[tootsie]

Having stumbled across this forum while researching MN, all I can say is thank goodness! Will try and keep this short...I had bunion surgery a year ago. All went well until I had the 2 pins removed at the 2 week point. I opted to have my family dr. remove them as it is a 5 hour journey to see my surgeon. He reefed them out with what felt like no mercy. Had lots of pain in the week that followed, went to see my surgeon and I had an x-ray which showed that all was well. At 5 months I was still having problems, so off I went to the surgeon again. I then had a bone scan and again all was well other then some minor PF and arthritis. It has now been 13 months and am still struggling, so last week I made another trip to see the dr. and he diagnosed me with MN. Initially he injected one nerve with anethetic to see if that provided relief. I would say it helped a bit but not much. Two days later I decided to have a steroid/anethetic injection which again helped a little but not a great deal. When I asked him about having an ultra sound or MRI to confirm MN, he said that an ultra sound would not show anything and as I am so low priority, I would have to wait a year for the MRI My question to those of you with experience with this is did you have any kind of definitive test to confirm your neuroma other then the dr. pushing on your foot to see if it was painful? I am feeling very wary of his methods and after this long, I want some kind of definite answer. I am planning to get another opinion and am willing to pay for an MRI myself (which I could then have done right away) if I have to. One more question - has anyone experienced stiffness in the last joint of the big toe with a neuroma? This has been plaguing me since my bunion surgery and am wondering if it can be attributed to the MN. So much for short and sweet, sorry...Thanks in advance for any replies.

[alwaysunderfoot]

Hi! Sorry that you're having trouble. I had a bunionectomy and osteotomy 9/06 and had never heard of MN until I returned to my surgeon 11/07. He had left the screw in from bunion surgery and it was loose and causing pain. After telling him about all the pains I'd been having he poked and squeezed and diagnosed MN also. We did the injection which helped for a few days (after making it worse for a few). So he said he would remove it during surgery to remove the screw. I didn't think it was an MN causing my pain and now after having the surgery 12/07 I'm still not sure. No one ever mentioned an ultrasound or MRI but on here I've read that it won't show anyway. The pathology report confirmed MN supposedly.
Is the stiffness you're talking about in the same toe where the bunion was removed?

[tootsie]

Hi alwaysunderfoot - Thanks so much for your reply. Are you still having issues with the same foot pain as before your dr. removed the nerve? I too, am skeptical of whether I have MN or not because for me, the anesthetic injection did not totally relieve the discomfort. And ever since I had the steroid injection my foot feels worse, it feels absolutely awful to walk barefoot. As for the stiffness I mentioned, it is not in the first MPJ where I had the osteotomy, but the last joint ( at the toenail ) that no longer bends back like before. My xrays show the toe does stick up at the end. I have never heard of anyone else with this complaint following bunion surgery and the only explanation my dr. gave me was that maybe the tendon on the top of my foot, for some reason, tightened up and the one underneath is loose. I just really want to seek another opinion for some clearer explanations in order to make an informed decision on my next move. So now I am patiently ( I use that term loosely!)
waiting for a referral to a specialist from my family dr. Again, thanks for writing.

[alwaysunderfoot]

Hi! Yeah I'm still having trouble with that foot! I'm beginning to wonder if it'll ever be better. I have, in the past few weeks, been having the same pain as before and it makes me afraid that we missed it!
My toes tend to stick up also like yours. Actually, they still don't sit on the floor! It's my big toe and the next one. Did they cut the ligament between those toes on yours? Also, did they cut the bone about halfway back your foot and shorten it?

[tootsie]

I sure know the feeling of wondering if my foot will ever get better...that has got to be really frustrating for you having had another surgery. Are you planning on seeing your dr. again? It is only my big toe that sticks up, I don't really notice it when I'm standing or walking, only when I am not on it. Do you find that last joint stiff/unable to bend backwards very much at all? As far as cutting the ligament between the first two toes, I think so, he said he did quite a bit of disection work in that area. I had a modified Austin procedure and I think that is where a "V" cut is made in the bone and it was shortened a little. I am wondering how your foot feels. Mine stings when I walk and feels cold much of the time, not so much if I stay off it. And sometimes it will feel warm on the outside, and still feel really cold. It also feels as if my foot is in a vice and like my toes are swollen even though they're not. Anyways, it is just awful and I am so fed up! But it is nice to be able to chat with someone in a similar situation. If I decide to pay for a consultation myself, I can get in to see someone in 2-3 weeks. If I decide to go with a referral which would be covered by my medical, I think it may be quite a long wait. I am going to check on that tomorrow. My spouse has an acquaintance who is involved in professional hockey, so he is apparently supposed to be calling one of the doctors that takes care of our province's NHL team to ask if he will see me - I'm really hoping that option becomes available because you know that they would have only the best people working on them. Anyways, thanks for listening and keep me posted on how you're doing.

[alwaysunderfoot]

I have an appt. next week but I don't know if I'll go. It seems useless. Yes, that joint is pretty stiff. The whole toe is stiff really. Now after this last surgery, the rest of them are pretty stiff too. Your foot sounds like mine as far as the cold feeling goes. Mine feels frozen almost all the time.
I hope you can get an appt. soon and get some relief. It does get aggravating doesn't it? I'm glad to have everyone on this forum to share this stuff with. I'm sure my family gets tired of me saying "my foot/toes are killing me"! It's hard to not complain though.
If I stay off my feet they don't hurt nearly as bad but who can do that all the time? Besides having stuff to do I'd go crazy!
Keep me posted

[tootsie]

Hi alwaysunderfoot - just thought I would check in to see how you're doing and see if you ended up going to your appointment, if so, how did that go? I saw my GP yesterday and after examinining my foot, he does not think that I have a neuroma. He isn't a specialist, but it really makes me wonder. I have made an appt. with an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in the foot and ankle, but that is still 3 weeks away. The discomfort is getting worse everyday since I had that steroid injection. I now have a burning/searing pain that goes from the ball of foot right up through my toes and it is becoming agony to walk at all. My GP said if I don't get any answers from the ortho doc, that he will send me to a neurologist. I am really wondering what the heck is going on with this darn foot, but at least I will hopefully get some answers soon. Anyways, hope to hear how things are going with you. Have a good Easter.

[alwaysunderfoot]

Tootsie, Happy Easter! I'm sorry that your foot isn't doing any better. Hopefully the orthopaedic surgeon will know more about it. I know that 3 wks seems like forever when you're in pain. It does sound like a neuroma from the symptoms you're having. Was the bunion you had removed very large? Did it have your toes shoved over? I believe that is what happened to my foot. I think letting the bunion go so long and pushing my toes 'out of line' caused alot of this. Also walking on the side of my foot didn't help. I understand your impatience and aggravation! I keep telling myself that if this is my only problem I'm in good shape but it doesn't always work!
I cancelled my dr. appt last week. I guess I shouldn't because I've been having alot of pain lately. I've decided to give it a couple of months if I can and see what happens. It's only been about 3 months so I've probably been doing stuff I shouldn't be.
You should try to stay off your foot as much as possible until your dr appt. Wonder why the steriod shots sometimes make it worse?
Debbie

[tootsie]

Hi Debbie - Thought I would check in to see how you are doing. Are you making any progress these days? I hope so. My update isn't the greatest...I had 2 appts. this week. One was with a podiatrist and the other with an orthopedic surgeon. They both had the same diagnosis which is that I do not have a neuroma, rather, I have had a botched/failed surgery. It is my understanding that my bones are not lined up properly. My range of motion in my big toe joint is at around 30 degrees while weight bearing compared to 90 degrees in my other foot. This is causing my toe to jam and over-loading the metatarsal heads in the lesser toes. And this is what has been causing me pain. The ortho wants me to try some conservative treatment to start with. And that is using a metatarsal pad to try and take some of the pressure off of that part of my foot. He also said to start stretching my calf muscle to loosen up that area and this may help too. I am to give this a couple of months and if it doesn't help that then I have to decide if I want more surgery. He sent me for more x-rays and when he sees those, he will be sending me a detailed report. In any case, there may be a couple of different surgical options for me. He said that he knows of the dr. who did my surgery and has had more then a few of his patients come to him to fix the guy's work. I am so angry and disheartened over all of this. I sure wish I would have gone to an ortho in the first place. Talk about learning the hard way. Anyways, thanks for reading and please drop a line to let me know how you're doing.

[alwaysunderfoot]

Tootsie, I'm so sorry you had such an incompetent dr. before. How are we to know beforehand though? I'm sure you are more than angry. I hope the pads and stretching help. Did any of your drs. suggest an MRI? Did your foot start feeling any better when the shots wore off?
I am doing ok I guess. Still complaining....that's how I know I'm alive! I get soooo sick of foot pain!!! I don't know what I'm gonna do. I don't know whether to go back to my Dr. or not. I still have the same pain that I had before the neuroma surgery plus now I have the numbness and sometimes the "zinger" pains. The kind that make me nearly jump out of bed. Other than that, now my bunion on my right foot is giving me a fit. Probably from transferring more weight to that foot. I just don't know do you? I've gotten to the point that I just go ahead and do whatever because I know that it'll hurt anyway you know? I did alot of mowing and weedeating today though so it'll be a long night.....
I hope you feel better soon. Thanks for writing again. I was wondering about you!
Debbie