The Benefits of Bunion Surgery

Many women love their shoes. It's a way for them to show off their style. But if they develop bunions, it can not only limit your shoe choice, but become really, really painful.

Surgery may be an option to get you back in your favorite shoes comfortably.

That big bump on the outer side of your large toe may be a bunion.

"I have patients that come in with large bunions and they're asking if they need to have them taken care of because they have no pain, and then I have other patients who have smaller bunion deformities, and they legitimately affect their ability to wear normal shoes and exercise," said Rebecca A. Cerrato, M.D., FAAOS, a highly skilled orthopedic surgeon at The Institute for Foot and Ankle Reconstruction at Mercy.

According to Dr. Cerrato, if the deformity becomes painful, it may be time to consider a few options.

"Oftentimes, just simply changing the style shoe you have, even the width size, there are bunion sleeves or pads that some people can wear and are really successful in getting relief of the pain that they had," Cerrato said.

If those changes don't work, surgery may be needed. Cerrato said bunions are more common in women, and bunion surgery is usually an outpatient procedure with a recovery time of about six to eight weeks.

Dr. Cerrato was one of the first surgeons in the U.S. to offer a new minimally invasive bunion surgery. The minimally invasive approach offers an alternative to traditional surgery that can reduce post-surgical scarring, swelling and pain.

View Mercy orthopedic surgeon Dr. Rebecca Cerrato's interview regarding the benefits of bunion surgery.