pain in ball of foot

Developed seisamoiditis in right foot five years ago from treadmill. After staying off my foot extended periods of time, I never completely got rid of the pain. Used crutches, wheelchair, and special boots to no avail. I continued to take long walks and dance on my foot when it was hurting. Had the medial sesamoid bone in my right foot removed Dec of 2008. It's been almost a year now but I still have pain in the ball of my foot as I did before the surgery. The removed sesamoid was not fractured or broken and I definitely will not have the lateral sesamoid removed. Could I have peramenent nerve damage from excessive trauma to the foot. Should I have a nerve conduction test done on that foot to determine if it's the nerves in that area of the foot? If nerves are damaged from trauma, how long would it take for them to heal so I could walk again without discomfort and pain. The more I walk, the more discomfort and pain I feel. I'm a very physically active person and this situation has been devestating.

Hi,
I know this is 20-20 hindsight but I would not have been quick to have the sesamoid bone removed and I certainly would not have the other one removed as it will destabilize the big toe joint. As well as the fact that in 30 years of practice I have never seen a patient who had pain in both sesamoids on the same foot. You need to have your doctor look somewhere else for the source of the pain. Read my section on
sesamoiditis and you will see it can be a very difficult problem to treat.
Without being able to actually examine you, I do not know if it is a nerve problem and I am not so sure a nerve conduction study will tell you anything anyway.
I would first go for an MRI of the area and I certainly hope you have been wearing some kind of orthotic in your shoes as that is the most effective way to deal with sesamoid problems.
Marc Mitnick DPM