Sydney’s Foot Physiotherapy
Do you feel pain in your forefoot? Is that pain felt between your third and fourth toes? That could be Interdigital neuroma or Morton’s neuroma as called by others. It is not yet clear what cause this problem but there are studies suggesting that it could be due to swelling or a benign tumor or could be scarring of a small nerve of the foot. Symptoms could be caused by irritation in the nerve that is between each toe. Sometimes pain could also be felt between second and the third toes.
The nerve that is affected is found between the long metatarsal bones of the feet. This nerve splits and continues up to the end of each toe. But the interdigital neuroma takes place in the nerve before the nerve ending divides into two, in the area just under the ball of the foot. Swelling and thickening is formed in this part of the nerve.
The suspected reason for the formation of an interdigital neuroma is from repeated injury in the area. There are theories that came out suggesting that this could be caused by chronic injury, but this was not proven yet. This inflammation could also be caused by fibrous tissue buildup of the outer coating of the nerves. It has been thought by many foot surgeons that what lead the chronic irritation and pain is the entrapment of the nerve. Metatarsal bones could have squeezed in the nerve irritating the ligament that joins the two bones or could entrap the nerve. This usually causes pain in the foot especially when weight is placed on the foot. The type of pain reported is some kind of electric shock that feels almost the same when the funny bone on your elbow is hit. But some said that they feel sharp pains that is radiating out on the toe since it is where the nerve ends. The swelling could also be described as a feeling of having a rock inside the shoe.
Irritation can also be caused by wearing of too tight shoes, high heels which place the foot in awkward position, mechanically unstable foot and foot trauma caused by sprain or fracture due to sports activities.
There are health care providers that have physiotherapist that examine your foot and will ask about your problem’s history. And it is during history taking and physical examination that interdigital neuroma is diagnosed. Physiotherapists then offer treatment options to speed up your recovery so you can go back to your active lifestyle in no time. In some cases, patients may be referred to a doctor for further evaluation and diagnosis.
An example of a health provider is Superhuman where they offer non surgical rehabilitation. They start evaluating your shoes and recommend some modification to your foot wear such as pads that would spread metatarsals apart to avoid pressure to the neuroma. They would also recommend that you lessen your rigorous activities for some time until the inflammation and pain subsides. Other techniques include moist heat and soft tissue massage. Injection of medication is also conducted by Medical Doctors and of course surgery for the removal of neuroma if initial treatment has not solved the problem. Surgery usually leaves a permanent feeling of numbness to the site of neuroma. But there are many cases that a simple operation which releases the ligament between the metatarsal bones reduces the irritation on the nerve thus surgical removal is avoided.
Health providers such as Superhuman also provide post surgical rehabilitation. They can help you learn the proper movement using crutches to avoid further injuries to your foot. They also develop a personalized program for your rehabilitation to speed up your recovery. Superhuman is providing services for physiotherapy in Sydney.
Some steps that would help prevent the Morton’s neuroma include avoidance of tight or high heeled shoes, maintenance of ideal body weight and properly fitting athletic footwear.