What is it?
Morton's Neuroma is a common cause of forefoot pain which results from scar formation around and swelling of a nerve in the ball of the foot just before the nerve branches into two adjacent toes. Usually the third and fourth or the second and third toes are involved. It is very uncommon for more than one nerve to be involved.

Symptoms may vary from patient to patient:
Almost all patients complain of pain in the ball of the foot and they seek treatment to relieve pain. Most patients complain of burning or tingling of two adjacent toes. Many patient's pain is aggravated by wearing shoes. These patients will often remove their shoe and rub their foot for relief.

What can be done for it?
In some cases getting rid of or stretching tight shoes will relieve the pain enough so that no other treatment is needed.

Injecting the area around the neuroma with a combination of local anesthetic and corticosteroid will help determine which nerve is involved. These injections may be followed by a period of symptomatic relief although fewer than 20% of patients experience long lasting or permanent relief. We recommend no more than two of these injections. Shoe devices such as pads, arch supports (orthotics), and metatarsal bars are often tried but are rarely effective. They may be worth a try if they are not too expensive.

If the pain is not relieved by non-surgical means and is too bothersome to "put up with", surgical excision of the neuroma effectively relieves the pain in 80% of the cases.