I had bunion surgery on one foot years ago. It was successful and the bunion did not return.
I have now, decades later, developed a bunion on my other foot.
I am wearing a little rubber “toe spacer.”
I won’t have surgery for this bunion for 2 reasons.
My age, I am decades older now, and also the post op pain was unbearable without heavy duty pain killers.
But I am a person who feels a lot of pain (very low pain threshold) where others might have minimal pain or none.
Plus, I had to use crutches and had no weight bearing for some time then wore an air cast after that when walking.
But all that is just me…we are all different.