Q: I experience numbness and tingling in my toes when I wear certain shoes. I have been told I have a neuroma, are there any new breakthroughs for this problem?
A: The quick answer is yes.
Let's review what a neuroma is. A neuroma is the pinching of the nerve in the foot usually found between the third and forth toes.
The symptoms are: burning pain, pins and needles, and numbness or cramping of the toes. Often times the cramping will cause the person to take their shoe off and massage the cramp out.
Historically, the treatment for neuromas would be the injection of a steroid and if this failed to relieve the symptoms, which was often the case, then surgery was required.
Today we have a new treatment called Chemical Neurolysis: whereby a podiatrist injects a diluted alcohol solution into the nerve which essentially shrinks and kills the nerve. The injections are relatively painless and are given weekly until the symptoms resolve, usually requiring 3-7 injections.
The results I see in my practice are similar to those in the current literature which is to say the procedure is roughly 85% effective. By comparison, steroid injections are less than 30% effective.
So yes, this is great news! I have been performing this technique over the last year and have found it so effective that in no case was surgery required.
Q: My child has flat feet do they need to be treated?
A: This depends on many factors.
I generally recommend that a child with flat feet be professionally evaluated beginning at two years of age. From my experience, most physicians and parents take the feet for granted. What is forgotten is that when children complain of tired feet or knee pain this is a cry for help.
A major misunderstanding in the medical community and with parents is that flat feet (pronation) is not a benign problem and may lead to different types of structural complaints such as: lower back pain, knee problems, and potential major foot deformities that can and do occur later on in life.
These foot problems can be quite disabling and may require major foot surgeries if left untreated, yet most are preventable if diagnosed and treated early. Early treatment generally consists of prefabricated or custom orthotics.
My advice to parents is to have your children's feet examined routinely by a qualified podiatrist so that corrective action can be taken at the first sign of a problem. Early prevention and care are the keys to healthy feet!
Author Resource:-
Jack R. Landry has worked as a podiatrist and foot surgeon for the past 14 years and written hundreds of articles about various foot conditions including plantar fasciitis.
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