Has anyone had cyrosurgery for Mortons Neuroma? Please share your experience if you have. I would like to know if it helped you and how long was the recovery after the procedure. I had Morton's Neuroma surgery May 2008 and I am still experiencing numbness and bad sensations in my foot. I am considering looking into cyrosurgery. I am not satisfied with my surgery results yet and it has been nearly a year.
I would say for the most part I am improved but, my right foot still bothers me. There was a post a while back where a lady had cryosurgery & reported 4 days off her feet completely, & 8-12 weeks of pain & unusual sensation in her feet. I am at 4 weeks and would have to say that very slowly things are getting better each day. The cryo itself is a very simple procedure. The Dr. numbs your foot then inserts the cryoprobe between your toes & freezes the nerve. You can walk out. The cryo probe is like having a swizzle stick pushed about 1.5 inches into your foot. Then there is some positioning. The tissues are traumatized and with all soft tissue injuries one has to allow 8-12 weeks to heal. If my cryo is not successful I will try again and again with it and work with shoes, orthotics, NSAIDS, etc. to avoid open surgery. I have read about too many horror stories about failed open surgeries on this board and others to even consider the traditional procedure.
My orthopedic surgeon (well respected) will not perform the traditional procedure. In 20 years he has done 3 ('repair jobs') where he had to bury a nerve into bone because of a stump neuroma formation. In very few and rare instances will an orthopedic surgeon ever consider removing a nerve from the body because of the possible bad outcomes.
Cryosurgery or cryoanalgesia has been in use as a pain management technique for years. Only in the last 5 years has it been used in podiatry.
The failure rate for traditional surgery is about 25%. If you are one of the failures your pain will be far greater the original neuroma pain.
And there is a 100% guarantee that your toes will be numb forever after the surgery.
Would you have an operation on your eyes if you were guaranteed to be color blind to some colors and there was a 25% chance you would go blind as a result of the surgery? I wouldn't unless the alternative was worse than blindness.
Once you have surgery there is no going back, and, my orthopedic surgeon always says, "I can never make is as good as new, there will always be scar tissue and other issues to contend with. Always cut only when there is no other option, and avoid the cortisone needle if at all possible. Take motrin, celebrex, use ice, PT, exhaust all other options before considering an invasive procedure because there is no turning back.
I would say for the most part I am improved but, my right foot still bothers me. There was a post a while back where a lady had cryosurgery & reported 4 days off her feet completely, & 8-12 weeks of pain & unusual sensation in her feet. I am at 4 weeks and would have to say that very slowly things are getting better each day. The cryo itself is a very simple procedure. The Dr. numbs your foot then inserts the cryoprobe between your toes & freezes the nerve. You can walk out. The cryo probe is like having a swizzle stick pushed about 1.5 inches into your foot. Then there is some positioning. The tissues are traumatized and with all soft tissue injuries one has to allow 8-12 weeks to heal. If my cryo is not successful I will try again and again with it and work with shoes, orthotics, NSAIDS, etc. to avoid open surgery. I have read about too many horror stories about failed open surgeries on this board and others to even consider the traditional procedure.
My orthopedic surgeon (well respected) will not perform the traditional procedure. In 20 years he has done 3 ('repair jobs') where he had to bury a nerve into bone because of a stump neuroma formation. In very few and rare instances will an orthopedic surgeon ever consider removing a nerve from the body because of the possible bad outcomes.
Cryosurgery or cryoanalgesia has been in use as a pain management technique for years. Only in the last 5 years has it been used in podiatry.
The failure rate for traditional surgery is about 25%. If you are one of the failures your pain will be far greater the original neuroma pain.
And there is a 100% guarantee that your toes will be numb forever after the surgery.
Would you have an operation on your eyes if you were guaranteed to be color blind to some colors and there was a 25% chance you would go blind as a result of the surgery? I wouldn't unless the alternative was worse than blindness.
Once you have surgery there is no going back, and, my orthopedic surgeon always says, "I can never make is as good as new, there will always be scar tissue and other issues to contend with. Always cut only when there is no other option, and avoid the cortisone needle if at all possible. Take motrin, celebrex, use ice, PT, exhaust all other options before considering an invasive procedure because there is no turning back.
I had cryosurgery 5/1/09. I needed it done between 2 toes on my L foot. I also had (have) "leaky joints". I'm still having swelling of the foot by the toes. If the fluid goes down, it feels like it moves to the bottom of the foot. I called the office again today. I have another appt for 6/29, but I wondered if I was normal. They said to give it 8 weeks then they will re-assess. I'm hoping the "funny" feeling on the bottom of my foot goes away. It feels like a mass of bandages. It is still very difficult to do exercises (lunges) where you must bend the toes and put weight on the toes. That's when the foot swells the most. The worst part of the surgery was the numbing of the foot. That hurt!! I had NO bruising!!! People wondered when I was going to have it done. How is your foot doing now?
I am 12 weeks out and much improved but not pain free. I am going to wait until the fall & then have another Cryo. It took at least 10 weeks before things started to get much better.
Brian
Just wondering how you are doing now after your cyro surgery? I still have numbness and a funky feeling in my foot following mortons neuroma surgery May 2008. Nothing I have tried so far has given me any relief, and I am thinking about cyrosurgery again.
I had my surgery done in May 09. I went back after 6 weeks and received a steroid injection because of the "lump" feeling in the bottom of my foot. I also have another issue of "leaky joints" in my left foot. The injection helped for awhile. The doctor said it's the leaky joints giving me fits. I can have open surgery (he doesn't recommend it) to see if the joints can be repaired to stop leaking, or orthotics, or more cryo if necessary. Basically, deal with it! I swear my foot is feeling better since I told it to just get on with it!! I did have a strange thing happen. There is a constant separation between 2 of my toes. Really quite ugly, but...I can walk. The doctor thinks that is because of the extra fluid from my toe joints!!! I would have the cryosurgery again. Sure beats cutting!
I can have open surgery (he doesn't recommend it) to see if the joints can be repaired to stop leaking, or orthotics, or more cryo if necessary. Basically, deal with it! I swear my foot is feeling better since I told it to just get on with it!! 
I did have a strange thing happen. There is a constant separation between 2 of my toes. Really quite ugly, but...I can walk. 
