There are many causes of foot pain, but if you are experiencing a sharp, stabbing pain that feels better when you stop walking and massage your foot, you may have what's known as Morton's neuroma. While it has a scary sounding name, this condition is benign and fortunately highly treatable.
In basic terms, a neuroma is an enlargement or thickening of a nerve in the foot in the area between the toes, usually the third interspace between the third and fourth toes, followed by the second interspace between the second and third toes. Morton's neuromas can rarely affect the fourth and first interspaces.
It is also sometimes referred to as an intermetatarsal neuroma, interdigital neuroma, Morton's metatarsalgia (pain in the metatarsal area), perineural fibrosis (scar tissue around a nerve) or entrapment neuropathy (abnormal nerve due to compression).
If you have Morton's neuroma, there is a 15% chance you will develop it in both feet.
Morton's Neuroma Symptoms
Initially, these symptoms may happen once in a while, but as the condition gets worse, the symptoms may happen all of the time:
- Pain (sharp, stabbing, throbbing, shooting)
- Numbness
- Tingling or "pins & needles"
- Burning
- Cramping
- A feeling that you are stepping on something or that something is in your shoe
It usually feels better by taking off your shoe and massaging your foot.
Causes
A Morton's neuroma is thought to be caused by an injury to the nerve, but scientists are still not sure about the exact cause of the injury. The injury may be caused by damage to the metatarsal heads, the deep transverse intermetatarsal ligament (holds the metatarsal heads together) or an intermetatarsal bursa (fluid-filled sac).
All of these structures can cause compression and injury to the nerve, initially causing swelling and damage to the nerve. Over time, if the compression/injury continues, the nerve repairs itself with very fibrous tissue that leads to enlargement and thickening of the nerve.
Morton's neuromas occur most commonly in women who are between 30 to 50 years old, often due to poor-fitting shoes.
Other causes of injury to the nerve may include simply having an incorrect walking style or an awkward foot structure, such as overpronation (foot rolls inward), hypermobility (too much motion), cavo varus (high arch foot) and excessive dorsiflexion (toes bend upward) of the toes.
These biomechanical (how the foot moves) factors may cause injury to the nerve with every step. If the nerve becomes irritated and enlarged, then it takes up more space and gets even more compressed and irritated. It becomes a vicious cycle.
Diagnosis
Your podiatrist (foot doctor) will ask many questions about your signs and symptoms and will perform a physical exam. Some of the exams may include a webspace compression test.
The compression test is done by squeezing the metatarsals (the bones just below the toes) together with one hand and using the thumb and index finger of the other to compress the affected area to reproduce the pain or other symptoms.
A palpable click (Mulder's click) is usually present. This test may also cause pain to shoot into the toes and that is called a Tinel's sign.
Gauthier's test involves squeezing the metatarsals together and moving them up and down for 30 seconds. This will usually cause pain or it will bring on your other symptoms. Sullivan's sign is positive when you stand and the affected toes spread apart.
A Morton's neuroma is usually diagnosed based on the history and physical exam findings, but sometimes other tests such as an X-ray, ultrasound, or MRI are needed.
Treatment
Treatment include non-invasive and invasive approaches:
- Shoe choice: Wear shoes that are wide and deep in the toe box so they do not put pressure on your toes and metatarsals. Avoid wearing high heels because they cause increased pressure on the ball of your foot (forefoot).
- Metatarsal pads: These help to lift and separate the metatarsal heads to take the pressure off of the nerve. They are placed just behind where you feel the pain, not on top of the painful spot.
- Activity modification: For example, you may try swimming instead of running until your symptoms go away.
- Taping with athletic tape
- Icing
- NSAIDs (anti-inflammatory medications): These include Aleve, ibuprofen, etc.
- Arch supports or orthotics: These help to control some of the abnormal motion in your feet. The abnormal motion can lead to extra torque and pressure on the nerve.
- Physical therapy
- Cortisone injection: Helps to decrease the size of the irritated, enlarged nerve.
- Alcohol injection: Helps to destroy the nerve chemically.
- Surgery: If conservative treatment does not help surgery may be needed. Surgery may involve cutting out the nerve or cutting the intermetatarsal ligament. Studies have shown surgery has an 80-85% success rate.
Prevention
To help prevent Morton's neuroma:
- Avoid wearing narrow, pointed-toe shoes
- Avoid wearing high heel shoes
4 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Munir U. Morton neuroma. StatPearls.
Dando C, Cherry L, Jones L, Bowen C. The clinical diagnosis of symptomatic forefoot neuroma in the general population: A Delphi consensus study. J Foot Ankle Res. 2017;10:59. doi: 10.1186/s13047-017-0241-2
Mahadevan D, Venkatesan M, Bhatt R, Bhatia M. Diagnostic accuracy of clinical tests for Morton's neuroma compared with ultrasonography. J Foot Ankle Surg. 2015;54(4):549-53. doi:10.1053/j.jfas.2014.09.021
Pace A, Scammell B, Dhar S. The outcome of Morton's neurectomy in the treatment of metatarsalgia. Int Orthop. 2010;34(4):511-5. doi:10.1007/s00264-009-0812-3
By Terence Vanderheiden, DPM
Terence Vanderheiden, DPM, is a podiatrist in Massachusetts with a subspecialty in the area of podiatric sports medicine.
See Our Editorial Process
Meet Our Medical Expert Board
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?