Putting aside the fact living wouldn’t be possible in the first place, your life would be rather dull without your nerves. After all, you wouldn’t be able to feel, see, touch, taste, or smell anything—and those senses obviously contribute greatly to the human experience.
At the same time, nerves can become damaged and lead to certain problems. Such is the case when you develop a neuroma in a foot and start having painful symptoms.
The good news is that you don’t have to just accept the fact you have nerve pain in your foot. There are possible treatment options, and we provide them so you can find relief and have the ability to go back to performing your favorite activities.
Of course, the first step in getting the neuroma treatment you need is being able to understand this condition.
The starting point with understanding neuromas is actually your peripheral nervous system.
See, your body’s nervous system actually has two subsystems—the central and peripheral nervous systems. Your central nervous system is your brain and spinal cord, which handles processing functions. Your peripheral nerves are the ones that branch out from the spine and extend throughout your entire body.
Your peripheral nerves are responsible for both collecting sensory information and triggering muscular response (so you are able to move). These particular nerves communicate back and forth with the central nervous system, which then allows your brain to process and experience sensations.
And this is where neuromas enter the picture.
Basically, neuromas are small bundles of frayed nerve endings that ball up or attach to non-nerve tissues. This can happen when nerves are damaged, pinched, or cut. Whereas you can develop neuromas almost anywhere in your lower limbs where you can find nerves, the most common form is the Morton’s neuroma.
In this particular case, the nerve between two metatarsal heads in the ball of the foot—specifically, those near the base of the second and third toes—becomes abnormally thickened, which is a bit different than when a nerve tumor forms in response to some kind of damage or injury. The thickened condition develops on account of compression on the nerve from either the two bones or the soft tissues between them.
When the nerve is compressed, it becomes inflamed (swollen and thickened).
With regards to neuroma symptoms, the most obvious ones are felt (not seen). They include burning, tingling, and electrical sensations, but numbness is another possible sign of this nerve condition. Also, you might feel phantom sensations, such have the feeling as though you’re standing on a pebble or other small object when none is actually present.
We touched on this from a very general perspective in noting that neuromas can be attributed to injury and compression, but many patients wonder what specifically contributed to the issue.
Well, as with many other foot-related problem, there isn’t a single, definitive cause of this condition in a mechanical context. Basically, there are lots of different ways neuromas develop, including:
When it comes to home relief for your neuroma pain, some remedies that might be beneficial include:
As a general rule, you will likely find that home remedies for neuroma pain may provide temporary relief, but they do not replace professional treatment.
With regards to professional neuroma treatment, we will take the time to properly assess your situation and arrive at an official diagnosis. At that point, we typically begin treatment by exploring conservative options, assuming they are appropriate for your unique case.
Conservative options for treating a neuroma include:
If conservative care does not provide desired results, we can discuss surgical options—and we will discuss neuroma surgery in our next blog post.
Even if this sounds exactly like the problem you are experiencing, it’s essential that you come in for professional diagnosis and treatment. Other nerve-related conditions can cause similar—or even exactly the same—symptoms as the ones you can experience from a neuroma.
For expert diagnosis and effective treatment, request an appointment with Wilks Advanced Foot Care in Roseburg, OR. Call us today at (541) 673-0742 and our staff will be happy to assist you in scheduling an appointment and answer any questions you might have.