Has anyone dealt with a surgical neuroma after foot surgery? Looking for pain relief advice.
I’m wondering if anyone has experienced a surgical neuroma or chronic nerve pain after foot surgery.
In 2019, I had a lipoma removed from the bottom of my left foot. During surgery, my surgeon told me the lipoma had wrapped around a nerve, so he had to cut the nerve to remove it.
By 2020, the pain had returned, but it was completely different from before. Instead of just tenderness, I now get sharp, electric shock-like pain that shoots from my arch into my three middle toes. Sometimes the ball of my foot feels like it’s on fire. The pain is there every single day.
I’m not looking for pain medications. I’m looking for people who have been through something similar. Have you found anything that actually helps? Physical therapy? Nerve treatments? Injections? Anything else?
The pain is usually worst at night. Once I finally lie down and there’s nothing distracting me, it really flares up. About a month ago I started playing a sleep-frequency audio that’s supposed to help with nerve pain, and surprisingly it’s helped a lot. For the first time in years, I’m sleeping through the night without waking up from the pain.
Now I’m trying to find something that helps during the day. I’m considering physical therapy because I don’t want to lose more mobility. I’ve also started having knee and hip pain from the way I’ve been compensating when I walk and stand.
I’ve attached photos of my foot a few weeks after surgery and my most recent MRI.
If you’ve dealt with a surgical neuroma or chronic nerve pain after foot surgery:
● What were your symptoms?
● What treatments actually helped?
● Did physical therapy make a difference?
● If you had surgery, was it successful?
I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences.