What is a ‘Morton’s Neuroma’ of the foot? 

Repetitive damage to the nerves between the toes from tight or ill-fitting shoes can lead to the nerves being thickened and inflamed and give rise to a painful neuroma – this is known as Morton’s Neuroma. The ball of the foot is one of the most unpleasant places to have a neuroma as this point of the foot takes a lot of body weight. 
 
Patients may complain of numbness or burning, typically between the third and fourth toes.   

Treatment 

To treat the condition, an insole can help to offload the painful neuroma. If that doesn’t help, then a steroid injection can reduce, temporarily, some of the inflammation and discomfort. 

But what if it is still sore?  

Surgery to remove the nerve works well. It is nerve surgery so the procedure is delicate and needs to be done by someone experienced in managing this condition. The results are good. It’s a day case procedure, done under a short anesthetic, and you are allowed to walk on it afterwards. 

A patient’s experience 

Gillian C was back to running after a few weeks and she emailed me once she got her personal best: 

“I just wanted to let you know I ran a 10k at the weekend and ran my best time ever… 49 mins 20! 

392nd out of 7421 women and position 1843 out of 12,111 people in total. 

Thank you, as this did not seem possible last year. 

Best 
Gillian” 

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Mr Sam Singh, Consultant Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Surgeon

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