WHAT IS IT?
A neuroma is a growth or thickening of the nerve tissue under your feet. Most neuromas are benign. They can be very painful and typically affect the balls of your feet, especially between the third and fourth toes. It may feel like you are standing on a pebble inside your footwear.
WHAT CAUSES IT?
Some factors, which contribute to this condition, are:
- High heels that are tight.
- Ill-fitting footwear.
- High impact sporting activities, which cause repetitive trauma to the feet, such as running.
- Pre-existing foot conditions such as hammertoes, bunions and flatfeet (PTTD).
SYMPTOMS
- No visible signs but a lot of pain in your underfoot.
- Feeling that something is in your shoe.
- Initial signs of tingling between the toes.
- Shooting or burning pain in the ball of your feet that radiates towards the toes.
- Toes that feel numb or have a burning sensation.
- Progressive condition that worsens when wearing tight shoes.
- A relief of pain at night.
TREATMENT
Your doctor will fist need to get your history as well as perform a series of physical exams, ultrasound and x-rays to rule out any underlying causes. Once the cause is determined, treatment will follow accordingly.
- Some persons may need to wear shoe inserts to reduce pressure on the balls of the feet.
- Icing the area to reduce inflammation.
- Reducing high impact activities to allow the area to rest until your symptoms go away.
- Anti-inflammatory pain medications.
- Relevant change of footwear.
- Physiotherapy exercises to strengthen your feet.
- Steroid injections.
- Cold therapy to the irritated nerves. Morton’s neuroma is unlikely to come back after this is performed.
- Decompression surgery can cut the area involved in order to reduce pressure on the nerves.
- Neurectomy can completely remove the affected nerve.
Please talk to your foot and ankle surgeon for the best treatment, as all cases are unique.