Foot Neuroma

[Monello]

Doc says I got a Neuroma. He's been giving me shots weekly in the foot now for 3 weeks. Pain is gone.

Anyone else experience this? How long before you can put some serious pack weight on your feet?

Thanks.

[Old Grouse]

Yes, lots of people suffer from Morton's Neuroma. In my case it wasn't/isn't bad enough to keep me off the trail. I just need a relatively stiff-soled shoe. I had been wearing Inov-8s when it developed. Switched to Montrail Hardrocks with Superfeet insoles, and I have no problems hiiking. I still really feel it when I wear dress shoes for any length of time.

[frond]

I also got a neuroma,keen shoes now are the only ones I can wear..wider fit.I shrunk my trail running shoes,in dryer and didnt relize it..that was the start of the nuroma.better to leave it alone,cus surgury can be worse.

[McPick]

I suffer from this painful malady too. I discovered it as a kid while wearing stiff, narrow leather ski boots. You can search Morton's Neuroma on this site and see what others have said over the years. Some even opt for surgery...

I always buy wide shoes now. Purchasing wide hiking boots has certainly helped me while on the trails.

Here's a simple trick I showed several hikers on the AT that helps relieve the pressure on the nerve... Put a soft ear plug between your toes. (Even a folded over piece of tissue helps in a "pinch"... Oh my, that's too funny... In a pinch!!! Get it?) You will be amazed how this slight amount of spreading of the toes effectively relieves the pain. After a short time, you don't even feel the ear plug between your toes.

At night, in shelters, remove ear plug from between toes... Insert in ear... Clean thoroughly first to prevent 'Hoof in Ear' disease.

[BrianLe]

I assume it was a series of alcohol shots that did the trick for you --- glad that worked. I ended up with surgery to remove about an inch of nerve.

Of course I would ask your foot doctor about putting weight on it (!), but if the pain is gone I don't see why you would wait. If I understand/recall the alcohol shot thing (I had this first before surgery), it's not repairing the Neuroma IF you have a "true" neuroma, it's just messing up the nerve signals so that it doesn't bother you. I have no idea if it can come back; do a web search and of course ... ask your doctor.

Even when I had the surgery, they apparantly weren't 100% sure it was a neuroma --- they sent it to pathology and I later got to see the report that showed that, yes, my nerve was actually damaged, and was never going to self-repair. If they checked in my case, then it seems to me that there would almost certainly be doubt about whether you really have (and maybe the extent of?) a neuroma.

But the closest I get to the medical profession (by choice) is that I occasionally watch an episode of "House" on TV ...

Best of luck.

[sbhikes]

I have that. The doctor recommended cortisone shots. When he said a big giant needle would go between my toes, I ran away!

I wear as wide shoes as I possibly can. I don't need stiffness, just width.

I don't get much pain and numbness since the PCT. I still get the clicking sensation and I'm sure if I wore tight shoes, the pain would come right back, but it bothers me much less since the PCT. Maybe it's because the PCT taught me to wear even wider shoes.

Anyway, that's not an answer to how long until you can put weight on your foot.

[Tinker]

I had it and got the cortisone shots and was fitted for custom orthotics (3/4 length). I had been wearing stiff soled but narrow Italian low top shoes (Scarpa). The problem was probably aggravated by the many miles I rode on my bicycle with hard soled racing shoes (this is back in the 1980s). On one move in the late 1990s I lost one of my orthotics (I had been wearing Superfeet because the custom orthotics dug into the bottom of my feet just aft of the (foot) balls ). Since then I have used Superfeet and the orthotics which came with my Chaco boots (yes, boots) which I bought around 2003. Both work well though the Chaco orthotics feel better initially.
As far as the relief, I felt better after the second shot (about 1 month).
I have not had a single problem since (also, I use trail runners except in deep snow, and I attribute some of the comfort I enjoy to the relatively cushy midsole).

[SteveJ]

I agree with the above, especially wide toe box shoe (Merrell's work for me - I'll never be able to wear a pair of Addidas again). Also, a metatarsal pad under the neuroma will lift and separate the toes so that they don't press on the neuroma.