As a professional massage therapist or reflexologist, you will be asked if Deep Tissue Therapy can bring some relief to Morton’s Neuroma.
I receive this question every few months.
It is important to make sure that they were diagnosed with this condition by a doctor first, because it can be confused with Metatarsalgia.
What are the symptoms of Morton’s Neuroma?
- Pain in the ball of the foot
- Numbness in toes
- Burning sensation between the 3rd and 4th digits (toes)
- A feeling of standing on a pebble
That last one: “That feeling of a rock in their shoe can drive them crazy.”
What might cause this condition?
Irritation or injury to the nerve that passes between the toes, causing a thickening of the nerve’s outer sheath called the epineurium.
Generally speaking, I find that damage and swelling comes from the knocking together of the metatarsal heads at their weakest point.
This can occur from the type of shoes we wear. High heels are, well, a no-brainer!
The “snow cone effect” as we affectionately call it, forces the toes into an unnatural shape, causing the metatarsals heads to “butt heads” repeatedly throughout the day.
Unfortunately, the nerve that passes in between those bones gets squeezed and crushed, and “it” don’t like it!
And to defend itself it will thicken (forming scar tissue as a barrier) causing lots of pain!
After all, how would you react to being punched all day?
Other possibilities of causation:
- Sports like jogging or ballet
- Exercises we do at the gym (rowing machine).
- Tight dress shoes or work boots
Regardless of how we got there, massage therapy has been shown to bring relief to Morton’s Neuroma symptoms.
In the video above I demonstrate two techniques on how I address this condition specifically.
After a general reflexology treatment, the two main ways are:
- Eversion of the foot (hyper-pronation)
- Rainbow stretch of the transverse arch with compression
In conclusion, I find that a few massage treatments generally brings relief to the inflamed nerve.
And, of course, changing our footwear or the way we exercise will aid in that recovery.
Doug Holland, LMT