Interview with Dr. Josef Geldwert, Founder of the Geldwert Bunion Center
We recently sat down with Dr. Josef Geldwert, founder of the Geldwert Bunion Center, to talk about something that doesn’t get discussed enough in the recovery community: chronic physical pain and what to do about it. Dr. Geldwert is the creator of the HyperFlex® Bunion Correction Device, an FDA-cleared, bone-preserving system that offers patients a minimally invasive alternative to traditional bunion surgery. At BD Health, we understand that chronic pain is one of the most significant and under-addressed drivers of opioid dependency, and we believe that helping people find safe, effective paths to physical relief is part of what this work is all about.
Q: The link between chronic pain and opioid dependency is well established. How often do you see patients whose foot pain has gone untreated because they were afraid of the recovery process or the medications involved?
A: More often than people might expect. Chronic foot pain, bunions included, is exactly the kind of condition that gets managed and pushed aside for years. People take over-the-counter medications, they change their shoes, they stop doing the things they love. For patients who have a complicated relationship with pain medication, that avoidance gets even more entrenched. The fear of surgery and the assumption that it means heavy pain medication for weeks keeps a lot of people from even asking the question.
Q: What does untreated bunion pain actually cost someone in their day-to-day life?
A: It limits everything. Walking, working, exercising, sleeping through the night. For someone already working hard to stabilize their life, chronic pain is a constant drain on the energy and focus that recovery demands. Physical pain also affects mood, sleep, and stress levels in ways that compound other challenges. It is a condition that, left untreated, quietly narrows a person’s world.
Q: That makes the nature of your recovery process especially relevant. Tell us about HyperFlex® and what it changes for patients who need to be thoughtful about post-surgical medication.
A: Traditional bunion surgery involves cutting or fusing bone, a significant intervention with a significant recovery. HyperFlex® takes a different approach entirely. It corrects alignment without breaking or removing bone, which means less surgical trauma and a meaningfully faster return to weight-bearing. Patients are up and moving much sooner. That shorter, less intensive recovery changes the equation for anyone who needs to be careful about what they take and for
how long. The goal has always been to give people their lives back without asking them to put those lives on hold.
Q: BD Health’s mission centers on helping people reclaim full, functioning lives. How do you think about that same goal from a podiatric standpoint?
A: I think about it the same way. People come to me because something is stopping them from living the way they want to live. My job is to remove that obstacle as safely and efficiently as possible. The best outcome is a person who can walk to work, play with their kids, get back to the gym, or simply make it through a day without pain dominating every thought. That’s what any good healthcare provider is working toward, regardless of specialty.
Q: What would you say to someone who is in recovery and has been putting off addressing chronic pain because they don’t know how it fits into their treatment plan?
A: Talk to your care team, and then talk to a specialist. The two conversations can happen at the same time. Chronic pain does not have to be managed indefinitely when there are structural solutions available. And today, those solutions are far less disruptive than they used to be. You are allowed to address every part of your health.
The Geldwert Bunion Center, with locations in New York City and Westchester, NY, specializes in advanced bunion correction and minimally invasive foot surgery. Dr. Geldwert brings more than 40 years of surgical expertise to every patient, along with a commitment to bone-preserving care designed to get people back on their feet faster. Learn more at geldwertbunioncenter.com.
Last updated: October 2026