I have surgery scheduled for February 1st. He’s the same doc who did my bunion (had to break bone, shave and pin it) and something else that was causing pain, can’t remember the name of it. . He’s excellent with a stellar reputation. I know I’m in good hands, and am glad to have it taken out. It’s only gotten worse. But, of course I’m still nervous.
Oh yikes. I have that on two toes (3rd and 4th) on my right foot but have so far gotten away with a cortisone shot 3x a year. I’ll be paying attention to your progress. Seems it’s very common among women - my podiatrist blames high heels, but I’ve never worn a pair in my life, so I don’t buy it.
Update on 3/4 interspace neuroma on my right foot, after having had mirror image neuroma removed nearly 20 years ago.
I had an injection done by the ortho MD’s PA - and I could tell she didn’t do it right. She had my foot up in the air, not braced, and she placed the injection under the skin, raising a big fluid bump, instead of deep down where the neuroma is. The injection didn’t help at all. Next I went to a podiatrist in NYC who has made me two sets of orthotics, each of which was not right. One felt as if the “bump” was placed right behind my 2nd metatarsal head, caused pain. The second had a much larger bump placed too far back, caused a tarsal boss (a bump on the top of your arch).
I honestly don’t know what my next step is, since I just cannot go through that long a recovery again. I’m wearing only a pair of huge Skechers that seem to feel comfortable - I literally don’t take a step without having them on. God only knows what I’ll wear to kid’s graduation or various other dress up events.
@conmama How was the bunion surgery? I have horrible bunions but have hesitated on surgery as I heard the recovery was very difficult and it often didn’t help much. I keep seeing ads for a new type of bunion surgery. I get holes in my sneakers and now getting a hammer toe all related!
My mother had Morton neuroma and received several injections of cortisone and a couple of acupuncture treatments. The expensive orthotics did not help.
It’s great! It was a tough recovery, but he did a terrific job. Although I had a teeny bunion, I would never had surgery just for that. It was a bony knot above my big toe and a bone spur that was making it difficult and hurt to bend my toe and walk.
He had to break the bone, shave it and put a temporary pin in for a month, along with taking off the spur. It’s perfect now. Can’t see the scar and no pain from bending my toe. Got rid of the bunion, too, but like I said really wasn’t the issue and wasn’t causing problems.
The Recovery was rough. The first week was the worst with the pain, but I had pain medication. The pin was what was giving me the most pain and I had to use a knee scooter for a minth and a boot hurt too much to use. Once they removed the pin, no more pain and my recovery really took off. I I’m a weeny with pain.
That makes me hopeful. What’s new in bunion surgery?
I had surgery on both feet about twenty years ago, with bone cut out and steel pins permanently inserted in both feet. The scars remain visible.
Now the bunions are back accompanied by hammer toes and various other problems on both feet. I regretted the earlier bunion surgery; my recovery was long and painful, and my podiatrist became frustrated by how slow the bones were to reattach. I went from extra wide shoes to just wide shoes for a couple of years once I’d healed, but have been back in XW shoes for a long time.
There are few podiatrists in our new area and I’ve waited months for an appointment. I cannot do cortisone shots and am not thrilled about the idea of repeating my past surgical experience, but this pain is having a negative effect on my overall health. If there’s a name for the new procedure, I’ll start calling around to see if anyone here does it.
It is called lapiplasty. i haven’t done enough research yet to see if it is better or even if it would work for me. So sorry you are going through so much pain. Your experience with bunion surgery is what has made me reluctant.
Please don’t let my experience dissuade you from the surgery. I have yet to have a fully positive outcome to any of well over a dozen operations for a wide variety of reasons. I will look into the lapiplasty - thanks.
Be careful of new procedures that promise a lot. There are complications out there with that and other newer procedures. You are hearing about it since the companies are spending a lot on advertising in larger markets.
For neuroma surgery exhaust all conservative options before surgery. Then proceed once they fail. An orthotic is just one aid to a treatment and not my first line when treating anything.
What would be your first line when treating? So far in 12 months I’ve had 2 injections which worked well, I’m just leery of them for a long term solution - surgery would be my absolute last resort.
So I can only talk on generalities and hypothetical situations since I am not treating you but… I treat most as an injury due to my sports medicine practice in Podiatry.
There is confusion of having a entrapped nerve like a neuroma vs pre cortical stress fracture on the bone in the same region. The story I used to tell the Residents was that I had 3 people in a row for a second opinion to have neuroma surgery by the same doctor (true story)… Their symptoms were similar to a neuroma but something was off since the bone hurt also. X-rays didn’t show anything. Diagnostic ultrasound /mri showed the precortical stress fracture on all 3. They were all scheduled to have a nerve removed that wasn’t the problem. With off weight bearing and some physical therapy or other treatment they all recovered in 3 weeks to 100%…this was over 25 years ago but what it taught me is to go very conservative and treat first to failure. Notice I didn’t mention steroid shots. I use them seldomly if ever. If I am injecting you I want a diagnostic ultrasound /mri first depending on what I am looking for. If you introduce steroid to a bone problem that is not obvious then you can weaken the bone.
So off weight bearing, some physical therapy, excersies to strengthen the area has been highly successful followed with orthotics once I can achieved a moderate /major decrease of pain. Ice and over the counter Volteran work great with off loading. If injecting I usually use amniotic growth factor since it seems to work much better then cortisone.
I also rarely use the neuroma pad in my orthotics. Some orthos and chiros do it routinely. Every patient is different and the approach should not be cookie cutter. Your needs are different then an elite athlete etc.
Thank you for a very thorough explanation! Your user name corroborates your explanation.
Personally I feel that many in the allopathic medical field take a one size fits all approach. I’ve been fortunate that (so far) I’ve weeded those out for the kind that are more interested in getting to the root cause(s). Of course as I get older more “little” things are presenting themselves and I’m starting to see the “one size” approach again.