“Hi I’m Dr. Mitchell Wachtel and today we’re going to talk about nerve pain on the front of the foot.

Do you get the feeling of a bunched up sock on the bottom of your foot, a burning sensation, or a ball in-between your toes? These are all common symptoms and signs of neuroma. Neuroma is a swollen nerve sometimes caused from shoe gear pushing on it. The first thing we typically do is take an x-ray. If we determine there isn’t a fracture, then the thought process becomes more of a nerve problem. In our practice we have an ultrasound. Just like an ultrasound done for pregnancy, we can see a thickened or swollen nerve which is indicative of a neuroma.

After we take an x-ray and determine you do have a neuroma, what are the treatment options? One option, especially for women, is to get rid of your narrow shoes. We can also insert a custom orthotic into the shoe that takes pressure off the nerve, separates the bones, reducing the nerve pain.

There are numerous techniques for nerve pain and neuroma pain. In our practice we use what is called an alcohol injection. It’s a very highly pure injection of alcohol that goes directly into the nerve and takes the sensation of the nerve away. As a last resort we can provide cortisone shots but that is only if the alcohol injection doesn’t work. Lastly, there’s always surgery, but we’re a very conservative practice and try to avoid surgeries.

So if you have nerve pain in between your toes and it’s not going away, consider us. Call us at 978-794-8406 and we have offices in North Andover, Lowell, and Haverhill”