Hi, I had pain in the feet and intermittent numbness of toes, as well as changes in the bunions, especially in cool/damp weather. When these made even a slow walk painful, I saw my regular ortho, who had done my partial knee replacements, my rotator cuff repair, and my right foot tendon (anterior tibial) repair. He thought the spinal stenosis in the winter weather (thank god it is very brief here), aggravated the sciatica, causing the occasional numbness. But he didn't recommend bunion surgery for the right foot, as he said it would be too much trauma and might undo the successful tendon repair. But he was about to retire, so he referred me to the ortho in the nearby larger city who is a specialist in "complicated foot injuries and surgery." That ortho did x-rays which showed extensive/worsening arthritis in the feet , and ordered the nerve tests and the MRI. He also said my feet and ankles and lower legs were weak, so while I was getting the tests, he sent me for PT, which really helped improve my feet. After the back MRI, he added back PT, and that really helped also. He also recommended that due to the arthritis pain, I should wear a much softer/neutral shoe and fit me for very comfortable OTC Foot Scientific insoles (a different style and size than I would have picked out). Previously, I had been wearing rather hard motion control shoes with hard insoles (custom $$$$) from a podiatrist. My biggest issue now is that the bunions (genetic, not cosmetic) keep pushing my toes, so I need a wider and wider toe box, while the rest of my foot is normal, so I have wide HOKA Bondi 8s with the covering over the right baby toe cut out (sigh), and wide TopoAthletic, which have an anatomical shape to the toes, which is wider. The bunion surgery on either foot requires non-weight bearing for 3 months, which I had to do for the right foot tendon repair, and am trying to avoid, as it made me very weak. I may try Altra shoes next, which have a realistic shape to the forefoot also. Happily, though, I am once again able to walk a mile 6 or 7 days a week, and also do about 40 minutes of walking/jogging in deep water (pool) most days. My regular MD sent me to a back surgeon after seeing my MRI, but as I don't have back pain (thank God), he said he would not recommend any surgery, and instead, should continue to treat the spinal (and foot, etc) arthritis with Celebrex and exercise, which has helped me with the back stiffness. Just the relief of knowing my nerves and muscles in the legs and feet weren't damaged (no neuropathy). was worth having the EMG tests done--not a difficult test, BTW; basically, you lie down and they prick the nerves with teeny, tiny needles and you have a reflex jump which they measure with electrodes. I hope this helps.