I have 5% Lidocaine gel which I use for Vulvodynia but I also have 5% Lidoderm patches. I've tried them around the back of the heels but it didn't seem to take the burning away. I will get some of the Morton's Epsom Lotion and see if that helps. Thanks for the idea.

If you still have the Lidoderms....I have 2 other suggestions for them.

1) 1/2 patch on that instep. Put it crosswise as close to the ankle bend you can. You might have to tape it on. If you can move it towards the inner ankle, do that too as much as it can. There is a nerve that goes around that median bone....and you can intercept it there.

2) or you can try 1/2 patch behind the knee on that same leg.
The will catch the nerve higher up. I sometimes have better foot
relief from behind the knee for some reason. Put the 1/2 patch
just below the bend so it is high on the calf. Some of your heel pain may be from tendons...and this will catch the nerve that innervates them going down.

Sometimes the placement is strange, but I study anatomy books, to find the major nerve paths, and try everything. I even use magnets....but that is another story. You can search magnets here and find my old posts.

The mag lotion is not at alot of stores yet. But it is at WalMart and on Amazon now.
http://www.mortonsalt.com/for-your-h...-epsom-lotion/

I say a little prayer of thanks for it every single day. It has been a lifesaver for me, in many ways.

Instep.. put it on the bottom of foot crosswise, so it's just under the bend in the ankle? Sorry, trying to understand.
I understand the behind the knee instructions. I will try the instep first, then the behind the knee if that doesn't work.

Wouldn't you think the ultra sound would decide if it was tendons or not?

For some reason Lidocaine does not work on the bottom of the feet.

Put it on the top of the foot across the instep just past the ankle bend. Move it toward the inside of the ankle if you can towards the bone. Alot depends on how much bone sticks out. For me not much. These patches have notoriously poor adhesive..it is basically water soluble. So you may have to tape them on.
I use clear micropore tape (has breathing holes in it).

Lidoderm patches take a couple or 3 days to penetrate to the nerve, and interrupt the signals. Lidocaine is a sodium channel blocker so the impulses stop where it is placed.
So don't expect immediate relief.... it will build.

I used them once for 14 days in a row to stop MP pain in my thigh. Once they worked for a while, the entire pain sequence remitted and now I've had a long remission. (after years of intense pain and stabbing attacks like 100 bee stings! )
Therefore, for me, I have something to remember, and basically I never expected a remission. I only wanted some relief. They were very new back then, and no one knew how to use them or apply them.

Oh darn it. I put it on wrong. I'll have to wait till tomorrow morning to put it on right now. I didn't realize it took time for some relief. Thanks for that tip.

Just be prepared to waste a few... expensive I know... but it took me about 5 times to find out how to fix that nerve in my thigh.

At least on the foot you only really need 1/2 of a patch.

I really like Lidoderms.... they offer good relief, but they do require careful correct placement. They have to be over a major nerve pathway. (not at the end points where you feel pain)...So this confuses people, and they give up too soon.

The instep is the TOP of the foot... There is one nerve that goes around the lateral ankle bone, to the side of the foot. And one that goes under the inside (medial ) bone.

http://www.northcoastfootcare.com/pa...e-Anatomy.html
This link shows anterior and posterior views. The yellow areas are the nerves. White is tendons.
If you zoom your screen... control key + scroll wheel on your mouse, you can see the yellow nerves in the anterior view.
The big nerve going over the instep is the target, for most pain, with Lidoderms. Your achillies tendon is the secondary target, so
just moving the patch to the side a bit may hit that one too.

mrsD, what a great link to see the nerves and tendons. That anterior view shows me exactly where that nerve is. Thank you so much.
I had tried it on the back of my heels where I was having the burning pain and only tried it a few times but I was way off. I can see that now.
If after using these patches for 3 or 4 days and start getting relief, I hope, do I continue to use them forever or will I be able to eventually stop them?
I will let you know if this works. I am excited and with great hope. I am so allergic to most oral medications that this would be so wonderful if it works. Thank you again.

See how it goes. Do the patches for at least a week.
I needed two weeks for my thigh. But that was a bigger area and
the nerve was deeper.

You'll just have to trial and error a bit. Let's see if you get relief in 3 days, and then we go from there. I believe that sometimes the nerve may get stuck in the "on" position, and once it is blocked for a while, it stops. If the pain generator is still going, the pathology that started it all, then there may not be a remission like I had. At least using the Lidoderms may show some answers.

There are nerves that are deep within the tendons. Those may be difficult to reach. But at least in the foot, the nerves are closer to the surface and may respond well to the lidocaine in the Lidoderm patch.

I'll be rooting for ya!

Half off-topic, but I had to ask, as it's about cortisone:

The swelling of my ankles is now mostly gone; it's only visible when standing for 8 hours+. But, back when it was very prominent and painful, the swelling was always uneven, a bit in my right ankle, but quite massive in the left one. Say 4 times as bad.

There is no mechanical reason this. I had it scanned a few years ago (this was even before the PN), and they couldn't find anything wrong.

The only "reason" I can think of (in hindsight) was a mega-dose cortisone injection 25 years ago. I had elongated tendons and water retention in my ankle joint after a basketball accident, and it just did not want to heal. After 12 months, a famous sports doc gave me an injection deep into into the ankle joint (and yes, that hurt), said it would burn like hell the next day (he was right!) and then the pain would go away (it did, almost miraculously).

He did say I would probably have to pay for it later in life, but at age 25/26 that's a long way off. Except that it's now "later in life".

Could there be a connection between the high dose injection and the assymetrical swelling? Or is it just one-of-those-things?

Possibly.... it is my left ankle that swells...and that is where I had a shot too. But then I have this angioedema problem, and tend to swell easily. (more easily than other people).

I did not have any ankle issues at all on vacation. But then there are no stairs there! Lots of stairs HERE. But since getting that big toe nail removed, I have to admit my ankle swelling is much much less even with the stairs. Now that ankle does get "tight" later in the day. But it is not so large, and I can fit into shoes that
I couldn't wear before. There must have been some pain generator in that toe, and it stimulated the release of bradykinin which is the agent that causes swelling in angioedema? That is all I can think of.

There are rules about steroid shots. No more than 2 per 12months is/was the basic warning. It is known that they may cause bone to regress or waste away or become necrotic. Some people may get necrosis of bone even from ORAL steroids! This happens in the hip.

I have noticed that old injuries, do hurt more or return, as we age. For me if I feel like a virus coming on (feverish)...which is not often....but if it starts, and the aching comes, then it is usually at old problematic sites. (old injuries from falls, or mishaps etc.)
Even my old C-section scar can hurt sometimes!
The old old scar on my instep from the tumor removal, will ache sometimes. The nerves there were damaged, and that foot was
numb most of my life (youth), but they finally grew back, and when they did they create discomfort and pain sometimes. I take it as a sign of possible illness approaching. But this type of pain, also can come from drastic weather changes, when the barometric pressure falls suddenly.(storms approaching).