Morton's Neuroma
 

Has anyone had experience with the excrutiating pain from neuromas in the feet. I have had 2 surgeries on my left foot and site injections with no relief. In fact, the pain has increased - sometimes waking me in the middle of the night. I am an avid walker. I can no longer wear my running shoes and have to wear Mephistos for walking. Still I have limped around more places than I care to remember. This has been going on for 10 years. Ice helps a little, but it is only temporary. I feel like I am walking on a big, hot marble. Do you know of any physicians - anywhere - that have been sucessful in treating neuromas? Thank you!

Hi and welcome...
 

to this forum!:D

I see this is your first post!:)

I have not had experience with a neuroma myself; yet, they do have a reputation of being extremely painful!:eek:

I hope you obtain some helpful information!:hug:

Morton's Neuroma
 

Thank you! I appreciate your welcome!

Hi, Barbara. I'm Barbara too. :)

Sounds like what my feet feel like on a bad day. :( I know what that feels like...that pain, that feeling of walking on a hot marble. But I only have PN.

You've found a good place here. :hug:

Hello Barbarazme,
Welcome and sorry about your neuromas, I have one in my right foot and the surgical podiatrist at the VA hospital has been real helpful. The first visit she gave me a cortisone shot between the 3rd and 4th toe and had a pair of custom insoles made for me and they really help. I take Lyrica and Tramadol for pain relief of PN. The electrical shocks are always in the neuroma area in the evening.

I'm sorry for you and myself too!

I have them in both feet. The left foot had injections and has been quiet. The right foot has been operated on three times, and I had alcohol injections in the right foot when the foolish things grew back again(third time) into stump neuromas. These puppies are worse then the originals. I get the burning nerve pain a lot at night when I'm trying to sleep. The alcohol injections worked for awhile, but not so anymore. They hurt like crazy when I had it done and it was a series of five shots.

I've been told by two docs now not to consider anymore surgeries as they feel it would just make a bad situation worse. I think I have a touch of anesthesia dolorosa in the right one as well as stump neuromas (2) which just like to make me miserable. I stay in Birkenstocks and have custom orthotics, but mainly stay in Birks.

I don't have any advice to offer or names of docs. It seems as though this is one area that could use some help, but none to be found. I have multiple neuromas in each foot, between the second and third, and third and fourth innerspace of each foot. I mainly walk on a treadmill now, which totally stinks since I love the outdoors, and I workout in a heated pool too, to keep the stress off of my feet. I'm also on a steady dose of ultram 300mg each day, and I still get pain. At least I'm still here...

Ellena

Hello Ellena,
You have posted a most informative reply, my surgical podiatrist at the VA has informed me that surgery is completely out of the question due to my having PN, along with the info you have posted she has informed me that the result of scar tissue would only add gas to the fire of having PN. Since you have gone thru the surgeries my resolve is to treat the neuroma with kid gloves. The majority of articles I have read states that surgery is not a good option unless the neuroma keeps growing therefore disrupting the bone formations. Since having the injection I don't have the PN flair ups any more and that has been a big plus in pain control. Some good advice to all you ladies THROW AWAY THE HIGH HILL SHOES. Wishing you the best
Lanny

I'd like to repeat this suggestion...
 

Neuroma patients as well as other PNers really should try
Lidoderm patches on the tops of the feet. One patch cut in half will cover both feet.

I am using them again since my right foot/knee has flared due
to the garden work/stone work I have been forced to do because the construction on our street/water mains etc.

This weekend was tough for me, so I got the old patches...between the Salonpas (anti-inflammatory) and the Lidoderms, I looked like a scarecrow digging out there!

I have been able to avoid oral/systemic pain meds using these patches.

msrd,
Did you forget to put a patch in the small of your back, when I work around the homestead like your doing they come in pretty handy, also don't over do it if your going to your vacation place this summer. I enjoy the wild life pictures you post. I also have Lidocane creme for the toe area. Take care and God Bless.
Lanny

I am finding...
 

That some pain from my knee is referring to the foot.

We live on a hill, and going up and down the slope and working on it...has been hard on my knee. I tried to decrease my SAMe to 400mg daily and thought I'd get away with it, but NOPE.

I've had to go back up to 600 in the morning and today it is better. But when I put a 1/2 patch behind my knee, I get some relief in the foot. Sunday morning my meniscal nerve activated (the doctor showed me this trigger point--which can be very painful long ago). It woke me up at 3am shooting away! I have some dislocated kneecap issues...the tendon there is touchy.

Here is a pic from Sunday... showing the new driveway apron, and the rocks etc put back. This pic is taken with me standing on the neighbor's drive...our home is 20+ stairs UP to the right. I still have to put the plants back in that I removed (and have coasting in flats). I hope to get that done this week, and maybe get the stepping stones back in. In winter living on this slope is slippery and dangerous.
So I am planning non-skid recycled rubber things to go on the top of the stepping stones (which we haven't figured out yet).
Most of the nice slate was smashed, but we did save some pieces.

The second picture shows back in beginning May, the work crew digging up our water service...the steps show up more in this angle with me looking down on them. About 36 inches of my garden along the street were dug up (we were lucky it wasn't more)... so this gives some perspective. The men are standing right where my car is normally parked.

Love your yard and garden(s)! I'm green with envy. We currently live in an old building...upstairs apt type thing. No yard, nothing like that. I walk out my front door and it's sidewalk and street. Back door is an alley. Sigh. I miss my yard. Hope the knee recovers quickly.

don't envy too much...
 

This garden is a huge pain generator! LOLOL

It took me about 20 yrs to get it to this stage. Tons of work!

Most of what I do is seed and cuttings. I don't spend much $$ on it. Only pain!

My son came here for 2 days... once in the beginning and once 2 wks ago to help
with the heaviest lifting. (we used to do this ourselves...sigh)

The knee flamed up around 1997... When I finally went in 1999 to an ortho...he
wanted to do a replacement. I avoided that with SAMe....have taken it ever since.
But it does not prevent all pain, if I overdo etc. I don't have the severe pain or
need the brace anymore. But I am sometimes reminded of my age and deterioration
by tasks like this one has been!

Update!!
 

I had the unfortunate experience of developing a fibroma in the arch of my left foot and as my luck would have it, it was misdiagnosed as plantar fasciitis. I was sent to PT as a last ditch effort and the PT and the assistant kept making comments about my foot which I didn't understand. So I made an appointment with the doc and went back to ask for an MRI. What a complete waste as the MRI didn't show a thing. I made an appointment with another doc and he diagnosed the fibroma and did surgery to remove it. I continued to have pain and problems with the foot so back to new doc and I was diagnosed with Mortons' neuroma and three hammertoes as a result of the fibroma causing more pronation, etc...and the neuroma also has a part in the hammertoes. I was forced to endure another round of five or six alcohol injections without any relief. Post surgical condition of my foot is awful. I walk with pain and I'm trying to force myself to keep walking in spite of it, with PN too.

I'm posting to educate anyone looking for info. Please research your doctors and don't rely on licensing agencies or other docs to assist when confronted with these sort of careless errors. Also, there are times when you don't have any choice but to have the neuroma removed, as in my cases, they really had to go. IMHO alcohol injections don't work.

Hi EE03,

I'm sorry to hear about everything with your poor feet. Getting the right diagnosis can be a real challenge sometimes.

I too had a plantar fibroma. Mine had to be removed twice surgically and I ended up wishing I had known about getting radiation to them before the first procedure. If, heaven forbid, yours starts to grown again there are radiation oncologists who take care of these. I did this after mine came back the third time and had good results.

I saw earlier on this post that you were wearing Birks. Are those still working for you with the fibroma area? My ability to tolerate arch support is completely different with all the scar and such. I have had to try a lot of new things shoe wise to find what works for my re-vamped foot.

My post-op recovery was much longer than probably expected and I still get swelling 18 months out. So hang in there if your surgery was not that long ago and don't overdo.

I hope more healing comes your way. :hug:

Littlepaw, aside from speaking to my sister who had two fibromas removed around 40 years ago, you're the only person I know of who has experienced this. I was never told about radiation therapy for this. Mine has been growing over a number of years,, I think around seven since I first noticed, but it got so bad that it hurt 24/7 whether I was on my feet or off. Its really sad that it aggravated my sleeping neuromas in my left foot I still have one in there and I hope it stays quiet. After my first go around with the right foot, I lived in Birks. Now I never now what my feet will tolerate from day to day, morning till night. Its really frustrating. I still get swelling as well. Anyway, than you for sharing your experience with me My journey with this isnt finished yet as I'm sure I'll need another surgery to fix what the second doc did.

I had surgery on my right foot for MN 2 years ago. Mine was huge and easy to diagnose. At the time I didn't know about my PN so there was nothing special done in terms of anesthesia. (tho surgeon did comment that even under general, when he touched the nerve I kicked him :p). I chose not to do the nerve cutting surgery, as I've had other nerve surgeries and know that it can often be out of the frying pan into the fire. My doc removed the tumor part and put some artificial padding between the nerve and bone. I was pain-free for 2 years. Now, yes, the foot I had operated on hurts a bit more than the other, but there's no way of knowing whether it's PN or returning Mortons. My point here is that the PN wasn't made worse by the surgery.

Interestingly, my feet hurt much more in flats than they do in 1.5" heels. I think b/c my toe joints flex in flats.

My PN hasn't been impacted at all by the surgery. My neuromas were all easy to identify and palpate by the time surgery was required. I've never been told that they could be left either as they were clearly swollen to three to four times their normal size when mine were removed. Your experience is the first I've read of this type.