Anyone here have Morton's Neuroma? (Inflamed nerve endings

[yy4me]

in the foot between the toes) I never even heard of it until I had to visit a Podiatrist on the advice of my doctor. Chronic pain in the ball od the foot was causing me to walk on the outside edge of my foot. The Neuroma is an inflamed nerve end. I saw the x-ray of my foot and it looks like a small marble between my toes. Hurts like heck. I was injected with cortisone in October and it seemed to work for a while. Had to go back last week to repeat the procedure. Now have two inflammations on the right foot, one on the other. I have been told that many suffer from this condition. Anyone here? What was your treatment and how did it work, if you are willing to share, I'd be grateful.

[WarNoMore]

1. Great minds (&feet) think alike.

Just this afternoon I had to set up a 15 mi. appt. for my doctor to quickly look at my feet so I can get a referral; Medicare won't cover a podiatrist without this. I have fasciitis, spurs, cysts, but what I really want this time is to verify that I'm getting a neuroma. It's been annoying me for a couple of years but I thought it "had" to be in the most common spot. I'll let you know when I find out.

Sorry I'm not more helpful.

[Alamom]

2. I had them in both feet a few years ago.

I had about 2 cortizone injections and then shoe inserts. I also was told by a massage therapist to massage my feet at night or whenever I was sitting. This consists of gently pulling on each sides of your feet to pull the bones apart.
The neuromas form due to the bones getting too close and rubbing the nerve. (shoes too tight, heredity, etc.)
Spreading the bones with gentle masssge sounds weird, but it does help.
The inserts were probably what helped the most and my insurance paid for them. I only had to wear them a few months and I've never had any more trouble.

I hope this helps.

[DemBones DemBones]

3. More than twenty years ago, I had an injection in

each of my feet for Morton's neuromas. A few weeks later, I had a second injection in one foot. Never had any more problems with that awful pain in the ball of my feet.

Orthopedists, BTW, are not good with these problems. A friend of mine had orthopedic surgery for her Morton's neuromas about the same year I had injections and she still suffers. I saw an orthopedist for my plantar fasciitis and was just told to get rubber heel cups, which did no good at all. The prescription orthotics from my podiatrist were the ticket. Orthopedists are good with broken bones and hip replacements, etc., but podiatrists are usually better for problems with feet.

Years before I ever saw a podiatrist, I had a benign tumor, a fibroma, that felt like a marble in the ball of my foot and had it removed by an orthopedic surgeon, with general anesthesia. It's possible a podiatrist could have done that, too, though; mine did in-office surgery under local anesthesia to remove a bone spur from one of my toes.

What you said about it looking like a marble on the X-ray makes me wonder if you might have a tumor as well as Morton's neuromas. I could feel the tumor with my fingers, though I first noticed it when walking.

Hope you get some relief soon!

[OnionPatch]

5. Hey DemBones, how were those shots?

I had one and it was absolutely excruciating. How the heck did you make yourself go back for a second one? Maybe I'm just a wuss. :shrug:

[OnionPatch]

4. Oops, I just posted the same thing! Guess I didn't page down enough.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=317x1925

I'm glad there is something here on this and it's good to hear other's experiences with it.

The thing that strikes me on your post is that you said you could see the neuromas on an x-ray. I just had mine x-rayed and the neuroma didn't show up on the x-ray. The podiatrist told me they don't but you can see the space between those toe bones is wider on the foot with the neuroma. I wonder if you had some sort of ultrasound or something different than I did?

[yy4me]

6. Just back from a visit again to the Podiatrist. It is now a weekly

thing. I had a series of cortisone shots starting last fall and the first shot worked on my left foot but not my right. (Ultrasound was done and is being continued)
Several bad weeks later, I went again for the right foot, more shots. Tried to get through a couple of months but no dice. Had 4 shots on the right foot on one occasion, almost passed out.
No more of that, it was not working, the inflammation was too serious, I guess.

I am now going through another series of different shots for this problem. Since the cortisone did not work, the Podiatrist is giving me a series of Alcohol shots that will kill the nerves in the affected area. One shot every Friday for 6 weeks. Believe me, I asked around just to make sure this was not some kind of strange voodoo but it is legit. I am now on week 4 and the swelling has lessened and the pain is less.

It seems to take several days for improvement to set in but if this works long term, I'll be one happy camper. I waited far too long to get attention. Just kept changing shoes, thinking that would solve the problem. Bought all kinds of inserts and had custom Orthotics made. That was $$$$ down the drain. They never felt right, made the pain worse.

I spend all of my time while at home in shearling(soft & fluffy) slippers as this seems to feel less pressure on the ball of my foot.

All of these shots are painful but according to many to whom I have spoken about this problem, foot surgery is far worse.

I am told by the Doc that my progress with this treatment is good and that although the net result will still be a little foot discomfort, it should be very much better...but I will have this condition for the rest of my life. I am the worst patient when it comes to needles but as this progresses, the pain is less.

Altogether not a good condition to have and to anyone experiencing these types of symptoms, go to a Podiatrist sooner than later.

[mile18blister]

7. Had one in my left foot some years ago.

Too many miles in too narrow shoes. My podiatrist gave me three cortisone shots and that fixed me up. The first shot was excruciating. I learned what the phrase "to hit a nerve" meant. Felt like a lightening bolt hit my foot and traveled all the way to my hip. But the second and third shots were nowhere near as bad. I don't remember how much time elapsed between shots - it was days or weeks, not hours or months. My podiatrist told me that about 95% of Morton's Neuromas respond to cortisone shots, the other 5% require surgery.