I have bunionettes, which are little-toe side bunions. My foot doctor told me about the surgery option, but he recommended that I first try finding footwear with a wide toe-box and see if that solved the problem. I did and it did, so I've not had surgery for this.

The particular shoes I went with are Golite brand --- nice wide toe boxes. I have no idea if this would help much or at all with traditional (big-toe side) bunions. But I've done lots of walking since then: thru-hiked the PCT in Golites last year (2008). Ended up with some other foot problems but no further bunionette issues.

So I might also be inclined to look for a second opinion.