Treatments
Treatment for foot, ankle and leg nerve pain
The right treatment depends on the right diagnosis. Non-surgical care comes first whenever it’s appropriate, and surgery is discussed only when the expected benefit outweighs the risks for you.
Our approach
A stepwise path of care
Step 1: Listen and examine
A detailed history and a hands-on examination of sensation, strength, circulation, skin, gait and footwear.
Step 2: Clarify the diagnosis
Imaging or nerve studies only when they will change the plan — coordinated with other specialists when needed.
Step 3: Non-surgical care first
When appropriate: footwear, padding, orthotics, activity changes, therapy, and medication managed with your other clinicians.
Step 4: Surgery, selectively
Discussed only when symptoms persist, the diagnosis is well supported, and the expected benefit outweighs the risks for you.
Step 5: Recovery and follow-up
Realistic timelines, rehabilitation guidance and follow-up visits. Nerves recover slowly, and results vary.
Non-surgical care
Where most treatment begins
Footwear and padding
Wider, lower-heeled shoes, changes in lacing, and pads that take pressure off an irritated nerve. Often the first and simplest step.
Orthotics and bracing
Custom or prefabricated inserts, or a brace, to improve alignment and reduce stretch or pressure on a nerve.
Activity changes
A temporary change in how you train, work or stand, to let an irritated nerve settle while you stay as active as possible.
Physical therapy
Strengthening, flexibility and balance work, gentle nerve-gliding exercises, and desensitization for over-sensitive areas.
Medication
Anti-inflammatory medicines for some conditions, and medicines for nerve pain — coordinated with your primary care physician or other clinicians.
Injections, in selected cases
For some conditions, such as Morton’s neuroma, an injection may be considered after discussing the likely benefits and risks.
Treating contributing conditions
Working with your other clinicians on factors such as blood-sugar control, inflammatory conditions or medications that affect nerves.
Surgical care
When surgery may be considered
- symptoms persist and affect daily life despite a well-tried course of non-surgical care
- the diagnosis is well supported by your history, examination and, when needed, testing
- the expected benefit clearly outweighs the risks for you
- you understand what recovery involves and what a realistic result looks like
Treatment guides
Non-surgical care
Where most treatment begins.
Treatment
Non-surgical care
Footwear, orthotics, therapy, medicines and injections: how non-surgical care works for foot nerve problems and when to reassess.
Treatment
Neuroma treatment
Stepwise care for Morton’s neuroma and other painful neuromas, from footwear changes to surgery.
Nerve release
Freeing a nerve from pressure.
Treatment
Nerve decompression
Surgery to release a trapped nerve at the ankle or foot when well-tried non-surgical care hasn’t helped.
Treatment
Tarsal tunnel release
Surgery to open the tarsal tunnel and free the tibial nerve: who may benefit, what studies show, and what recovery involves.
Repair and reconstruction
Reconnecting, bridging or rerouting an injured nerve.
Treatment
Nerve repair
Surgery to repair or reconstruct a nerve that has been cut or badly injured, or to manage a painful nerve end.
Treatment
Nerve grafting
Bridging a gap in a cut nerve with your own nerve, a processed donor nerve or a conduit.
Treatment
Nerve transfer
Rerouting a working nerve branch to a muscle whose nerve is injured, most often to restore foot lift.
Treatment
Revision nerve surgery
A further operation for nerve symptoms that persist or return after previous neuroma or nerve-release surgery.
Neuroma surgery
Treating a painful nerve end, and giving the nerve somewhere to go.
Treatment
Neuroma surgery
Surgical techniques for a painful traumatic neuroma, compared, with pooled outcomes and risks.
Treatment
Morton’s neuroma surgery
Neurectomy or nerve release for Morton’s neuroma: when surgery is considered, what recovery involves, and what studies show.
Treatment
Targeted muscle reinnervation
A nerve-transfer operation that connects a cut nerve to a muscle, used to treat or prevent painful neuromas after amputation.
Treatment
Regenerative peripheral nerve interface
Wrapping a cut nerve end in a small muscle graft so it has a target to grow into, to prevent or treat neuroma pain.
Joint pain
Interrupting the small nerves that carry pain from a joint.
Treatment
Joint denervation
Interrupting the small nerve branches that carry pain from a knee or ankle joint, while preserving the joint.
Appointments
Talk with us about your symptoms
An evaluation can clarify what’s causing your symptoms and what your options are — starting with non-surgical care whenever that’s appropriate.