I have a bunion that is becoming quite painful when I hike downhill. Painful enough to make me whimper out loud. Painful enough that I am avoiding hikes with much elevation gain. I am considering surgery. Sigh. Has anyone had bunion surgery? If so, where you happy with the outcome?

I have a friend with bad bunions. She always gets leather boots, and has a tool that stretches out the leather over the bunion.
http://www.amazon.com/FootFitter-Bunion ... B000POHTOG

MoapaPk, I know you can get your boots stretched or even have coustom shoes made. The problem with my bunion isn't that it is rubbing against the side of my hiking shoes. The problems is with the joint itself. The two sesmoid bones are not in the correct place anymore, between the tendon and the big toe phalange. These two little bones are floating around in the space between my big toe and the other toes. The pain I get when I hike downhill is deep in the joint.

Oddly enough my bunion doesn't hurt much when I climb or walk on relatively flat surfaces. Just long downhills. The podiatrist says he is surprised it doesn't hurt all the time.

i wear Bunion Booties when I hike. It's really thin but if you have a snug enough fit it really keeps my big toe straight and from twisting around. It actually quite amazing how something so flimsy can help keep the toe where it should be. As a bonus it can keep your hiking shoe from rubbing against it if that's a concern too. (for me its usually not unless I've been wearing bunion non-friendly shoes a day or two prior to hiking).
Good luck!

Runner970, thanks for the idea. I'll talk to the podiatrist and see what he thinks. He mentioned something about different things we could try besides orthotics.

My daughter (now 19) had surgery to repair a bunion when she was 17; she had the bunion since she was 12 but it did not bother her and she needed to wait until her bones stopped growing to have the surgery. The cause of the bunion was deemed a genetic abnormality.

A surgeon at UCSF performed the surgery. He also snipped a tendon in the rear of her calf. She was in a cast for eight weeks and total recovery was nearly six months. The bones in her foot are now totally repaired and she is able to do everything physical that she wants (hiking, skiing, running, etc.).

If you haven't done so yet, I would go see a surgeon to outline and better understand all of your options...good luck!!!

Hi,
I thin you should try avoid surgery. My mum had a double bunionectomy and she was in a lot of pain and had to be hauled around the house for a good few weeks. and that kinda bothered me all the more because it looked like i was headed in the same direction. But my auntie found a bunion supporter in Japan and sent me a pair. And they have REALLY helped me. ive been using it for about 2 months now and my bunions dont hurt anymore and the swelling has gone way down. Before it i was using the "elite hallux valgus night splint", which just kinda hurt. so I don't know, it might be worth looking into if you want to avoid surgery. but there is one problem.. because it was a small company i'm not sure if they sell internationally. But all the same, the supporter is called "Bochikun" its really thin, and just pretty damn good. Hope that helped