Even if recommended by your doctor, it is always your choice not to have surgery. But, it is important to understand the possible consequences of delaying or declining the surgery.
Because bunion surgery is an elective surgery, there are no serious or life-threatening consequences associated with not having it.
Once you have a significant bunion deformity, it does not improve over time. However, your symptoms may improve with shoe wear and activity changes. One consequence to declining surgery may be the worsening of the deformity that requires a more demanding procedure to cure it. However, this is impossible to predict. Worsening of the deformity can also change the overall functioning of the foot, causing deformity and pain in other areas of the foot.
The final decision to have or not to have surgery rests with you, but all concerns relating to this decision should be discussed with your doctor at length. You and your doctor can then come up with a treatment method that is comfortable for you.
