My Morton's Neuroma is healing by itself!

[OnionPatch]

I felt like it might be good to post something positive. I come to this forum once in awhile because I have a handful of chronic health problems, including a badly degenerated disc in my lower spine, TMJ Disorder, migraine headaches, chronic sinusitis and the foot problem, Morton's Neuroma. I get tired of hearing myself complain sometimes and I'm glad that I can report something positive for once!

I've had Morton's Neuroma for about three years. I've been seeing podiatrists for the last two. They've tried shoe pads and injections, and neither helped a bit, in fact, both made it worse. I was not able to walk without limping and was resigned to the idea of surgery. If you ever google surgery for Morton's neuroma, you will see that the surgery is only successful some of the time and often makes things worse! :banghead: So I decided to go on my own healing plan, and I'm happy to report that it is working! I can now walk without limping and the sharp pain in the ball of my foot is now only a dull pinch if I step the wrong way. I can feel the foot getting better and better each day and some days I feel so normal I pretty much forget I have/had a foot problem at all! I wanted to share with others what I've done because I searched and searched on the internet for natural cures for this and never found anything except "wear shoe pads". The pads they recommend go under the arch of the foot and never did a thing to alleviate my pain. Anyway, here's what I did:

1. Never, ever, ever wear any shoe that puts any pressure at all on the little toe side of the foot. Your foot must not be compressed in the slightest bit! Outline your foot on a piece of paper while putting normal weight on it and make sure your the footbeds of any shoes you purchase are big enough to accommodate the width of your forefoot with room to spare. Even while asleep, I would never rest my foot on the little toe side, but would hang it off the bed rather than allow pressure on it. I believe my MN developed over years of wearing shoes that were a little too narrow and pressed my little toe into the side of my foot, thus squeezing that nerve. Also, make sure you have lots of soft padding in all your shoes.

2. Take anti-inflammatories daily and religiously. I take fish oil daily and also keep my diet rich in olive oils and green vegetables, all of which work against inflammation. I avoid too much white flour and sugar, which has the opposite effect.

3. Exercise the foot. I flex the little toes and all the muscles around the area of the neuroma every time I think about it and now I'm even doing it without thinking. Flex and stretch and massage those muscles daily. Stretch your little toe away from the rest of the foot many times daily. I believe this helped the nerve to regenerate and the foot to strengthen, thus providing better support to the bones and tissues surrounding the neuroma.

4. This one may be a little weird to some people, so take it or leave it.....Meditate on healing. Visualize yourself running or hiking down a beautiful forest path and really feel those foot muscles flexing and working perfectly with strength and dexterity. Repeat to yourself that your foot is getting better and better each day. I'm going to start doing this for my other problems and maybe I'll be able to post something positive about them, too, someday.

That's it. It's working for me, so I felt compelled to share. I wish you all speedy healing, whatever your chronic problem is. :hug:

[yy4me]

1. Hi OnionPatch, I just got my computer back from the repair

shop and of course DU is the first place I went. Life can be lonely without my connection to this little part of the world.

I share Morton's Neuroma with you and was so pleased to read that you have found some relief from this horrible affliction. I will take some of your ideas to heart and try them myself.

I still use the special Memory Foam inserts and the 2 Toe separators because of the awful alignment if my big toe and the little one was curling under my second toe. I never realized that this could happen until one day I felt a cut under my second toe. The toenail on my baby toe was cutting into the next one. I an now keeping my toenails very short to prevent that from happened again and now use the small separator for that area.

Good grief, this has been a long process. I never even heard about this condition until I developed it. I take 2 Advil every AM, exercise and wear a boxy Ecco show that has been very effective. I know you will remember our chats but-although it is not funny- I suffer from the same other problems you listed above!

[OnionPatch]

2. Hello yy4me, I do remember our conversation.

It seems to me that you suffer from the MN worse than I do. I had a bad pain in the ball of my foot but sometimes only every few steps.

For years before I ever had MN, I had a problem with my toe pressing in under the way you're describing on that same foot. But it was my second toe shoving into my third toe rather than the little toe, like you describe. I think it was happening mostly because I was not wearing wide enough shoes. The messed up thing is that I had my feet measured and they never indicated I needed wide shoes. I finally figured out that this is because they measure the foot for width just below the little toe. My foot is not wide there. It's my little toe that protrudes beyond the norm, sort of like a duck foot, I guess. :)

I'm glad you have found comfortable shoes and pads that work. I started to recover when I flat out refused to ever wear anything that didn't baby my feet to the max. But it took a long time to notice improvement, so hang in there. You're probably on the right track. I'm not really sure what it is exactly that's helping me, but I'm keeping on doing it all. I hope that you'll eventually get some relief as well.

I hope your foot begins to heal soon and all the other health problems, too. I'm sending out good wishes for you. I was so sorry to read your post about the passing of your husband awhile back and I hope you're hanging in there ok. Sounds like you've been through way too much lately. Wish there was something I could do. :hug: