If you grew up in the nineties or you happen to be a fan of all-girl pop groups, then there's a fair chance that you know who Victoria Beckham is. She and her fellow band mates gave the world such hits as “Wannabe” and “2 Become 1,” also starring in their own movie entitled “Spice World” in 1997. Taking on the name of Posh Spice, Victoria Beckham and the rest of the Spice Girls took the world by storm, described by some people as becoming a “worldwide phenomenon.” No doubt, Victoria Beckham is one of the most recognizable icons in the 90s.

She also happened to suffer from bunions.

A bunion is typically a foot deformity caused by a shifting of tissue or the bone around the joint of the base of your big toe (scientifically known as the metatarsophalangeal joint). The deformity may cause your big toe to shift inward, towards the second toe, making the tissues around it swollen and tender to the touch. As a result, a huge lump forms on the side of your foot, becoming painful and, given time, will probably develop into arthritis and stiffness (Learn how to get rid of arthritis). Pain is also contributed to by the fact that the metatasophalangeal joint carries most of the body's weight during walking, putting more pressure on the deformed area.

Medically, a bunion is called “hallux valgus” or “hallux abducto valgus.” Normally, when your feet support your weight, there is a balance spread across the feet, exerted on the joints and tendons. When this balance becomes disrupted, an instability on the joints occurs (more specifically, the metatasophalangeal joint), which will eventually lead to deformity. If this instability is not corrected, years of continued abnormal motion and pressure to the metatasophalangeal joint, coupled with other factors like improper footwear, will cause a faulty development of the foot, leading to the formation of bunions.

What would cause the disruption of the balance? Several things, actually; for example, people with flat feet tend to have uneven distribution of load compared to other people. The same goes with those who have low arches or any inflammatory joint conditions. Sometimes, habits or certain activities can also be factor; ballet dancing, for example, can often lead to bunions. If your parents have a faulty foot type, there's a fair chance that you might inherit this too, which will lead to instability around the joints and, eventually, bunions. Even people born with perfectly good feet can develop bunions if they sustain foot injuries that cause them to shift their joint.

There is actually no way to completely get rid of bunions short of corrective surgery, especially in more advanced cases. There are ways to address the symptoms, though, to alleviate any discomfort you might suffer.

Wear the proper footwear. The most important cause of getting bunions is wearing footwear that is ill-fitting. A big reason why more women suffer from bunions than men is because they tend to wear high-heeled shoes with a tight front fit, bunching the toes together. Wear shoes or footwear that allows enough space for your feet to move in. If the bunion is becoming more painful due to friction or stress, either get a shoe with a wider and deeper toe space to accommodate the bunion or have a shoe custom-made for you. You can also use padding, shielding or any type of orthotics designed by your podiatrist to alleviate any pain and redistribute your weight while you walk. The orthotics also takes off any pressure that might otherwise concentrate on your toe.

Perform bunion exercises to keep your joints flexible. The importance of keeping your joint mobile is that it will prevent you from getting arthritic-type pains that can form inside the bunion joints. There are several exercises you can do:

While these exercises are, in no way, designed to correct and fix the toe's position due to years of bone adaptation as the bunion progressed, they can keep your toe mobile and flexible.

Use night splints to help reduce bone deformity. For people who are still young enough for their bones to adapt, night splints can be a very useful tool to provide deformity correction or at least lessen it. In a study conducted on 56 children and teens aged one month to sixteen years old, the metatarsophalangeal joint angle and intermetatarsal angle (individually or both) improved in about half of the feet. Thermoplastic splints were used nightly and were remodeled periodically. The time of follow-up ranged from two to six years. Among the patients who improved, there were no recurrences of the deformity detected.

Since it is harder to change bone position as you grow older, splints may not be as helpful to adults to correct the deformity. However, it can still be helpful to keep the joint mobile.

Take medication for the pain and swelling. If the swelling and the pain are bothering you, you can take painkillers and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen and aspirin to keep them down. However, make sure that you consult with your physician first before taking them, especially if you have other health conditions. Your physician will be able to give you the best pain reliever medication and the recommended dosage.

Consider surgery. For people whose bunions have become so severe that they interfere with daily life (and the suggested treatments above do not help), corrective surgery might be the best option. Be reminded, however, that this should be your last option and only done if it is completely necessary. The bunion surgery success rate has not been widely studied, and the outcome of the surgery and its success will depend on the type of surgery and the severity of your condition. To be on the safe side, consult with a podiatrist if surgery is really necessary.

You can pretty much go through life having bunions and not be troubled by them. If you can live with the deformity, you will lead a relatively normal life. The treatments mentioned above can correct and alleviate any discomfort you might be having due to the condition. Having bunions isn't something that is cause for severe distress, as they’re not particularly life-threatening. After all, even a Spice Girl suffers from them, too. If you enjoyed reading this article, might as well read how to get rid of sore feet.