whole foot
by Jessica
I stepped on a piece of glass quite a few years ago and i have had 4 surgeries since then. I have also been through physical therapy 3 times and undergone multiple steroid cortisone shots to help with the pain. There is now talk of my nerve being swollen or hvaing a neuroma. One of the treatments that has been discussed is cutting the swollen nerve to where i know longer feel it. Im not sure of what some side effects might be. Im only 16 and have been dealing with all of this since i was about 12. Even though i stepped on the glass back when i was 8 or so. The first 2 surgeries were to retrieve the glass out of my foot, which we have found from x-rays really did nothign because there are still at least 10 pieces floating aroudn my foot, some of them which have somehow made it through my tendons to up near my bone, so they refuse to go digging that deep into my foot to retrieve it. The last 2 surgeries were to clear the scar tissue from around the nerve, which really caused no relief. So if you have any ideas or know what to expect if i should have to have my nerve cut, i would really like to know your input. Hi Jessica, The problem with your condition is that there are uncertain variables, essentially the pieces of glass that you say are still floating around in your foot. Sometimes trying to get out small pieces is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Because of this, even if you have the nerve (neuroma) removed you may still have pain. You and your doctor have to be certain that the lions share of your foot pain is coming from the nerve irritation and not floating pieces of glass. You would not want to have another surgery only to find that you are really no better off. Also, keep in mind, every time you have surgery, your body's response to that is to form more scar tissue. Before having surgery, I would try conservative treatment, primarily denatured alcohol injections. See my section on Mortons neuroma. The reason I mention this is that this type of injection would only improve nerve pain, so if it helped you would know that it is actually the nerve involved. Even if it only helped somewhat, at least you would know your pain is nerve pain. If it did not help at all, you may want to re-think the idea of neuroma as the source of your pain. Good luck. Marc Mitnick DPM
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