Has anyone ever had foot surgery for hammertoes and bunions?

I had bunion surgery on my right foot. (The kind with the pin that they take out. Not the one where they put in a screw and leave it.) I was off work for six weeks, but was up and around on crutches the day of the surgery. Eventually I switched to a cane.

I’m not quite sure what you mean by “how long does it take to heal.” I used the vicodin I was given for about the first two weeks. The first couple of days I took it as often as allowed, then tapered off to where I was only taking it at bedtime. After the two weeks, I just took ibuprofen when it hurt. My foot would hurt if I walked around too much with the cane. Ice helped, by the way. When I went back to work, I found that if i was on my feet a lot that my foot would hurt that night. As a bank trainer, I was on my feet a good bit, but did try to sit when I could.

My stepmom did for bunions. Her experience was about 2 years ago.
Like @tedibear she had the surgery where they put a pin in and removed it after about 6 weeks.
She had the operation done to one foot (I think her left foot first), then the other. She told me she was sorely tempted to not get the operation on the 2nd foot..but in her case her bunions were far beyond merely keeping her from wearing certain shoes, not at all cosmetic—it was a matter of preventing her from being unable to walk in old age. (She had the surgeries in her late 50s – and she is very physically fit.)

Also like @tedibear she has a job that requires her to stand all day. She works as a Radiology Tech (doing mammograms) so she is on her feet in a clinic for all of her day.

She took a full 6 weeks off work after each surgery, and I believe the 2nd surgery went smoother for her – she was up walking around in the specialized shoe they provided her (looked like a sort of walking cast to me) only one week after.

The first surgery was far more painful than she expected and she found she had to rely on pain medication and crutches longer than she’d hoped (in excess of 2 weeks).

Things to consider:
1. Who will drive you around while you can’t drive. You won’t be able to drive initially, especially while on narcotic pain killers…plan for at least 2 weeks post-surgery needing to have someone “Driving Ms Silky”.

2. How debilitating are your bunions? My stepmom says she thought long and hard about NOT having that second surgery – but the assurance from her doctor that she would truly be unable to bear weight on both feet in her 60s and 70s (as that was how severe her bunions were) was what finally clinched her decision to have the surgery.
She’s since talked several of her friends with less severe bunions OUT of having the surgery.

I have had an Austin bunionectomy on both feet, seven years apart. I only did it when the pain of the bunions become intolerable. I am so glad I did it because even at 60 years old, my feet look soooo much better than before. I mean they look normal, and I don’t have the pain I had before. The healing time for the first one was longer because I did not stay off of it as I was instructed. The second time around, I was much quicker to heal because I followed the instructions and stayed off my foot for the first 3–4 days, kept it elevated and iced. I have a sit down job, so my process was likely quite different than someone who stands and/or walks a great deal.

@geeky_mama brings up an excellent point about even having the surgery in the first place. My pain happened even when I was seated and hadn’t been on my feet much on a particular day. It got to the point that it felt like someone was shoving a burning knitting needle through my foot. Thus far, by wearing my orthotics regularly, I’ve managed to avoid the surgery on my left foot.

A lot of people have. I have not. My sister went through it with no problem.