Morton's Neuroma

[nadinedees]

Which is the better way to go health wise, dorsal or plantar? I have had the cortizone injections and the ortho shoes... with my active lifestyle it always comes back with activity. I am now deciding to have the surgery...just not sure from the top or bottom. I know the recovery to the procedure on the top of the foot has better heal time, but I understand you have to cut thru more tissue.

[footankledoc]

There are pros and cons to both dorsal and plantar incisions. The big con for a plantar incision is that it takes longer to heal and requires time to be off your foot so that incision doesn't split open. Pro for plantar incision is the nerve is right there and easy to take out. If you poll all the podiatrists, the majority do the procedure from the top and the recovery is very quick and there really isn't much con to going through more tissue. The tissue planes and vessels are very easy to identify and the surgeon will avoid them until the nerve is identified to be taken out. It is not any harder to resect the nerve from the top than from the bottom. The only healing needed is for the incision to heal which typically takes 10-14days. Plantar incisions take a lot longer - usually around 14-21 days. Hope this helps!