Knowing your neuroma

When it comes to working with your doctor, and being educated about your condition; there are some things you should know.   When you think you might have a neuroma, or your doctor has diagnosed you with the condition of a neuroma, you need to work with him/her.  Asking educated questions shows the doctor you know what’s going on, and chances are your doctor will pay extra special attention to you.  After reading this article, you will know how to be working with your doctor on relieving you of this nagging condition.

Your 3 Things to Keep in Mind with Neuroma

1. First, you’ll want to know if your doctor is going to treat you in a conservative fashion.  In my opinion, any doctor that sends you straight away to the operating room for this diagnosis is one that you want to stay away from.  Ask them specifically what kinds of conservative treatment can they give to you.  You’ll want to ask:  what kinds of shoe gear should I be wearing, how many injections (a form of therapy) will I need, what are you using in your injections, and would orthotics be helpful?  You can see from the position of this woman’s toes that some sort of “repositioning” therapy is called for.

• Next, and perhaps most importantly, you’ll need to be in constant communication with your doctor during the treatment phase.  You’ll probably be looking at injection therapy, and it’s good to speak in terms of “percentage better” since your first visit so that your doctor knows how you’re progressing.  This is also where you tell your doctor if you’ve had some sort of adverse reaction to the injections materials; as it happens in some rare occurrences.  If your doctor is applying steroid therapy (less efficacious), you can only get three injections.  The more current and up to date therapy is called “alcohol sclerosing” treatment, and can take up to 8-10 visits.  This is also a good thing to ask your doctor, which type of injection therapy, as mentioned in the previous paragraph.

• Finally, you need to know if your doctor is endoscopically trained.  Should conservative therapy fail, you will need to have the neuroma dealt with surgically.  When I first graduated twenty years ago, I would remove the nerve.  This led to many complications such as “amputation” and “stump” neuroma.  The “Cadillac” treatment of choice is something called “endoscopic decompression of the neuroma.”  In my opinion, you are much better off with this type of treatment.

What You Need to Take Away from this Article

• Whenever you’re working with any type of professional, it is exceedingly important to be educated about your condition.  I tell my patients, and firmly believe this, that it is more about what they do than it is about my treatment.  You must take an interest in your condition.  In this article, I have outlined three things to be aware and cognizant of concerning your neuroma.  Armed with this, you can now have more intelligent conversations with your doctor about your condition, and he/she will know that you are firmly interested in getting better.