I had bunion surgery a couple of years ago, coupled with corrective surgery for painful hammer toes. The right foot came out fine, better than before, with only a minor scar. I no longer have bunion pain, plus I now have orthotics that have ended pain in the sole of my foot.
The left foot was a different story in that my bipolar son hit my foot right after surgery in a moment of anger and broke the bones where the screws had been inserted. Two surgeries later I have a nasty scar which has secondarily develped psoriasis so it itches all the time, I have one metatarsal that is a shade too short, I have restricted movement in my big toe, and I have a pain in another part of my foot because of the imbalance created by the shortened metatarsal. However, I no longer am troubled by the bunions on either foot.
As to recovery, I had to stay off the operated foot completely for six full weeks and not jog or run for six months. At that point I was declared fully recovered, but it actually took about a year for my foot to feel fully healed. During the off-my-feet period I was not allowed to drive at all, which can pose some problems if you are the only driver in the household as I was.
I wore a flat fabric “shoe” on my right foot, and used a walker to get to the bathroom for the first week. I ended up in a removable walking cast on my left foot and was in a wheel chair for a bit to give the foot the absolute best chance to heal correctly. Unfortunately it didn’t, and now I am getting another hammer toe.
However, I no longer have bunion or hammer toe pain, and I can wear shoes and walk without gritting my teeth. I am sorry that the left foot didn’t turn out as well as the right, but both are better than before. In addition, the orthotics have helped a great deal with the remaining imbalances in my feet (for some reason my toe joints are very stiff, while my arches are very flexible – actually too flexible).