Like other parts of the body, nerves can take mistreatment for a long time. Just as smokers don't get sick when they begin smoking. Continue to mistreat the body and damage will be done. The usual progression of this type of mechanical nerve compression begins as a dull ache or a feeling of numbness in the toes or ball of the foot. The usual location involves the region of the second, third or fourth toes.
Medical convention labels the big toe as the first toe.
If the condition continues, pain is usually noted. Often the person senses burning pain or the feeling of a lump in ball of the foot. The sensation resembles walking on a folded up sock. What Can Be Done Start at the earliest possible time. The sooner you help the situation the better your chances are of preventing an irritated nerve from becoming a permanently thickened mass of scar tissue the unfriendly neuroma.