ball of foot and second toe

Howdy, I had bunion surgery and morton neuroma surgery in June 2011, but

before surgery my second toe mostly the tip would get like a electRical feeling
sometimes and the ball of my foot hurt when I walked. MRI showed the neuroma
and the bunion. THREE days after the surgery when all the numbing medication
wore off the toe and the ball of my foot pain was there. Podiatrist is puzzled---
sent me to therapy for 9 sessions, helped some. Podiatrist still puzzled, checked
foot in fact there was another podiatrist in his office the day I went back and
she was puzzled.
I can put up with pain, but this really hurts. I go for another MRI this
Tuesday??????????????????????????????????????????????????
I took the series of Cortizon pills for 7 days (21) and it also may have
helped a little, but the same symptoms are there.

H E L P!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


BUNION AND NEUROMA SURGERY ON THE RIGHT FOOT,
SECOND SURGERY FOR A NEUROMA ON THE RIGHT FOOT (1999)


RESPONSE
Hi,

If, the MRI showed a true neuroma and If you are still having the same electrical feeling in your foot as you did prior to surgery, then my first thought would be that the neuroma was not entirely removed.
The sensation of "electrical" shock in that area of the foot is almost certainly due to a neuroma which is basically a pinched nerve. When the nerve is removed in its entirety the patient is usually left with some minor numbness which represents the removal of the nerve.
I do not mean to second guess your doctor as I cannot actually examine you.
One of he biggest complications of this type of surgery is incomplete removal primarily due to the way the nerve lies in between the metatarsal bones and the difficulty of getting all of the nerve due to the fact that we are working in a very confined space.
If it turns out that your doctor decides there is still nerve tissue in the area, you might ask he or she about denatured alcohol injections.
These are a series of injections that fibrose the nerve or actually deaden it. I have had a lot of success with these types of injections. They are particularly useful in what are known as stump neuromas, or neuromas that have not been completely removed, if for no other reason it is a lot easier to get a thin needle into the area where the remaining nerves lies as opposed to opening up the foot again and trying to dissect all the way back.
I am assuming you had your neuroma removed through an incision on top of your foot as that is where most of us make our incision. In cases where patients have to go back to surgery for further removal, many surgeons will then make the incision on the bottom of the foot as that is where the nerve actually sits and thus gives better exposure. The reason we do not make that type of incision initially is because incisions on the bottom of the foot have their own set of potential problems. Speak to your surgeon about that as well.

Marc Mitnick DPM
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