Freezing Nerves????  Alcohol or Sclerosing Injections????

Many patients are now asking about different techniques including the freezing of nerves, and injections of the nerves with a substance such as phenol or dehydrated alcohol, particularly for the treatment of "Morton's Neuroma".  "Morton's Neuroma" is not really a neuroma, but is rather simply a peripheral nerve entrapment of one of the small nerves in the plantar (bottom) aspect of the forefoot.  There is no other peripheral nerve entrapment in the human body that is primarily treated with anything destructive like taking the nerve out (resection), or injecting it with alcohol or phenol.  The best treatment for an entrapped, or compressed peripheral nerve is to decompress the nerve.  When a peripheral nerve is injected, or frozen, many people believe that the nerve is being "killed" and that the pain will go away.  The fact is that when one of these destructive techniques are done, the nerve is not "killed", but is simply injured.  There are different types of peripheral nerve injury.  Some are better than others, but no one can predict which type of nerve injury will result from one of these destructive types of treatment.  In some cases, there will be temporary relief, and in other cases the pain will actually become worse.  Once a peripheral nerve is damaged, it is very difficult to treat--sometimes nothing works, and the patient is left with permanent damage.  These techniques are often purported to be minimally invasive.

Successful peripheral nerve decompression for the treatment of "Morton's Neuroma" can also be done with a minimally invasive technique--the EDIN procedure.  EDIN stands for endoscopic decompression of intermetatarsal nerve.  This technique usually takes no more than 10 minutes to perform, on an outpatient basis, and is only associated with minimal discomfort in the post operative course.  The patient is able to walk the same day, and shower normally the next day.  Only band aids are needed the day after surgery, and a comfortable shoe can be worn.  There is about a 90% success rate with the technique, and the complications have been minimal.  I have been performing the EDIN procedure since 1994 when I developed the technique.  Patients from all over the world have sought out this technique for their surgery.