Re: Ganglion on ball of foot

[Guest guest]

Yes! Both my sister and I have had what is called a Morton's neuroma. That is

basically a tangle of nerve fibers that form a small ball (ganglion) usually

between the long bones of the foot (the ball).

My sister has much more the classic CMT high arch, hammer toes, etc than I do

(mine look pretty average, actually). She got hers first and the podiatrist

feels that it is because the bones are sliding against each other because of the

foot deformity. That causes the nerve to be literally frayed like a rope that

runs between the bones. The nerve then tries to repair itself, because nerve

cells can regenerate. However nerve cells are terrible about any sense of

direction. The fibers grow toward their severed other half but miss and end up

turning in cirlces until the rubbing, fraying, regrowing, tangling cycle becomes

a neuroma. The neuroma is painful because now this nerve tangle is really

getting pinched between the bones. Mine felt like I had a small stone in my shoe

and at the same time like there was a flame being held under my foot and toes.

My sister had hers removed. It regrew, she had it removed again -- 3 times! It

is back again but not bad and she is resisting more surgery as it doesn't seem

to give a long term solution. I have dealt with mine with a cortisone injection

(when it first made itself known), then orthotics to take the pressure off the

ball of my foot. I learned from my sister's experience to stay away from the

surgery. It flares at times and is an annoyance, but I'm not sufficiently

miserable yet to do anything else about it. I have read about injecting it with

an alcohol solution to kill the nerve. I may get to that point someday.

This is usually a condition of women who wear pointy toed, high heeled shoes, so

I got that lecture from the podiatrist. That was particularly annoying because

I've always wanted to wear shoes like that but have never been able to. Seems

unfair to have a neuroma when I'm the queen of the sensible shoes! Ah, well.

I guess my best suggestion to you, Donna, is to make sure that your doctor

understands the CMT component and takes that into account in your treatment

plan. Just because my sister had no success with repeated surgery doesn't mean

you'll be the same.

Holli

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks Holli. My sister had the cyst removed - apparently the size of a quarter!

Her next step is orthotics.

Best wishes,

Donna

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