Treating Neuromas
A neuroma is an inflamed nerve. In the foot, the most common place for a neuroma is between the third and fourth toes. The main nerve to your foot originates in the spine and travels down the back of the leg to the bottom of the foot and out to the toes. When the nerve becomes irritated, electrical or burning pain shoots out to the toes when walking. The second, third and fourth toes can become numb. There can be a sensation of walking on a lamp cord or a lump. Removing the shoe and massaging the ball of the foot can bring relief.
To help decrease the pain, try the following tips:
1. Rest. Every step you take aggravates the nerve. Decreasing the time on your feet will help decrease the inflammation. If you walk for exercise, try biking or swimming instead.
2. Avoid activities that aggravate the pain. Squatting, walking or running hills, climbing up and down stairs and carrying heavy items will increase the stress through the ball of the foot and irritate the nerve. Taking the stress off the nerve will help decrease the irritation, decrease the inflammation and accelerate healing.
3. Wear low-heel shoes. Any shoe (cowboy boots or high heeled dress shoes) will place excessive pressure on the ball of the foot. Keep the heel height below 1 inch.
4. Wear shoes with a wide toe box. If the toes are cramped together, this places pressure on the nerve, worsening the irritation. Your toes should have enough room to "wiggle".
5. Wear rigid shoes. Wearing flexible shoes increases the force placed through the ball of the foot. A rigid shoe with a rocker sole will decrease the pressure on the nerve.
6. Ice your foot. Placing ice of the ball of the foot for 20 minutes once or twice a day will decrease pain and inflammation.
7. Use contrast soaks. Start with 5 minutes of heat, then apply 5 minutes of ice, then switch back to heat and alternate for 20-30 minutes. Contrasting between hot and cold will help decrease the inflammation around the nerve.
8. Place a neuroma pad in your shoe. A neuroma pad (similar to a metatarsal pad) can be placed in the shoe, under the ball of the foot. The pad lifts up the bones in the foot to help decrease the pressure on the nerve. The pad should be placed behind the ball of the foot.
9. Slip inserts into your shoe. Make sure the insert you buy is an orthotic. The device should be semi-rigid to help control motion in the foot. These can be bought at your local running shop or sports store.
10. See your podiatrist. If the pain persists after taking these steps, make an appointment with your podiatrist.
Christine Dobrowolski is a podiatrist and the author of Those Aching Feet: Your Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment of Common Foot Problems. To learn more about Dr. Dobrowolski and her book visit http://www.skipublishing.com. For information on products which help treat neuromas visit http://www.northcoastfootcare.com.
Latest News
BioImagene CEO, Dr. Ajit Singh, Speaks On Enabling Personalized ... MarketWatch - Digital pathology, a key enabler for personalized medicine, will aid clinicians in managing and interpreting data from a whole new set of diagnostic tests ... Aperio Introduces SecondSlide(TM) Digital Slide Sharing Network |
 SmartAboutHealth | Medicine for the Job Market New York Times, United States - By JONATHAN GRUBER A CENTRAL feature of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign was an aggressive plan to expand health insurance coverage by subsidizing ... Reform or bust New Report Shows Slower Premium Growth, But Increasing Pressure to ... Health Corps |
 dBTechno | American College of Surgeons Comments on Institute of Medicine ... MarketWatch - CHICAGO, Dec 03, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The American College of Surgeons (ACS) today recognized the Institute of Medicine (IOM) for its ... BMC Internal Medicine Residency Program Achieves National ... Report urges more sleep for medical residents Medical Residents Must Sleep After 16 Hours, Experts Urge |
Research and Markets: 2008 Integrative Medicine and Dietary ... MarketWatch - In this 32-page issue, we offer a breakdown of 2007 US Complementary and Alternative Medicine sales data and provides a detailed analysis of new integrative ... |
 Afrik.com | 34 Nigerian Children Dead From Tainted Medicine Voice of America - By VOA News Nigerian health officials say they are flying in doses of an antidote for a poisoned teething medicine that has now killed 34 infants. ... 'Toxic' syrup kills Nigerian babies Teething mixture kills more Nigerian babies Nigeria infant drug toll hits 34, antidote flown in |
Research database from the US Library of Medicine The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com, OH - Search PubMed, Clinicaltrials.gov, the CDC and a dozen other medical sites - all at once. AP MEDICAL VIDEO by Michael O'Malley and Joan Mazzolini/Plain ... |
A New Index of Preventive Medicine Companies Motley Fool - The accompanying table [click to enlarge] presents statistics and the top 15 rated companies in the ETF Innovators [ETFI] Preventive Medicine Index. ... |
American Academy of Dermatology Issues Position Statement on Vitamin D MarketWatch - The currently recommended adequate intake levels established by the Institute of Medicine may be revised upward due to evolving research on the increasing ... |
NIGERIA: Jos displaced grapple with food, water, medicine shortages IRINnews.org, NY - JOS, 4 December 2008 (IRIN) - Water, medicine and food supplies are running low for an estimated 10000 people displaced by violence in Jos, northern Nigeria ... |
 Health Newstrack | "Rogue" stem cell clinics exploit hope: report Reuters - "The direct-to-consumer portrayal of stem cell medicine is optimistic and unsupported by published evidence," Timothy Caulfield of the University of Alberta ... Scientists warn of “rogue” online stem cell clinics Internet stem-cell clinics 'exploiting' MS and Parkinson's patients The International Society for Stem Cell Research Releases New ... |
Resources
-
Sorry Currently Unavailable