Neuroma

MonicaT1972

I have one in my foot. It is so painful. Has anyone successfully found relief from the pain?

The_Enginerd

My GF has problems with these. The right shoes help as far as them not getting worse and aggravating them, but ultimately she had to have them surgically removed. The shots were temporary relief only.

dondimitri

I have had them in both feet. I tried orthotics, various other inserts, gel pads, cortisone injections, alcohol injections (supposed to kill the nerve).

In the end I had surgery on both of them and had the nerves removed.

Both surgeries were successful. However there is a small percentage of cases where the nerve regenerates. Over ten years one of mine has regenerated although so far I can live with it because it only triggers under unusual circumstances (so far, knock on wood).

As indicated making sure your shoes fit (are wide enough) is very important. Being a guy that's not so difficult. A woman with a neuroma would have my sympathy given the societal imperative for the narrow, pointy toe, high heeled shoe. Ouch, hurts just thinking about it!

Brie4me

*hugs* They can get really painful. I went through very painful injections with no relief at all. I switched doctors, the second doctor recommended surgery to remove the neuroma. I had the surgery and finally got relief. The healing process takes some time, though. This was 12 years ago, so I don't recall how much time.

MonicaT1972

I don't wear anything but proper running shoes with orthodics so the footwear isn't an issue. If I have to dress up it's very sensible show or boot with no restriction.

I see the common thread is that there is no real relief without surgery so I am guessing that will be what I will plan on after summer.

How is the recovery? How long off your feet? How long till you can exercise again?

dondimitri

I had problems both times.

Because the incision is at the almost lowest point of your body there is a lot of fluid pressure on it. It is imperative that you keep your foot elevated at least at the level of your heart for 72 hours (my recollection is hazy on this point about how long). If you don't take the doctors orders seriously and lower your foot too soon then fluid and blood will accumulate around the incision and it won't close all the way. Obviously I learned this the hard way.
It took over 3 weeks for the incision to heal. Yeah it was messy, weeping the entire time. My own fault.

The second time I was much more religious about keeping my foot elevated but darn if I didn't have the same problem.

So both times I was out of action for about a month. Hopefully others have had a more positive experience than I did.

You should understand that when the nerve is removed you are going to have some permanent numbness in that area. Some people have found that bothersome, and some really object. For me it is no big deal, I hardly ever notice it.

Before you have the surgery I would spend some time with google though just to make sure you know what you're in for.

Good luck.

Edited to add: In the end I am glad I had both surgeries. Although I had post-surgical complications everything resolved ok and it was heaven to get rid of the neuromas. I would do it again.

The_Enginerd

I don't wear anything but proper running shoes with orthodics so the footwear isn't an issue. If I have to dress up it's very sensible show or boot with no restriction.

I see the common thread is that there is no real relief without surgery so I am guessing that will be what I will plan on after summer.

How is the recovery? How long off your feet? How long till you can exercise again?

She had neuromas taken out of both feet at the same time, and she was off her feet for about two weeks, one month until she could exercise, and two months until she could run.

Like dondimitri, she has the permanent numbness. She has gotten used to it, but it it still bothersome in some cases.