Morton's Neuroma

[Mary22]

I had surgery 4 wks ago. I have suffered with the MN for 8 years and controlled it with cortisone shots. I now have one in my other foot so I decided to have the original one removed surgically. My doctor's nurse reported only one bad result in the 18 years she has been there. I have the nerve stump pain in the middle of my foot and the ball of my foot is hard & lumpy and feels like a wad of clay when I walk on it. The doctor urged me to soak it (as I have done daily), massage it and walk normally on it. He mentioned "scar tissue". That is impossible for any length of time and them afterwards if I rest and get on it again the pain is even worse. Today I bought a heated massager to work on it. I am so discouraged. Will soaking and heat really break up scar tissue? And the nerve stump hurts every time I step or flex my foot. If it needs to come out, I would like to go ahead and get it out of there and not wait and continue suffering. I waited so long to have the operation as I had heard varying degrees of success and I can't believe I am one of the ones with these complications. I was so looking forward to getting rid of my foot pain and leading a normal life. I even read posts of athletes running within 10 days of their operations so I was very hopeful. Am I worrying too soon and is there anything else I can do?

[RandyJ]

Sorry to hear of your difficulty. NEVER have surgery until you have tried everything from cortisone, alcohol, cryo, and or meds. If you have the surgery be sure it is from the top. To answer your question, yes there scar tissue problems. I have a combination of residual neuroma and scar tissue. Just had an MRI to confirm. Doc said we will shrink the neuroma with alcohol, 10 visits, one per week, 10 weeks then work on the scar tissue. He believes the alcohol and cryo have similar result, they both shrink the neuroma by basically distroying it. We are going to try physical therapy and possible chiropratic after we've shunk the nerve. Good luck.

[Mary22]

How long ago was your surgery?

[RobinSchares]

Sorry you are having so much trouble. I had my right foot done 2 weeks ago yesterday and having a more difficult time than I experienced with the left foot which was done on the 10th of September. I was walking in the boot by this time on the last surgery but I don't even have the stitches out and not able to put any weight on the foot at all. The other problem that I have is the foot that had the surgery in September is doing all the work now and giving me fits. I have suggested physical therapy and was told it wasn't necessary. I also had the tarsal tunnel surgery done on both feet at the same time as the neuroma. I, too, was looking forward to being done with foot problems and getting back to work and having a normal life but now I fear all those things like scar tissue and stumps neuromas. How do you know about scar tissue? Just from the pain? They went fairly deep on the tarsal tunnel surgery this time and the scar is much bigger as well. I wish you luck and wanted to know what you meant by going in and getting the scar tissue? I wondered if other people go back to work and when? I find it hard to believe that most people could take a month to just lay here like I was told to do but am willing to do that cause I don't want a stump or scar tissue. It's hard. Good luck to you and let me know how it goes.

[Mary22]

As far as the nerve stump problem, I have a pain in the middle of the bottom of my foot that "pings" when stepping or flexing. I had a small bruise there after surgery and couldn't figure it out as it is far away from the toes and ball area. My doctor told me that is where the nerve was cut off and even though it was cauterized, sometimes a ball or stump will form on the end of the nerve. I have heard of it before with amputations. The scar tissue is under the ball of my foot and is very painful and uncomfortable. I'm 4 wks out and hope something can be done about it. Doctor is having me come in for twice weekly ultrasound treatment. I took shots for years and waited so long for the surgery as I was afraid of complications but my family doctor and my podiatrist assured me it was not a common problem. I guess I am just one of the unlucky ones.

[RobinSchares]

Could you tell me what the problems with scar tissue are? Is it painful? How can it be avoided? How long after surgery to tell if you have developed scar tissue?
Stump neuroma's seem to be not that uncommon and wonder why people develope those as well. Is it a matter of not taking the amount of recovery or just a random thing that happens? How do you know if you have developed one. Does it feel like a rock in your foot? I have that sometimes where the neuroma was removed. The nerve regrows on the end? How long does it take for it to form? Do they use surgery to get rid of that?
If anyone can answer any of these questions I would appreciate that. The doc told me Wed. that the reason he had me go the extra week and half before walking was cause he noticed something like scar tissue so asked me to go home and do nothing and come back in 2 weeks. I did and when I went back he said it looked great and that I could walk, in the boot. Does that mean that it went away? That he was wrong and it wasn't scar tissue at all? I only seen him for 30 seconds and although he is awesome at diagnosing a problem and performing surgery his bedside manner isn't all that great.
Does scar tissue go away with rest? How else can you get rid of it or ensure that you don't develope it. The other question I had was will this make arthritis a problem in the future as I already have it in the arches of my foot?

[RobinSchares]

I read about the athletes running in 10 days and wondered how that was possible? I would think that you would have all kinds of implications from that. What was the soonest that anyone has went back to work or walked? I had neuroma surgery along with tarsal tunnel on both feet and the first surgery was not walking for 2 weeks after and then with the boot on for one more week, so approxiatmely 3 weeks before getting back into a shoe and certainly no condition to run. The second surgery was almost a month ago and just got released to walk, in the boot, and won't see a shoe until 5 weeks after the surgery. That must mean it was more for the tarsal tunnel? How soon are you walking after the neuroma surgery?

[marcy]

Mary,

Did anything ever get resolved with your stump neuroma and scar tissue? I have the exact same thing, and I'm wondering how to treat it.

Thanks, Marcy

[Mary22]

I have had a couple of cortisone shots that have helped the pain and am now able to walk again with comfortable shoes. The stump neuroma is still very sensitive but I believe some of the scar tissue has dissolved or whatever it does. I am beginning to have some hope, but know if will be a long road.

My doctor insisted I take the ultrasound treatments several times a week. I soon figured out they actually irritated it more so I stopped that. He also recommended massaging the area and hot soaks. The massaging is impossible due to the stump nerve. I'm sure it helps with the scar tissue but it's too sensitive an area to do massage.

It has now been 4 months since my surgery. How long since your surgery?

Mary

[marcy]

Hi Mary,

I had my surgery December 18th, so I guess it has been almost three months. I think our situations seem identical. The stump is soooo sensitive. I don't even have to touch it. I can just shake my foot and get it to "ping" as you call it. It is discouraging. My doctor also recommended massage from a physical therapist. He said it was a deep massage, and I know it might not feel that great, but I"m going to try it. I may also get a cortizone shot. Although, I am a bit wary of the shots, because I got two in my foot before the surgery, and they didn't help at all. I don't want to get too many, but I will probalby try one.

Also, I am going to try new orthotics. I am in the process of getting a new doctor (long story), and he recommended new ones, as he said my old ones were much too rigid, which I agree with because they are too painful for me to even wear.

Finally, my family doctor put me on some medication to help with the pain. That has helped some of the burning pain, but not the sensitivity of the stump.

If none of this helps, I am planning on trying something called cryosurgery in a few months. It is minimally invasive with little chance of side effects, and it has a very high success rate; it has even been able to work on stump neuromas. The closest doc to me who performs this is over three hours away, but it is worth it to try based on what I've read.

I, like you, also have a neuroma in my left foot which I will eventually need to take care of in some way. I will definitely try cryo before anything else.

Please keep me updated on your progress, and I will do the same. This is all so frustrating, and confusing, so sometimes it helps me to compare notes. I hope you continue to have decreased pain from your cortizone and anything else you try. I am confident that someday we will both be pain free through sheer resolve if nothing else.

FYI: The last few weeks I've also been going to a VERY gentle chiropractor and I am having some success with that. If nothing else, it has at least helped to normalize my gait a bit from all the pain.

Marcy