Fucking bunions

[Abracadabracadabra]

My bunions are the bane of my life.

Has anyone had bunion surgery on the NHS? What was the process like (from going to your GP, getting referred to hospital) and was it as bad as everyone says? How long did you have to wait and what was the recovery like?

I have tried all the first line treatments (insoles, bunion guards, toe separators) but I’m in so much pain with it and there’s no improvement. Are there any other non surgical treatments I could try? I’m scared of hospitals and I don’t know if it’s bad enough for surgery but the pain is awful and is affecting my life now so I’d really like it corrected once and for all

Bunions are absolute agony. I was taking naproxen but now I eat Cherries!!
Eat a whole punnet in the evening they are amazing at giving relief.

I was just researching this earlier today and feeling sad as it seems surgery is the only real solution and all the other things have very little effect.

What is this cherries business though?! Sounds intriguing?!

I've had mine operated on but in Ireland so not NHS. I always knew they'd have to be done as my mother really suffered with hers and I inherited the problem. I'd the two feet done at the same time, home two days later, had the weird boots and crutches keeping all weight off toes and front of feet but used a wheelchair if going out until I was confident I could manage. I didn't have much pain but I've been on opiate meds for years for fibromyalgia so my normal meds probably helped. Healing was faster than I expected and scarring minimal but I did have to have surgery repeated on one foot after a couple of years, this time they broke some toes, removed more bone and used some metal bolts which were left in place, recovery was slower, arthritis had set in so more pain. I have been left with a big toe that has a bump where the joint is (knuckle) which rubs on tight (nice) shoes, the toe has also lost some movement, I will most likely need another surgery as the bunion is reappearing and the toes are drifting sideways again, this time the toe will be pinned in place. Even after all that I don't regret having them done, I had so much discomfort and pain before the surgeries, I'd seen how badly deformed my mother's feet had become, she'd had surgery years ago but it needed redoing unfortunately she passed away before it could happen. The pics show the before and the soon after the surgery, that foot is actually the one that surgery was repeated on a few years later but will give you an idea of what it's like. I recommend going for it, no doubt.