Over the past several years, I’ve developed worsening Morton’s neuroma in first my left and now both feet. Some days, it’s literally painful to walk around the house. Other days, I don’t even notice it. For running, I’ve found that if I wear Altras and occasionally Brooks shoes with wide toe boxes, the pain is manageable - it never really goes away - and sometimes it goes from zero to “I just stepped on a punji stake painful” in one stride. Most of the time the pain dissipates after the first few miles, cropping up later on at mile 12-15 in longer runs. If I sort of roll my feet to have the impact hit my inner or outer foot, it helps, but I realize there’s a cost associated with that as well.
I’ve tried various inserts and footpads over the years. Some help a bit, but most do not.
The podiatrist I went to some year ago, a specialist in sports podiatry, is very anti-intervention. He recommended some exercises (reminiscent of Bruce Willis’ “make fists with your feet” from Die Hard) and wider shoes. That helped for a bit, but looking at some longer races coming up, and recurring, spreading pain, I am wondering about either cortisone injections or surgery. Would welcome any comments here on folks’ experiences with both.
A friend of mine had surgery for a Morton’s I think about a year ago after a year or so of injections. Before the surgery it was at the point where he couldn’t run at all and also had some significant pain when pedaling. He seemed frustrated with the pace of the recovery but is doing well now, back to cycling as much as he wants and running doesn’t seem to bother it anymore.
Not going to dig through the search but there is a good thread on this in there somewhere! I had surgery last February after 2 years of pain and discomfort and wish I had surgery sooner. Super easy and fast recovery. Feel free to message me any questions you might have about it.
I had 2 shots and they worked for about a month then my final shot seemed to make it worse and I couldn’t even run for a month between the shot and my surgery. And talking to my surgeon he said he wouldn’t do anymore than 2 cortisone shots before surgery anyway. Wish I saw the surgeon sooner since my podiatrist was not the best after consulting a few surgeons.
A female sub-3 marathon friend had surgery that resolved hers. I can’t help you more than that but I wish you the best and if you are in New England, then Portland Foot and Ankle in Maine is great.
Keep us updated.
A cortisone injection settled mine down. Wide cycling and running shoes, with pads on the insoles have kept it in check. I get the occasional flare up, reduce the training load and the pain doesn’t go away but is bearable.
If you don’t opt for surgery, I have found that metatarsal pads help manage my neuroma and metatarsal pain. I wear Altra’s and NB in wide width and rotate regular insoles with meta pads stuck on top of them as needed.
I dealt with this in the past for several months. I think I had a couple of injections, but what whelped me was to use the pad with a loop around your toe. I used it everyday for months and also took anti inflammatory medication for seral weeks and it fixed it for me. Around that time I also switched to Hokas and haven’t had an issue for about 4 years now. Not sure what caused it.
I know it’s frustrating, be patient if you have the time…
I’m 12 years post surgery and have only really had issues in ski boots since (and that’s with the boots cranked and going flat out all day). I wish i’d had surgery sooner as I lived with it for about three years - the podiatrist made out that the operation wasn’t the best option?!? Get surgery don’t mess about with insoles and wide shoes.
I have had it off and on throughout my career, Altras seemed to help with running. Any specific cycling shoes anyone recommends that are a wide toe box as well?
I have a pre-op appointment today for my neuroma. Mine first flared up last September, an injection kept everything under control until this February when it flared a second time, a second shot lasted a month when the third flare happened. We tried physical therapy to no avail. I’ve tried a few different over the counter inserts, which really help in everyday walking around but don’t do much for running. I can run about 10-15 minutes before the pain hits. Oddly enough cycling hasn’t ever negatively affected the neuroma.
For those who’ve had the surgery, what was your post-op recovery like? I have surgery scheduled 7/7 and vacation two weeks later where I am hoping for some light hiking.
I had surgery mid February and I think once I got my stitches out, 10 days later I believe, I transitioned to a normal shoe that I cut a big hole to keep the incision from rubbing on the shoe. That is what the surgeon said was the biggest problem with going to a shoe. I’m sure your doc will say the same thing but I was constantly moving my toes after surgery to start to gain movement back as soon as possible.
Looking at training peaks I was cycling 10 days post surgery with my walking boot on and not putting pressure on the front of my foot. Then 5 weeks after I did my first run/walk then a week later my first jog with no walk breaks.
Anyone who has questions feel free to message me. Happy to share my experience since when I was looking for info there didn’t seem to be a whole lot on recovery for runners/triathletes and everything I read seemed to say 6 weeks until any activity and that scared the crap out of me!
I use metatarsal pad. So far so good. Running about 10 km every other day at easy pace and no problem. At home I walk in shoes with soft sole or just put the metatarsal pad in my slippers. Biking is ok too wit the pad.
I had them in both feet, I got injections, denatured alcohol, and it seems to have gotten rid of them. I don’t run as much as I once did so that may also play a part (currently around 35-40mpw, was doing 70-90+ mpw for years).
I had three shots before surgery. It felt great after the 1st shot, the 2nd shot made it 10x worse and the 3rd shot did absolutely nothing. Surgery fixed it and I only wished I had done it sooner (but I was training for a marathon so I waited…)
I think every person’s experience is unique. The podiatrist I went to did not want to do cortisone shots (he’s very well regarded around here so I didn’t push for it) because he felt it wouldn’t fix the problem, just give temporary relief. Instead he did a series of B12 shots which i think is supposed to help calm it down. That did nothing so next we tried the alcohol shots which is supposed to kill part of the nerve I believe. That did nothing. After reading about surgery I wanted to avoid it at all costs so he referred me to a guy that does RF ablation which basically burns and kills the nerve. It’s very unpleasant but after 2 rounds of that mine has been tolerable. That was probably 4 years ago. I still have to be careful with shoes (wide toebox), and cannot wear socks just for the sake of wearing socks. Biking and running in socks is ok oddly enough, but after I finish exercising I have to get them socks off! The toe does not like to feel crowded. I wish you luck and success whatever route you decide to go. Having that pain just sucks!
Look in to “shock wave therapy”. I first learned of it on an ST thread several years back. My podiatrist did it for free as a test. They sell packages of subsequent treatments. Unfortunately for him, one treatment is all I needed. The treatment was so benign, I never thought it would work. And remained skeptical as it dissipated gradually over the week. But haven’t had pain since. ymmv. but it worked for me.
It really depends which surgery you get - if they go in from the bottom of your foot (like they did with me) then it’s 2 weeks with no pressure on the wound (hopping or on your heal) then another 4 weeks until you can start running again. I recommend Crocks for post op recovery or something suitably soft and squishy. If you get surgery option 2 where they go in through the top of the foot, recovery is meant to be much quicker.