week 0 · last reviewed 2026-06-24
Morton's neuroma surgery recovery: week 0
Clinical procedure: Morton's neuroma excision.
Typical, evidence-anchored estimate only. It is not medical advice, not a prediction for your body, and not a substitute for your surgeon or clinician.
what's typical at week 0
typical pain · week 0
Around week 0, the typical pain band sits at 7/10 (range 5.3–8.5). This week was measured directly in the cited cohort.
weeks 0–2
Weeks 0-2 · the nerve pain is gone, the surgery is not
Most people wake with the original neuroma pain already gone, because the nerve that produced it has been removed. What you feel now is incision soreness plus forefoot swelling. Excision studies measure pain at the start and at a single late follow-up rather than week by week, so the exact early path is not published - but the pre-operative average of about 7/10 (Karakaplan) is on its way down from here.
For a dorsal incision, the common approach, you weight-bear from the day of surgery in a stiff-soled post-op shoe with crutches, keeping walking to a minimum for the first few days. A plantar incision is kept off full weight for longer. The wound is kept dry until the stitches come out at about two weeks.
documented at this week
This week
The nerve pain is gone, the surgery is not
Most people wake with the original neuroma pain already gone, because the nerve that produced it has been removed. What is left is incision soreness and forefoot swelling. For a dorsal incision you weight-bear from day one in a stiff-soled post-op shoe with crutches, keeping walking light at first.
What's typical
Some feet carry more than one neuroma at once
When surgeons reviewed pooled studies of people having a neuroma removed, about 14 percent presented with more than one neuroma in the same foot rather than a single one. Finding a second one is part of the picture for a meaningful slice of people, not a rarity.
The bigger picture
Where the cut is changes the early weeks, not the result
A meta-analysis of five studies and 347 feet found pain and function end up the same whether the incision is on the top or the sole of the foot. A top (dorsal) incision lets you put weight through the foot sooner; a sole (plantar) incision tends to leave a more tender scar.
milestones around now
- wk 0 ·Weight-bearing in a post-op shoe (From the day of surgery in a stiff-soled post-op shoe with crutches for a dorsal incision; a plantar incision needs longer before full weight goes through it)
- wk 2 ·Stitches out, wound can get wet (About 2 weeks; the wound is kept dry until the sutures come out)
- wk 4 ·Return to driving (About 4 weeks in the UK, once an emergency stop is possible; a left foot or an automatic can be sooner)
- wk 5 ·Back into an everyday shoe (About 4 to 6 weeks for a trainer or loose lace-up shoe; narrow or fashion shoes take months)
sources
What this page is built from
- Treating Morton's neuroma by injection, neurolysis, or neurectomy: systematic review and meta-analysis (35 studies, 2,998 patients), Acta Neurochirurgica 2021 meta-analysis · reliability 9/10
- Outcomes following excision of Morton's interdigital neuroma: prospective cohort (99 patients / 111 feet), Bone and Joint Journal 2016 prospective cohort · reliability 8/10
- Kasparek and Schneider, surgical treatment of Morton's neuroma: long-term results after open excision (98 feet, 15.3-yr follow-up), 2013 retrospective cohort · reliability 7.5/10
- Karakaplan et al., long-term results of dorsal-approach neurectomy: VAS 7.04 pre-op to 1.4 (n=41), 2016 retrospective cohort · reliability 7/10
- NHS Lothian patient protocol: Morton's neuroma excision surgery (recovery timeline) clinical protocol · reliability 7/10
Track your own week-by-week so a flare doesn't erase the months behind it.
Start a recovery logThis is a typical, evidence-anchored reading of morton's neuroma surgery recovery at week 0 — not medical advice, not a prediction for your body, and not a substitute for your surgeon or clinician.