A Success Story!

About 2 weeks ago in my last blog posting, I talked about one of the treatment options for painful morton's neuromas - a cortisone injection.  Those who may remember, the "patient" was myself.  I had been having moderate pain in my right foot from the neuroma, and it was getting worse.  I decided to inject my foot with Kenalog, a type of cortisone.  The purpose of the injection was to help to relieve pain, and hopefully cause some shrinking of the neuroma itself. 

After my injection, I noticed an immediate decrease in pain.  This was expected, since I also had included a local anesthetic in the injection.  After several hours, the local anesthetic wore off, and the pain came back just as bad as before.  This was to be expected, and I was not surprised.  I can see how this can be discouraging to patients though, which is why I warn them that he effects of the cortisone can take a few days to become evident.  When I woke up the next morning, I was pleased to find that my pain level was decreased by about 50%.  The next day, the pain was 100% resolved!  That was a welcome relief!  Since that time, I have not had any pain in my foot whatsoever!

The real question now is this:  How long will this pain relief last?  The honest answer to that question is that I really don't know.  In most cases from patients I have injected for this condition through the years I have been in practice, pain relief will last for several months.  I do have some patients who never have symptoms again, others will come back 6 months later stating the pain has returned.  I have no problem with giving injections a couple times per year on an ongoing basis to control symptoms.  However, if the symptoms come back more quickly, it's time to get more aggressive.  I, like my patients, am hoping for the best!  Look for further updates on this subject in the coming months!