r/Mortons_neuroma

Hello!

Thank you so much to this community for all the information - it has been so useful!!😊🙌

I (26F) am getting MN neurectomy on May 1st and would love to hear any tips for recovery and shoes to wear after a few weeks? (would love to eventually wear something more stylish than Altras haha). Eventually I would love to get running again but of course will take things slow and be patient - any tips?

If it’s useful for others I would be happy to share my recovery over the next few months :)

🏃🏻‍♀️ Background:

• Long distance runner for 10 years (ages 14-24)

• April 2024: I got bad shin splints, stopped running & started physio (had verryyy tight calves)

• June 2024: Fractured my 5th metatarsal by rolling my foot, apparently everything healed fine.

• February 2025-now: MN (on the same foot as the fracture, between 3rd and 4th) got worse and worse until I couldn’t even walk 5 minutes…. I was really struggling mentally & physically. Didn’t manage to get a correct diagnosis until January 2026.

🦶 Over the last year I have tried custom insoles, Altras and cortisone shot prior to opting for surgery. Altras provided the most relief out of all of those options but I hate the way they look and I still have pain walking (running isn’t even an option anymore). I decided to just go for surgery to get rid of it for good hopefully (although I have read the stump neuroma horror stories 😭)

PS - Planning to go back to work (laptop from home) after 10 days.

I'm at a loss for what to do. I'm not looking for a diagnosis from yall but rather some insight on symptoms and such.

My symptoms:

- grinding feeling between 2nd and 3rd toe, especially when wearing tight shoes or heels

- burning sensation

- fullness

- slight pain, but now I wear insoles with metatarsal support or my Birks and don't feel the pain as much.

- feels worse in tight shoes/heels, and when waking up and putting foot down on ground. Not sharp pain but definitely huge discomfort

- slight tingling in toes if I think about it but not prominent

- tight calves

- after walking all day my big toe is super sore

What I've done:

- went to podiatrist and he told me I have metatarsalgia and to stretch my calf and sent me home

- got xrays that showed nothing much other than those 2 bones are close together

- got insoles with arch and metatarsal support that I can't go a day without unless im in Birkenstocks

- gone to a few PTs and the last one worked with me to strengthen my gluteus medius, floss the peroneal nerve, strengthen my arch, and stretch/strengthen calves. Also has me massage my foot with a lacrosse ball. It hasn't made things worse but also isn't improving a ton. It's been 3 months of that PT

- I now wear wide toe box shoes

- toe spacers feel great

Possible causes:

- used to run and probably with poor form as I was somewhat new

- used to go bouldering but the shoes started to hurt, especially when wearing them and stepping on hard ground

I'm starting to think i have MN but I don't get the sharp pain I see everywhere, just the burning sensation and the grinding feeling. However, I've been wearing insoles for a year now so I just might not remember the pain since i wear insoles.

Questions for you all:

1. Do I go back to a different podiatrist or see someone else? With health insurance it was $150 to see that podiatrist and it felt useless but maybe I need a different one? Or is there a different doctor to see?

2. Can you have MN without sharp pain but instead just the symptoms I have?

Any other insight would be great. This has been going on for a few years and im sick of it! Thank you!

Are sketchers a good shoe for Morton’s neuroma? Does anyone in this subreddit wear them? Do they tend to have removable inserts that I can replace with my orthotics?

I am specifically looking at the Jammers and the D’lites.

Diagnosed with 6 mm MN. Podiatrist said that corticosteroid injection might make it worse so he started laser treatment. I’m not sure what kind of laser it is. It was the one that you sit there and it’s red on your foot. Had the first treatment last week, but now things feel worse. The pain feels worse, and I have a burning and tingling sensation at the top of the foot. I was wondering if this has happened to anybody else?