alcohol injections morton neuroma causing scar tissue

Hello everybody. I believe that I have morton neuroma which is causing a mass of scar tissue on my right foot. I’m going to see my doc tomorrow for that and I really don’t know what will he say about all that. Also, I don’t have a clue what treatment he will advise me… So, my question is: what do you think which treatment is the best??? I heard something about alcohol injections and that they are very good in these conditions…Any comments?

Man, there are numerous treatment options available for Morton's neuroma and the one you should apply really depends on the individual case. Possible treatments go from no treatment at all, conservative methods to surgical care. For example, the conservative alternatives include tape strapping of the foot to provide additional support and similar but most of these approaches are less successful. Other conservative treatments involve vitamin B12 injections, corticosteroid injections, and dilute alcohol injections – the one you mentioned. So, alcohol injections are one possible treatment, but, as I’ve already said, the treatment is individual and can differ from one patient to another. I think that your doc will know which one is the best for you…

I was diagnosed with Morton's neuroma (two, actually in one foot) almost 6 months ago. Although conservative therapies (ibuprofen, orthotics, decreasing activity level, decreasing heel heights, icing) provided temporary relief, I am an overweight ballroom dancer so that foot takes a lot of abuse. After a few weeks we did cortisone injections, which gave me instanteous relief (except for the brusing/swelling associated with the injections). This relief lasted maybe 3 weeks for me (usually longer for others). So then we went on to a series of sclerosing (dilute alcohol) injections. While the shots themselves are not a lot of fun, they're not as painful as cortisone injections. This seems to have helped a lot. It's not perfect yet but I think another series or two will take care of it. I chose this path over surgery at my sports podiatrist's recommendation because I would rather lose some sensation in and around my toes than risk creating scar tissue in an already overcrowded area of my foot. As for things you can do yourself, though, regular icing will provide a lot of relief and has the least negative impact on other aspects of your health.

MY BROTHER JUST VISTED HIS 3 RD PODIATRIST TODAY FOR MORTONS NEURO..HE IS GOING TO START THE ALCOHOL INJECTIONS..SUCCESS RATE IS GOOD FOR SHRINKING THE MASS AND ALIVEATING THE DISCOMFORT..HIS WAS CAUSED BY HAMMER TOE SURGERY. GOOGLE ALCOHOL INJECTIONS TO SEE THE STATS.
GOOD LUCK

I recently went thru a series of cortisone shots which did not work and then started alcohol injections - the podiatrist which did this did not finish the treatment he only did 2 and with having no relief stopped the treatment causing me to have surgery with an Orthopedic Surgeon who told me he caused more injury to my foot with the alcohol injections - do not believe in them and wondering if they are FDA approved? Don't think so and don't think podiatrists should be even suggesting these without more information the neuroma i had surgically removed was the size of a grape so I do not believe in this way of treating patients at all I am now in the process of searching for legal action against this podiatrist for the damage he did to my foot with the injections - THEY DO NOT WORK SORRY!!!!!!!!

I must be going to a very good podiatrist. Also, I had researched things ahead of time and talked with friends who had the shots also. It is my understanding that it can take anywhere from one to seven injections to get the desired results. I have been through a course of them (started this past December). I can actually feel my toes again! Hello!

I have only heard horrible things about the repercussions of surgery. People of talked with that have had it are still in pain. Their toes are still numb. And the point of surgery was what then? Go from pain and numbness to pain and numbness. Sorry, I wanted to be out of pain and not be numb anymore....

terrie59 wrote:

I recently went thru a series of cortisone shots which did not work and then started alcohol injections - the podiatrist which did this did not finish the treatment he only did 2 and with having no relief stopped the treatment causing me to have surgery with an Orthopedic Surgeon who told me he caused more injury to my foot with the alcohol injections - do not believe in them and wondering if they are FDA approved? Don't think so and don't think podiatrists should be even suggesting these without more information the neuroma i had surgically removed was the size of a grape so I do not believe in this way of treating patients at all I am now in the process of searching for legal action against this podiatrist for the damage he did to my foot with the injections - THEY DO NOT WORK SORRY!!!!!!!!

terrie59... I'm curious how you're doing now after having surgery and problems caused from injections. I am currently getting the PAINFUL alcohol injections. Only on my second and have been told I should have some relief after the third. I sure hope so because I'm a whimp to pain and also because these shots are an extremely expensive experiment. Before starting them I almost felt it would be financially and physically worth it to just go through the surgery and get it done with. Until..... I did some research and found that the surgery is not always the end of the pain. Sometimes it causes a different pain from the first. So I decided to go with the injections. Wish I had found this site before I started them because now after reading your post I'm a tad nervous. Maybe I should have gone with my first thought? Fill us all in on your progress please. Thanks

I had surgery from an orthopedic surgeon to remove a neuroma. It was the worst decision I have ever made. He initially gave me one cortisone injection and after that did not work, he suggested surgery. I have had nothing but pain ever since. It feels worse than before when I still had the neuroma. A friend of a friend later told me that they too had a the same condition and was treated by a podiatrist with alcohol injections. She is now painfree after only 5 injections. The orthopedic surgeon never even mentioned this type of treatment. I did some research on the alcohol injections and there are apparently several published articles on this treatment. My only regret was not going to a foot specialist to have the alcohol injections before having surgery.