Hello all,
I had my MN surgery on May 6 - through the top of the left foot. Last week I started cramming my still swollen foot into a walking shoe and walking very slowly on a treadmill. Things went great and every day for a week I gradually upped the speed and time (last walk was 35 minutes at 2.6 mph - no incline, so still a very conservative pace). The last three days however, my foot has been sore and the swelling has increased a bit. I'm frustrated by the interruption to my recovery - I haven't walked on the treadmill for three days because of the uncomfortable tenderness and swelling. I can only wear athletic shoes loosely laced or open strap sandals (like Teva sandals), no other "normal" shoes yet.
I know recovery times vary, but I'd love any advice. I've been massaging the top of the foot with Mederma 3-5 times a day and gently rubbing the underside of the foot where it feels hard. When I massage the underside of the foot I get tiny "electric shock" sensations that radiate out into my toes.
I go to Italy in two weeks and am nervous about the long flights creating more swelling in my foot, or the long trip setting my recovery back even further.
I had my MN surgery on May 6 - through the top of the left foot. Last week I started cramming my still swollen foot into a walking shoe and walking very slowly on a treadmill. Things went great and every day for a week I gradually upped the speed and time (last walk was 35 minutes at 2.6 mph - no incline, so still a very conservative pace). The last three days however, my foot has been sore and the swelling has increased a bit. I'm frustrated by the interruption to my recovery - I haven't walked on the treadmill for three days because of the uncomfortable tenderness and swelling. I can only wear athletic shoes loosely laced or open strap sandals (like Teva sandals), no other "normal" shoes yet.
I know recovery times vary, but I'd love any advice. I've been massaging the top of the foot with Mederma 3-5 times a day and gently rubbing the underside of the foot where it feels hard. When I massage the underside of the foot I get tiny "electric shock" sensations that radiate out into my toes.
I go to Italy in two weeks and am nervous about the long flights creating more swelling in my foot, or the long trip setting my recovery back even further.
I have two neuromas in my right foot, guessing from having 9 surgeries to my right knee. I am wondering if anybody knows what causes mortons neuromas? I do believe that I have at least one nueroma in my left foot and I am wondering if it because I spent several years with my wieght being on my left foot (22 months on crutches is just for one of the surgeries alone) and after the 6th or 7th surgery I eventually ended up better(knee only) for approx 2 1/2 years but my femar bone on my right side is 3/4 inches shorter than my left side. I always stand on my left foot when standing still and when walking my left side takes the brunt of the wieght because of issues with my right knee. Does any one know if this could be the cause of a nueroma on the left foot? I am do to have surgery later this year to fix my right foot since the neuroma is "extremely large" as the doctor put it while the second one is not quite as large. After reading these blogs I am left wondering what to do. I have not been able to wear a close toed shoe for over 7 years now, and when I do (stubberness of course) within anywhere from 2-15 minutes I have to take my shoe off because of an incredible pain that I can not even describe. The pain is worse than when they cut my femar bone in half twice(separate surgeries). If anyone has any answers or ideas to my questions please respond I would appreciate any feed back that I can get. I am going to discuss all the things that I have read on this blog site to see what he has to say. Yes, I do have a very good doctor for this, I had one in my area and without going into details, he was in compitent to say the least. So to any one out there that has a doctor in there area that specializes in foot/ankle and they run into what I did with mine I do suggest very strongly to take the long drive and get the best doctor that you can in your state. Two last questions, Would you wait and finish knee surgeries before fixing the foot issue? What is your experience in recovery time?
I am having this surgury next week, and im a bit nervous. Im taking vicodin to relieve the pain until the surgury and probably after too. My incision will beon the top of my foot, can anyone tell me some experiences andwhat to expect?
THanks!
THanks!
This was my previous post. It is now August 17th and I'm back from Italy. When I arrived in Italy the deepest part of the incision had very slightly reopened and was bleeding just a tiny bit and oozing some yellow pus. Despite compression socks and getting up every hour on my transatlantic flight, the foot swelled up quite a bit and was sore. I managed to get some antibacterial cream at the Italian pharmacy and after about a week and a half it healed back up nicely. It was swollen and sore most of the time I was in Italy (34 days), but this was probably largely due to walking A LOT every day on uneven cobblestones and walking up and down lots of stairs, as well as being at a higher altitude with pretty high temperatures and no air-conditioning and also a pretty big jump in my salt intake. The trip back home to the states went well and there was not nearly as much swelling, and no problem with the incision site. After a couple of days home with my foot elevated and some icing all the swelling has gone down and the foot is looking a lot better. There are so many stories on this website it really is hard to know what to expect and what a "normal" recovery time is. I admit I am impatient and had hoped for a full recovery by now, but I have also not taken it very easy, and maybe pushed myself too hard too soon in anticipation of my big trip. I plan on not even walking on the treadmill for the next couple of weeks, just yoga or tai chi, to allow my foot some much needed rest and recovery after all of the walking. I will also do some massage work with a tennis ball, rolling my foot on top to see how that goes. I promise I'll update when things get better! My advice to everyone right now would definitely be to TAKE AS MUCH RECOVERY TIME OFF YOUR FOOT AS POSSIBLE! Don't be in a hurry to walk or run on that foot. It is your foot after all, you aren't going to get another one, and taking extra time off work and on your butt is well worth it (and in the end you might end up recovering even faster!)
I am so sorry to see so many people who have not done well with this surgery. I had classic symptoms of MN and opted to have the surgery after all other means failed. It has been 5 years and I have had no trouble with the area whatsoever. The recovery was a little longer than I had hoped...very active, working mother of two very small children, at the time. Take it easy and do exactly as your doctor prescribes, you should be fine. Beats the heck out of the constant pain pre-surgery. Good luck! I hope you make the right decision.
hello im having surgeory on tuesday 15th September and after reading this i feel sick, im in pain and im a 26 year old girl and can no longer where nice heels, have to wear flats and hurts when im walking, but im worried about blood clots and infection? is this comething anyone has experienced??? im sooooooooo frightned i want t cry i have a little boy and i keep thinking the worst
I had the same problem with scar tissue after Mortons neuroma surgery and my doctor suggested breaking it up with (first) a tennis ball rubbed on the area at least twice a day. (second) Moving onto a racquet ball the second week and (third) finally a golf ball the final week. He said this would bust up the scar tissue and de-sensitize the area. I'm on my second day of the tennis ball and it hurts in the most unexplainable way. Hopefully it will work and all be worth it! Good luck with yours... The other option is to go to physical therapy and have them do it for you! OUCH!
I have neuroma related pain in both feet. I chose to avoid surgery, since my feet only hurt when I ski. Custom fit ski boots did not help. After 3 years of agonizing experimentation, I found the only solution was to switch to snowboarding. The real key was to use bindings with a toe strap. Snowboard bindings that strap over the top of my foot were just as bad as ski boots. I hope this this message will save someone else from having to go through years of trial and error.
I had surgery on my mortons neuroma in my left foot three days ago. Doing great so far. No pain. My doctor (Dr, Jonathon Norton) went in from the top missing all tendons and muscles to sneak in and remove the neuroma. He showed it to me, it was yellow and very enlarged, he said it would most likely never improved. I had tried everything: cortizone injections, chiropractic manipulation, herbs, homeopathic, electrical accupuncture, cyro-surgery by Dr, Katz in Tampa Florida. I had lost some feeling after the cyro-surgery and did improve 50 percent but I could tell when I walked it was putting pressure on the nerve. I never took one pain pill since the surgery and experienced zero pain so far. The feeling in my toes was gone the day of my surgery three days later it is starting to come back. Dr. Norton is a pro and I highly recommend you research your doctor. Dr. Norton does more than one per week and hasn"t a complication in ten years. His technique of extracting the damaged nerve without cutting any tendons and muscles is his key to his incredible success rate. He is the Dr. they call in our area if someone has crushed their feet in an accident and needs it reconstructed. Find out who does that in your area. They are the pros.
I have had a problem with Morton's neuroma off and on for a few years. But now it is chronic. I cant tolerate anti inflamatories and I dont want to have an operation. So I used my TENS machine for the past week with great results. I have also used the TENS for chronic lower back pain about 15yrs ago and still use it for strained muscles, tennis elbow etc ie. any painful or inflamed area. Its well worth buying one.
For the neuroma, I set the pulse width to 140 , the frequency to 100 and used it in the intermittent or burst mode. I placed one of the electrode pads over the painful area on the top of the foot, and the 2nd one under the foot, directly below the top pad. I left it on for 30min at a time with a 15 minute rest period inbetween. I did this for several hours while watching TV at night with my foot elevated for 3 evenings in a row and saw improvements every day. On my 3rd day off, I only felt the return of a slight tingling/burning sensation. So Ive restarted using the TENS for an hour or two each night. I plan to continue the treatment as many times as necessary. As with my lower back problem, I know that the affect of the TENS is cumulative so that you need it less and less. Good luck to all you sufferers. Its amazing how few people know about this painful condition.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed. I have had a cortisone shot for my MN on my right foot, had special orthodics made which help along with my $15o New Balance sneakers (only shoes I can wear) but am still having pain and debating surgery. Would anyone recommend a surgeon / podiatrist surgeon in the San Diego area?
Any time my MN gives me trouble I use my TENS machine for a night or two while watching TV. It reduces inflammation and pain. Also found rubbing the spot with Zostrix HP lotion brings almost instant relieve. Its based on capsaicin 0..75%. After 8 yrs Im still surgery free!
really wish I'd not had the surgery. More painful after. that's 2 years on.
I had the surgery on my left foot - from the bottom, a little over three weeks ago. Right now I can almost walk normally. I wear gauze around the incision for padding. I had one week with no weight bearing - crutches & boot. Also, no water on foot for first week. I was ready to be able to wash my foot!!! I had one week easy weight bearing, where I only "had to" use the boot. I used the crutches for the first half of that week anyways, because it was much easier to get around. At my 2 week follow up, I was out of the boot, back into my normal shoes. My normal shoes are tennis shoes with extra wide toe box, that was all I could tolerate after years with the neuroma. It accommodates the wrapped gauze quite well.
So far, my experience has been: I've had no pain that was as bad as the burning pain, as long as I followed directions. When I transitioned from the boot to my shoe, I had a little more swelling and pain than during the previous week. According to my pedometer, at 3 weeks post op, I'm walking my usual 3 miles a day (6500 steps throughout the day).
I have dissolving stitches. I was concerned when I fist got out of surgery, because the skin was bunched up by the stitches, and made a "lump" under my foot. At about 3 weeks, that has started to go down.
My first couple days I took the prescribed pain meds, as much as was prescribed. Day 3&4 I eased up on them alot, and haven't needed them since.
I'm only 3 weeks in, but so far am very pleased with my surgery.
So far, my experience has been: I've had no pain that was as bad as the burning pain, as long as I followed directions. When I transitioned from the boot to my shoe, I had a little more swelling and pain than during the previous week. According to my pedometer, at 3 weeks post op, I'm walking my usual 3 miles a day (6500 steps throughout the day).
I have dissolving stitches. I was concerned when I fist got out of surgery, because the skin was bunched up by the stitches, and made a "lump" under my foot. At about 3 weeks, that has started to go down.
My first couple days I took the prescribed pain meds, as much as was prescribed. Day 3&4 I eased up on them alot, and haven't needed them since.
I'm only 3 weeks in, but so far am very pleased with my surgery.
R u still on here? I have a ? For u about ur toes separating.