The Suns' 'Iron-man' Hill has been battling a neuroma for years! There have been many people stirring online wondering if Grant Hill needs surgery and what will it do to the team. Is his career being threatened by this painful neuroma? Most likely, the answer is no. The team will survive this troubling foot condition and so will the iron man.



A neuroma is a thickening of a nerve and is often referred to as a benign growth or a tumor. Do not let these words scare you. A neuroma is not cancerous nor could it ever become cancer. The thickening is not distributed across the nerve, but rather localized to one area such as between the third and forth toes. It is thought that the nerve becomes enlarged due to repetitive irritation or pressure. Over time, this irritation leads to pain. Wearing shoes that are too tight, too small, or with a heel can aggravate the pain because it causes increased irritation. In Grant Hill, the pain was most likely caused by running and jarring on the quart. Flexing and relaxing your toes causes compression on the nerve and the balls of your foot take on the most weight during sports. Since this is where Hill's neuroma is located, playing basketball can elicit a lot of pain.

The treatment of a neuroma does range from conservative treatments to surgery, but in most cases surgery is not necessary. For Grant Hill, surgery is especially avoided since it would impede on his and his team's success on the court. He should be fitted for orthotics that have a special pad at the balls of the feet. This pad causes the bones in your foot to "spread apart" allowing for more space around the irritated nerve. A podiatric physician is specially trained to make orthotics with specialized padding for neuromas and other conditions. During the season, Hill may get some cortisone shots to decrease the pain. Cortisone decreases inflammation around the nerve. Therefore it is kind of like getting a heavy duty Advil shot in your foot. Though this does an excellent job at relieving pain, it does have some side effects such as reducing a person's immune response. Therefore, the number of shots that a patient receives is usually limited to 3 over a 6 month period. Stretching, massages, and icing can also greatly reduce the pain. Surgery is not preferred, because the procedure involves removal of the nerve which leaves a numb spot between your toes. As long as the Iron Man listens to his podiatrc physican and trainers, it is very unlikely that his neuroma will lead to surgery. His pain may increase from time to time, but it is manageable with several conservative treatments. Some orthotics, icing, and medicine and the Iron man will have a foot of steel!

If these conservative treatments fail, then there is a procedure called cryosurgery. This is where the foot is made numb with Novocain, and a small nick is made in the skin, about the size of a small paper cut. Then a thin probe is placed into the nerve area which sends liquid nitrogen at a temperature of -75 degrees Celsius. This will freeze the nerve and shrink it back to normal size. The patient can walk immediately with a regular shoe and only needs some antibiotic ointment and a band-aid.