Tailor's Bunion

What is a Tailor's Bunion?

An illustration of a tailor's bunion.

A tailor's bunion, also called a bunionette, occurs next to the small toe on the outside of your foot. It forms when the fifth metatarsal bone shifts outward, creating a bony bump that rubs against shoes and can become red, swollen, or painful. It's essentially a mirror image of a great toe bunion, occurring on the opposite side of the foot.

Diagnosis

Dr. Moy diagnoses a tailor's bunion with a physical exam and an X-ray to measure the angle of the fifth metatarsal and confirm the extent of the deformity. This helps determine whether conservative care is enough or whether surgical correction is the better path.

Treatment Options

Wider shoes, padding, and activity modification can relieve mild symptoms. When those aren't enough, surgical correction is an option. The surgical procedure that corrects a tailor's bunion is nearly identical to the procedure Dr. Moy performs on the great toe bunion: a minimal-incision approach that realigns the bone.

Patients are required to wear a walking boot for four weeks, just like with the great toe bunion procedure, and are typically walking on the foot during that recovery period.

When to See a Surgeon

If the bump is painful, keeps you out of regular shoes, or conservative measures haven't helped, it's worth having it evaluated for surgical correction.