NEUROMAS SPECIALIST
Foot and Ankle Specialist & Podiatric Surgeon in Midtown Manhattan, New York, NY
Neuromas
The lower end of your spinal cord (sacral plexus) nerves end at your feet. The nerve endings that travel all the way down to the metatarsals can get compressed between the bones causing pain and a feeling that you have something stuck in your feet or you are walking on marble. It can give you a feeling of tingling or burning sensation that can feel like an electric shock in your feet towards the toes.
Neuromas Q&A
Neuromas develop from irritation of the nerve that becomes thickened and fibrotic mainly due to faulty biomechanics (how your foot interacts with the ground) causing a thickening of the nerve which then becomes enlarged in a very tight space causing pain. It is a benign nerve tumor, and an entrapment of the nerve that then becomes thickened and leads to reduced blood supply.
Although neuromas can occur in between any metatarsal space; the most common type occurs between the 3rd and 4th metatarsals. They are called Morton’s neuroma and affects about 33% of the population. It has been shown that it is most common in women and athletes such as runners, ballet dancers and tennis players but can be present in anyone. Neuromas are caused by trauma to the nerve and affects people who wear tight fitting shoes such as heels or pointy shoes.
Conservative Treatments:
- Shoe modifications can help at the beginning stages. Wider shoes and metatarsal pads decrease the side to side pressure to the metatarsals.
- Steroid injections – help with the pain, however injections are mostly temporary.
- NSAIDS / pain killers
- Custom made orthotics – rearrange how your feet interact with the ground, altering the biomechanics and causing pain relief to the neuroma.
- Shockwave therapy: Has been recently shown to be helpful to reduce the pain from neuromas. Click Here to read about shockwave therapy.
Surgical Intervention:
- If you have a chronic neuroma which has not responded to conservative treatment, surgery might be the best option.
- Surgery entails removal of the neuroma. It is a quick surgery and considered the most reliable treatment showing and 80% – 95% success rate with minimal downtime. Post op protocols can vary but Dr. Perez removes the diseased portion of the nerve through an incision on the top of your foot and you can walk right away in a post op shoe / CAM boot. Stitches are removed after 10 days at which point you can get the foot wet and walk in sneakers. Every patient is different and post op protocols can vary depending on the patient.
What are you waiting for?
Make an appointment with fellowship trained Foot and Ankle Surgeon Dr. Perez today!
