Morton's Neuroma

[dancerlady]

It does not sound like from what I am reading that surgery may be the way to go for Morton's Neuroma Are there any success stories out there? I am a dancer and have had MN for some years now. It does not hurt all the time, only if I stand for long periods of time or dance a couple of hours at a time. I have custom orthotics but they do not always help. I guess I am lucky that it does not hurt constantly but it is quite annoying and restricts my ability to stand or dance for long periods of time. I would like to hear some success stories or remedies that work!

[camperfan]

Dancerlady - As I understand it, the statistics suggest that the surgery is generally successful in giving major relief from symptoms in between 70 - 90% of cases (depends where you read them!). I think that forums like this are mostly used by three categories:
(a) the minority for whom things haven't gone well, in which case we are looking for information and support:
(b) those in the early post-op stages who don't know what to expect (info on this from medics often seems to be awful) and are inevitably still suffering to some extent and are often worried they are not doing as they should:
(c) those like you who need info to make a decision about surgery or other options.

Because the success stories don't usually come back and report on it when they are fully recovered, you don't get a truly representative picture.

Look at unhappy golfer 's posts - he's quite early post-op but seems to be doing fine.
I'm in category (a) but I know people who've had the surgery and are now perfectly fine. If I had my time again, I probably wouldn't have gone for surgery on the foot that was only intermittantly bad.

[wendy3boys]

I had surgery in December for MN and I think that it was very successful. I was on crutches for several weeks, took it easy for a couple of months then after about three months was back to walking again. I think the recovery took a little bit longer for me since I am in my 50's. I am a very active person with hiking, walking, standing at a job etc but generally I am happy with the results. Realistically it took 3 months before I did not think about my foot after surgery. I put off surgery for a year due to all the horror stories on the internet but did not experience any of the horrible things people posted.Good Luck and I would recommend finding a good ortho surgeon to do the surgery. (Mine specialized in foot problems)I have found the best shoes to wear are the Mudd brand shoes, by the way.

[dancerlady]

Thanks for your reply. I just don't know what to do. I am a social line dancer but have been dancing for many years and go to many different events throughout the country so am more advanced than just a regular line dancer who just goes to clubs every now and then and does easy club dances. I have a class twice a week also. My foot does not hurt me all the time, just if I stand for long periods or dance for a few hours without stopping. I am going to a foot and ankle specialist who gave me a series of steroid shots. They really didn't help much. I just hate to think of surgery and being out of dance for several months. I would be so far behind because we are learning new dances all the time and discarding many of the old ones. I had no idea the recovery was that long. He told me what they would do is go in and cut the nerve which would relieve the pain but a couple of my toes would be numb after that. I really have not talked to him about the recovery period. He wanted to wait for 6 months after I had the steroid shots to see me again to see how I was doing so I go back to him in July.

[stewbus37]

When they cut the nerve, yes you have numbness, but it feels like when you have novacaine to have a tooth filled. You can still feel the toes, it just feels funny.

[dancerlady]

Have you had the surgery? If so, how did you get along and what was your recovery period?

[wendy3boys]

I know that it is a hard decision to make, I guess you just have to get to the point where it gets so uncomfortable that the only alternative is surgery. The reality of it is that you will be down for several months. It was the most inactive I had ever been in my entire life so that was hard. I think a lot of us develop MN because we are so active. The reality is that after surgery, at least for me I was instructed to not even bear any weight on the foot for one week. After that it took three weeks just to get out of the boot and off crutches. When I was on my crutches my other foot started to act up since all the pressure was on that foot but that calmed down after I started to walk more normally. Since I work on my feet I took a 6 week leave of absence which I definately needed. I followed the doctors orders to a T as I was so anxious to get back to walking and hiking. I could not even had considered dancing for 3 months, at least. I never had any post surgery pain which really surprised me as I am a wimp when it comes to pain. There is an odd sensation on the bottom of my foot which I think you just become desensitized to as time goes on. The only way I can describe it is that it feels like there is a piece of paper stuck to the bottom of your foot. (By the way my incision was from the top) If I walk more that 5 or so miles at this point it feels kinda like a bruise in the area but this is getting better at 7 months post op. The reality is that you will have to take a hiatus from dancing for a few months if you have the surgery but in the long run, as far as I am concerned, was well worth it---no more feeling like a knife is stabbing me in the foot. Good luck.

[DawnMH]

The first time (back in 1999) I had surgery in the hospital. the doctor went in the bottom of my foot and cut away some of the damaged nerves. a few years later, a neuroma started in my other foot and a new one grew in the foot I had surgery on. I am a long distance runner and after about 4-6 miles I was in tears so I broke down and had cryosurgery in both feet last fall. At first it helped but now my right foot hurts a lot again. The doctor said my right foot has a lot of scar tissue. Anyway, Cryosurgery may be a good option for you. It isn't as invasive as traditional surgery and seems to heel quickly. The doctor freezes the nerve with a probe not much bigger than a needle. Like CamperFan said - those of us who are still having problems are in the minority - that is why we are looking for ideas. Good luck!

[snuggletiki]

As a new comer I really appreciate your comments Wendy...
I also am very active with the exercise and have had this neuroma thing just this last year.
Please do keep posting on your improvement and let us know if you have gotten back to all your normal activities.
I think that moderation on the exercises and taking time to go out and find a well fitting pair of shoes and inserts will do the trick for now...

[womble]

Hi all. I guess I am one of the success stories. I had Mortons Neuroma in both feet for about 25 years. It was intermittent pain but getting worse. I had got to the point that most days after standing on my feet for 8 hours, I was extremely limited what I could cope with at the gym. Also my back hips etc were playing up, as I was walking to compensate and avoid pain.
Anyway I am 39, and had surgery on both feet on 1st May last year. My orthopaedic surgeon prefers to do the op from the sole of the foot, so that was the procedure used. I had a month off work, of which I could only crawl for about 2 and a half weeks, then slowly more weight bearing as I felt able. Realistically it wasnt until about month 3 that I felt everything was fairly OK.
Now I have no pain as such, I still experience some degree of numbness in that part of my sole and toes on my left foot. I get some odd sensations, but all quite ignorable when walking.
I only wish I had had this procedure done years ago!