and the bunion joint.

I hope this helps anyone out there experiencing discomfort and pain. Pointe work shouldn't be that painful!