Mortons Neuroma Has anyone had this?

[orangeflutie]

Yesterday I had an ultrasound on my left foot and it's now confirmed that I have a 'Mortons Neuroma'. It's a benign tumour that has grown between my second and third toes. I haven't been able to run for a while due to foot pain and this is the cause of it.

I have opted for surgery as this seems to be the best option. Apparently the tumour is quite fibrous and probably won't respond to steroid treatment. What I wondered was has anyone had surgery to remove the tumour and was it successful? How long did it take to recover etc.. I'm due to see the surgeon next month but probably operation won't take place until next year.

no personal experience but a mum at school had this last year and had the op to remove it and it all went fine. Once she had it removed she couldn't believe she had put up with it for so long before!

I can't remember how long it took her to recover. I will ask her and if i find anything else that might be helpful I'll get back to you.

good luck

I had one removed 2 years ago.

I spent 2 years trying to get a GP to believe me, saw a consultant privately, tried a massive steroid injection, which did nothing (in fact I think it made it worse), and finally had it operated on. By the time it was done I could barely walk it was so painful.

It has been a huge relief having it removed, but mine was huge and the pain was incredible.

There are some downsides though. I do sometimes have the same pain as it caused, in the same place, despite the fact that there is no longer a nerve there - it's due to the damaged nerve end that was left behind. I also have tingling and pins and needles. And some parts of my foot (very close to the site to be fair) have no feeling, others are hypersensitive. So there are issues of neuropathy. I don't have no feeling at all in any toe, but I do have a lack of feeling on the side of one, the top of it and part of the side of another.

In terms of fitness - two years later I am still overweight and horrendously unfit. But, I'd been unable to run/jog for over a year before I had the surgery, and found walking (and even standing) extremely painful for about 6 months, so I'd gained lots of weight etc before the surgery. And before I was clear of the 8 week recovery period I was pregnant with DC1. And just when I got back to my pre-preg weight and was looking forward to tackling my neuroma weight and unfitness I got pregnant with DC2 :o I don't think it should be a problem if you're still able to walk etc now and if you don't get pregnant and crave pizza.

I would absolutely have one removed again though. The more you walk on them the larger and more painful they can get and before you know it you're practically immobile. I have had a couple of niggles in the same place on the other foot (common to have them both sides) and I'm going to see a GP asap. It took so long to get it sorted last time that I want to start the process early.

Oh, mine was cause by being very sporty with hypermobile joints. The bones in my feet were moving as I ran/jumped/whatevered and started to inflame the nerve. So I feel doubly pissed off about my current fitness levels and size.

Also, I was really hacked off with my scar. I was told it'd be tiny and barely visible. A year later it was still raised and red.

I noticed a little black dot at the bottom which (being at the time a medical student) I investigated and could feel a lump, but with an edge. So I scratched and it moved. So I got hold and pulled. And 3 inches of blue surgical thread came down the scar line (I could see it move down under the skin, like in horror films) and out. Since then my scar had gone flat and is paler. Still bigger than I was promised, but I think over a year of thread in there hasn't helped. And it's not that noticeable if I don't have suntanned feet.

Wow thanks for all the replies:)

gremlindolphin If you can find out about recovery time that would be very helpful thank you. I've been told it's about three weeks and I won't be able to drive. May have to find an automatic car:)

Footle I'm quite scared about the surgery and have been told I will probably lose some sensation between my toes. However I love running and am quite miserable not being able to do anything other than short walks atm.
So I feel I have to go for it really as nothing else will actually get rid of it.

ImpYCelyn at thread left in. I hope that doesn't happen that often!
Interesting that yours was big. Mine is quite substantial too and also not helped by the fact I've had foot pain since May and didn't do anything as I thought it would probably go away. Added to this I had an operation (for something else) in June and was on such hefty painkillers I thought my foot was better! I wish now I'd done something sooner. I was hoping when I saw the podiatrist for the first time he would just say I'd broken my toe and would strap it, but no nothing so simple:(

It does seem ironic that this injury happens just by trying to keep fit and enjoying sport.

I had my foot up in bed for about 3-5 days - minimal walking. The next week I went on a course and walked with crutches. The week after that I was basically walking fine. I was told 2 weeks for driving, but it was my left foot. If it's your right foot I think you have to do an emergency stop to check you can do it without pain, and therefore hesitation.

I think running is 8 weeks.

generally these are quite easy to remove and recovery is usually swift providing you are in reasonable health.
They are fairly common and the majority of surgeons should have plenty of experience in removing them.
I have been in the foothealth business for 11 years and never known one to respond well to steroid injections. Surgery is 99% of the time the best way.

This is very helpful. Im earlier stages with mine and currently using orthotic insoles to control the discomfort. I will know to go straight to surgery rather than steroid injections.

My husband had the op last Dec and recovered very quickly. He ran the London Marathon in April.

kunahero That's good to know thank you.

AppleHEAD It's great your DH recovered quickly and managed to run in the marathon. The London Marathon is something I've wanted to do for years but I've never managed to get a place and have been plagued by injuries. That's really good news as it means it's possible and there's hope for me yet:)

:o

I suffered with this a few years ago. It just suddenly came on and hurt like an absolute bastard. Saw the GP and podiatrist, who got me some pads to walk on. It stopped hurting randomly after a few months of wearing the pads. It doesn't hurt any more but there's still a big hard lump there. I hope the pain doesn't come back, it was awful. :(

Just to update on this thread, I now have a date for the operation - the 26th March. So not too much longer and at least it's then not too long until the Easter hols so no school runs to worry about. I'll be glad to have it as my foot is really quite painful now, but I'm also dreading it IFKWIM.

I've just got to get through the next couple of weeks. At the moment I'm worrying about how I'm going to cope after the op. DH has got the first week off work but it's unlikely he'll be able to get anymore time off and I won't be able to drive for a while as the op is on my left foot.

Wondering if I should pay for some help as I have no family nearby, but not sure how much I can afford. Any thoughts?

Yes I will Footle personally I just want it fixed now. I've had enough!

I've had this operation and was over the moon with the result. Pain went immediately. I'm a single Mum and coped on my own just fine. I just hobbled about slowly. Was walking normally after about 5 days.

Hope all goes well for you x

I'm a hpc registered podiatrist, personally I would ask the surgoen to cut it out from the top of the foot not the bottom.

It is more involved to do it this way but if you cut through the skin on the bottom of the foot some patients develop a corn over the scar which needs removing every 4 weeks or so.

You cannot predict which patients will get this and plenty of people on here will have had the plantar skin cut with no side effects but I have been very cross with surgoens in the past who have left patients like this and then the nhs refuses to treat the corn leaving the patient paying for private care.

A corn feels like a permenant stone in your shoe (so I am told! Never had one).

Good luck with your op.

I have one too along with a bunion on the same foot. I have orthotics which are helpful but only possess 1 pair of boots they fit into.
I'm hoping to sweet talk the surgeon into treating both at once

And another HPC registered pod here!

I've seen them done a few times and used to work in orthopaedics. My big suggestion is to REST and keep your wait off it as advised to reduce scarring - this is especially important if the cut is on the bottom of your foot. Unlike "bunion" ops there is no bone cutting going on and so the recovery isn't too bad by comparison.

I'm not contradicting Fluffycloud - certainly I've seen plenty of scars on the bottom of the foot cause problems - but research suggests that there is a higher success rate with removing the neuroma from the bottom of the foot than the top (please don't ask me for the reference :) ). Your surgeon will have had a lot of experience with these things so trust that the approach they take is the one they think is best for you.

Good luck! It isn't until the pain has gone that you realise how bad it really was.

I agree with Vege, Rest is the answer. Mine was cut underneath my foot, also had plantar faciitus surgery on sole of foot and have had no prob with scarring.

Yes Doin, but you cant predict it wont happen to op and I would rather see a patient not exposed to risk.