If you can’t wait to get your shoes off and rub the painful areas between your toes, you could have a neuroma in your foot. Leading podiatrist Ernest L. Isaacson, DPM PC, is an exceptionally well-qualified foot and ankle expert who provides outstanding services in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. If you have pain in your feet, Dr. Isaacson and his team provide both tried and tested treatments and new, advanced therapies for Morton’s neuroma and similar conditions. Call today to schedule a consultation or book an appointment online.
Neuroma Q & A
What is a neuroma?
A neuroma is a painful problem that develops when the nerve tissue between your toes becomes thickened.
The most obvious symptom of a neuroma is needing to relieve pain between your toes, typically by taking your shoes off and rubbing the painful area. You might also feel pain in the tips of your toes, or a tingling or burning sensation in that part of your foot.
It could feel like you have something stuck between two toes, but you can’t find any foreign objects. Your foot might also feel numb around your toes. Neuroma pain is usually worse when you’re walking.
The most common type of neuroma is called Morton’s neuroma, which develops between the third and fourth toe. Without treatment, a neuroma can cause permanent nerve damage.
What causes a neuroma?
A neuroma develops as a reaction to irritation or pressure. This causes the nerve to swell up and start getting thicker. The irritation or pressure that triggers a neuroma could be due to wearing tight shoes or high heels, or regularly putting your feet under stress.
If you have abnormalities in your feet that cause an imbalance around your toe joints, that makes you more likely to develop a neuroma. They can also be a consequence of injury or other nerve damage in your feet.
How is a neuroma treated?
If you visit Ernest L. Isaacson, DPM PC, when you start experiencing symptoms of a neuroma, you can receive a diagnosis of the problem and start treatment before you reach the stage of needing surgery. Conservative treatment approaches can reduce the pain and help shrink the neuroma, reversing the damage to the affected nerve.
Conservative treatments include:
- Padding under the ball of your foot
- Anti-inflammatory medications
- Cortisone injections
- Orthotics
If you try these treatments and the neuroma isn’t improving, Ernest L. Isaacson, DPM PC, can use radiofrequency (RF) ablation to stop your nerves from sending pain signals to your brain. RF ablation is a minimally invasive procedure.
You might require surgery to remove the neuroma if it’s causing chronic pain, and other treatments aren’t helping. The procedure involves the removal of the affected nerve. The surgery is on an outpatient basis using local anesthesia.
You need to wear a surgical shoe after the surgery to protect the foot. You also need to keep your foot up and apply ice packs to keep any post-surgical swelling down. It takes around four to six weeks to recover from neuroma surgery.
Find out whether you have a neuroma by calling Ernest L. Isaacson, DPM PC, today or book an appointment online.
