I have never heard of anyone
I have never heard of anyone getting a neuroma from hitting their foot into something, but I guess it's possible.
Sorry for the repeated info to everyone who has heard this before, but here goes:
Studies show the number one cause of MN is they types of shoes we wear.
I would suggest you get an ultrasound to verify that you do indeed have a neuroma. I have four of them, two in each foot, and I cannot feel them by pressing on them, and one of them is ginormous, but other people may be able to feel theirs. I can, however, feel the one without even touching it. It just makes its presense known. Regardless, you need to see that monster to know what you are dealing with, to know that you are truly dealing with a neuroma.
Once you get a real diagnosis of a neuroma there are ways you can try to treat it before succumbing to other damaging therapies and/or surgery.
One that works for some people is called Serrapeptase, an all natural substance created by the silk worm used to dissolve its cocoon. They found that Serrapeptase dissolves scar tissue as well, and that's basically what a neuroma is. It's a nerve that has enlarged due to scar tissue. You take about 120,000 IU each day (3 pills of 20,000 IU twice each day) with lots of water. You can take it half an hour before you eat, but I wouldn't eat anything 2 hours before or after, which is really important to make sure that your body digests it properly. Then once a day use Magnesium Oil, which helps break up scar tissue and increases blood flow, to massage your foot. And take a B-Complex which helps nerve repair each day. Stay off your feet as much as possible for the next three to five weeks, no running. Learn more here:
http://serrapeptase.info/pain-overview/morton%e2%80%99s-neuroma/mortons-neuroma/ (And you don't have to buy the book.)
This hasn't worked for me yet, and I've been doing it for weeks, but I do have some seriously messed up nerves (I'll explain in a bit), but it has worked for others. The guy who told me about it was cured within three weeks. He noticed great improvement within one week. By week five, he hasn't looked back.
Then there are other procedures you can try. Are you ready for this?
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Here's my story as I've told it to others:
I'll attach my whole sorted story below, but warning, I am not a success story...not one procedure has worked for me. This is not to say that the procedures out there won't work for you. Most people have great success with the typical treatments. I just have resilient nerves, and at this point, it appears I may have to go with the last resort...traditional surgery. But to be honest, if I had known then what I know now, I would have elected for traditional surgery and had it over and done with. (Traditional surgery is when they go in and cut the neuromas out. If you go that way, then make sure they take enough of the nerve, so that if it grows back (stump neuroma), it won't be where the metatarsals can compress it.)
What is most important for you to know is that any treatment you have for MN requiring injections will cause you to develop scar tissue in the areas of the injections. This scar tissue will make other treatments down the road more difficult to be successful. Also know that if you try barefoot running for a while, you may be able to run farther than with something minimal; aqua socks/water shoes, socks, or Vibram FiveFingers may allow you to run and for many more months before you have to attempt your first treatment to combat the MN. I could only get 1 - 3 miles in traditional running shoes (trainers), 5 - 6 miles in VFFs, toward the end--just before I decided to have cryosurgery, I could run up to 17 miles fully barefoot. The FiveFingers help some people with MN and hurt some people with MN; some people get benefits from the toes being spread apart, some don't. Don't fret though - barefoot running is quite enjoyable for those who can stand to run barefoot with MN. Most of the people I have talked to who have MN and tried to run barefoot say it hurts a lot less than running with anything on their feet, and they are able to run much farther. Regardless, once it has reached a certain point (that is the neuroma has grown to a certain size) typically does not go away on its own. So doing nothing about it will not make it go away. The sooner you treat it, the better it will be for you. Fast forward to today, after the cryo 1-1/2 years ago, I can only wear the VFFs for about 20 minutes now before my nerves start to fire terribly, so the MN is progressing.
It's also important that you know WHAT caused this condition. Shoes constrict the movement of the metatarsals, preventing them from splaying properly. This confinement causes the metatarsals to press on the nerves causing them to grow. Any pressure on the toe box area/ball of your foot, will aggravate that area. Wearing any shoes with the heel elevated will also lead to your placing too much weight on the forefoot, which can also lead to MN. If it continues on untreated, you will find that you can only wear flip-flops. I can only wear flip-flops and VFFS for short periods of time. Also know, that when winter comes, I actually find it easier to run on the cold ground. The frozen ground keeps the nerves from swelling too much, although they will still swell after a few miles, so I am able to run on.
My first course of treatment was orthotics. As far as orthotics go, I believe wholeheartedly that for most people, they are a waste of money. I spent $300 out-of-pocket for custom-casted orthotics, and they only made my neuromas feel worse and gave me knee pain during my runs. (I would have to ice my knees after each run. Removed the orthotics, no more knee pain.) I would advise against them and say "save your money." Of course, a podiatrist will tell you the opposite. I can't honestly say they will or will not work for you. All I know is that there must be a reason why most health insurance companies don't cover them. Could it be because they've learned the success rates for treating foot conditions with orthotics is quite low, and considering the expense to make them, it’s not worth the gamble? I think so.)
If you are contemplating surgery, just know that traditional surgery isn't your only or first option. You could always try cortisone injections. The con with this is that the relief only lasts for a few short months, if it works at all; I believe from talking to many other people on the running forums that only very few people experience relief, and all of them have to repeat the shots a few short months later. This didn't work for me at all. (On a side note: I also understand that cortisone can break down tendons, and if inserted in the heel for plantar fasciitis can cause fat pad atrophy (breaks down the tissues in the heel) and can cause the plantar fascia to rupture.) Please discuss this with your doctor.
Now about the shots, any and all types of shots...they are NOT supposed to hit the nerve, just place the needle near the nerve. If you decide to have any type of shots, be sure they use the "Cold Spray" first, and if it is of a low concentration that they actually spray it for SEVERAL seconds before inserting the needle; if it is of a high concentration, you will know it pretty quickly as it can actually feel as though your skin is burning. If you get someone who is competent, the pain is tolerable. It is also very important that the doctor has an assistant/nurse with him when/while he does it. My first podiatrist decided to forgo his nurse and do the cortisone injection by himself. He only held the spray on for like 3 s
econds with one hand and then stuck/jabbed the needle in with the other. The needle went ALL THE WAY through my foot! He actually hit the nerve as it punctured through. This caused some sort of reaction--there's a medical term for it, but I can't remember it--and I began to hyperventilate, and I had trouble breathing. My hands folded like lobster claws, and I couldn't open them up. My waist was bending, and it was as if I was being forced to double over. I was extremely hot and perspiring. This lasted nearly 7-10 minutes. Needless to say, I searched for another doctor and other options.
Another option is Alcohol Sclerosing injections. The point of the Alcohol Sclerosing shots is to kill the nerve. My second podiatrist used B-12 in the injections, which made absolutely no sense to me. The shot is supposed to kill the nerve, but the B-12 is supposed to support cell growth. To me, that's a contradiction. (The con is that it takes anywhere from 3 to 7 sessions/visits to complete; depending on how many neuromas you have. I have 2 in each foot, so therefore, each session involved 4 needles. I went 4 times. That's 16 needles. Many people have experienced success with this. Some felt complete relief, and others felt only some relief. I felt absolutely NO relief.)
Then there's Digital Electrical Analgesic Shockwave Therapy--with numbing shots. This procedure is believed to rejuvenate cell growth/speed healing. (This may or may not work for you...who knows, since it's a fairly new procedure. Apparently, the technology has been around for a number of years, but the process for treating MN and other foot problems is really new. It didn't work for me. I understand that if you don't feel relief after the first session, there is NO NEED in going for a second session, third, etc. No one bothered to tell this to me, so I went for 5 sessions and gave up. Those 5 sessions involved 2 sessions of numbing injections. That's 8 more needles!) Another thing I didn't understand was why would a podiatrist perform Alcohol Sclerosing injections to kill the nerves in 4 previous visits but then the same doctor send me to 5 sessions for a procedure that promotes cell health? Was he trying to kill them or give them life?
I had ultrasound-guided cryosurgery on all four nerves during the last week in April 2010. (Notice I said ultrasound-guided. I fully believe there is no other right way to do this. If the doctor can’t see what it is he is freezing, then how does he know what he is freezing-bone, tendons, ligaments, etc.?) With cryosurgery, you are completely awake; therefore, this surgery required three more shots per nerve (one inserted near the neuroma and the other two inserted between the fine webbing of the toes). Since I had four neuromas, that equated to 12 more needles. Then there were four teensy-weensy incisions made in the webbing to allow the cryoprobes to be inserted. You aren't supposed to feel the doctor turn up the dial to the cryoprobe, but I did on one nerve quite intensely and had to just deal with it. Recovery was quite painful and took forever to heal from. Others have reported getting back to work within a few days. They more than likely did not have four neuromas with both feet affected. After the surgery, I was pretty much immobile for 2-1/2 months and didn't begin to get around or even attempt to run until 3-1/2 months afterwards. In that time, I got around by walking on my heels just trying to avoid putting any pressure or weight on the balls of my feet where the cryoprobes were inserted, since it was so painful to do so otherwise. I developed a bad case of Plantar Fasciitis because I was walking around on my heels for so long. I was led to believe that the recovery from cryosurgery was to be quick, only 2-6 weeks, not months! That was the purpose for choosing cyrosurgery over traditional surgery: the down-time is less, and it is less invasive.
It is possible that I have developed so much scar tissue from the many prior injections--37 needles in all!--and it was seen on ultrasound before and during the surgery, that the cryoprobes were unable to penetrate the scar tissue to reach the neuromas accurately. (See special note about scar tissue above.) Although others have had success with cryosurgery, it didn't work for me. I sometimes still have the rubber band snapping feeling when I first place my feet on the floor and for several steps afterwards, which is a good indication that my problem has not resolved. After all this time has passed, I still have no relief, I still have trouble walking or running on soft surfaces (carpet, grass, sand, trails), the neuromas still hurt terribly if I've been on my feet for a long period of time, and the amount I can run is getting to be less and less, even while running truly barefoot. Now, it looks like traditional surgery is the only option left for me, and I am considering doing so in January or February.
