Something’s Afoot!

My left foot is feeling kind of miserable today, but that is because yesterday, I got my second injection of alcohol after that initial cortisone injection. The podiatrist believes that the neuroma, although still there, is getting smaller. He said that it generally takes three shots of alcohol, so I will still need one more.

I was asking him what a neuroma looks like. He said that the nerve running between the metatarsals is about the diameter of a strand of spaghetti. The pressure against the nerve as we run and walk long distances makes it react by growing material around the nerve to try to protect it, so it gets more like fettuccini. It is like a fatty and fibrous material, and the increased size means that there is even more space for the nerve and it gets even more irritated.

As he stuck the needle into my foot, he said “Tell me when it starts to hurt. That is the only way I know when I have reached the right spot for the injection.” He pushed the needle in more. A little more. Another quarter inch. “It should hurt soon,” he said, as he pushed the needle in a little more. ‘Whoa! Right there!” I said. He depressed the syringe and my forefoot felt flooded in pain for a little while. But walking out of the medical office, it just felt kind of numb, like part of my foot was missing.

Today, as is the norm based on my prior experiences, my foot hurts and I am trying to take it easy. It is not agonizing or anything like that, just painful in a strange kind of way. I have no desire to run today. Until I get back into running more or at least doing heavy duty speed walking for more than 7-8 miles, it will be hard to tell how improved the situation is. I did notice that it didn’t hurt much on my last long, tough hike, and that is really encouraging. I’ve been tolerating this for years and it just kept getting worse and worse, and I would love to have neuromas in the past very soon.