The Best Bunion Correctors to Help You Get Relief (2025)

Ever had a pedicure? This toe separator is just like the foam spacers that keep your toes apart while your polish dries. Made of squishy medical-grade gel, the separator slides over your toes (not your whole foot), and gently pulls them apart to encourage better alignment.

The Mind Bodhi separators have more than 36,000 reviews on Amazon — most of them four or five stars. Reviewers say they help ease bunion pain by keeping the toes slightly splayed, though that sensation can take some getting used to. Start by wearing them for short periods of time and gradually work up to more if you find it helpful.

Craig Radnay, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon at the Florida Orthopedic Institute, doesn’t recommend many bunion products, but he does like this one. “Tenicore is adjustable, sturdy and easy to use,” he says.

The splint slides over the foot and has a knob on the side to adjust it to the angle of the bunion and make the big toe straighter. Velcro straps make it even more adjustable to different foot sizes. It has a silicone pad on the inside to prevent chafing. Some reviewers complained the straightening was slightly painful. Most reported wearing it in bed while they slept, as the knob is too big to wear with enclosed shoes.

Many bunion correctors are splints or braces that fit over the entire foot, but this product has a much smaller profile. The pads slide over the toe like a shield to cushion the bunion on the outside and separate overlapping big and second toes. It's made of silicone gel that comes in different colors — beige, black, white, clear — so they blend better with skin. They can be worn with regular shoes and may also ease pain from calluses and corns.

Dr. Radnay likes this product, as well — mainly because the pads offer a gentle straightening of the toe. “Promifun is not as rigid as other bunion products, so it doesn't attempt large corrections, and it’s low-profile fits easily in shoes,” he says.

The Bunion Bootie is worn just like a sock, sliding over the entire foot rather than being strapped around the heel and toe like other correctors. The material is super-thin (only .4 mm), making it flexible and able to be worn with shoes (or barefoot). It’s meant to promote a natural alignment of the toes, rather than forcing the toe into a straightened position.

The manufacturer recommends sizing down if you’re wearing shoes a half- or full-size larger to accommodate the bunion. Some reviewers liked the thin profile, while others said it wasn’t cushiony enough.

Bunions are bony deformities along the inside part of the foot, usually at the big toe, that are sometimes painful, Dr. Radnay says.

“The bony prominence will make shoes more difficult to fit into,” he says. “Bunions can also cause other toes to develop hammertoes, which can add even more discomfort and trouble during regular activities.”

Over time, bunions will become increasingly painful. And they won’t go away on their own. Treatment is necessary to get rid of them. Bunion products, however, may be able to make moving on your feet more comfortable.

Bunion correctors are products that are worn on the foot or toes and apply gentle pressure to hold the toe straight.

“These are noninvasive devices that can help with discomfort and slow the progression of the bunion deformity,” Dr. Radnay says. “Though a bunion corrector may help improve quality of life for a period of time, they cannot cure the bunion completely.”

Choosing a bunion corrector largely comes down to personal preference, from the amount of pressure or straightening it provides to how it’s able to be worn, including with or without shoes.

Dr. Radnay recommends looking for the following features: “A bunion corrector should be easy to use, provide pain relief when wearing it, fit all sizes and be durable, light and easy to clean.”

Not permanently. “The only thing that you can do to truly correct a bunion is a surgical procedure,” Dr. Weiser says.

A corrector can work while you’re wearing it, but once it’s removed, the bunion will likely go back to the way it was. That said, picking the right shoes can help with longer-term pain relief by reducing pressure put on the bunion. Dr. Danna recommends looking for shoes with a wider toe box that are made from stretchy, more forgiving fabric. Sole Bliss, Vivaia, Calla and KURU are brands that make casual and dressier shoes for people with bunions.

No one loves the prospect of surgery, but it’s the only way to banish a bunion for good. If you do decide to go the surgical route, don’t be scared. “Fortunately, we have excellent, new minimally invasive surgical techniques to treat painful bunions that yield great outcomes in terms of deformity correction, pain relief, and resumption of activity,” Dr. Radnay says.

This article was written by Stephanie Anderson Witmer, who has covered health for Good Housekeeping, Prevention and other top brands for more than 25 years. For this story, she conducted interviews with three podiatric medicine doctors for their expertise and recommendations, spent hours researching bunions, and scoured product websites and customer reviews to find correctors that may help relieve bunion pain.

Jihan Myers edited this article. She has spent the last 12 years as a health editor, covering all things health, fitness, nutrition and wellness and adheres to the highest journalistic standards.