Neuromas

A neuroma is a benign growth that forms from the sheath cells of a nerve — the so-called Schwann cells, which surround every nerve fibre like a fine layer of insulation. Sometimes the growth stays silent for years; sometimes it makes itself known with tingling, numbness, a sense of pressure, a pain that pulls along a line — or, when the auditory nerve is affected, with hearing that gradually fades on one side, with dizziness, with a tinnitus that refuses to leave.

Medically speaking, a neuroma is a tumour of the nerve sheath. The protective layer around the nerve multiplies — slowly, often barely noticeable, until the growing mass begins to press, compress, displace. The conduction pathway is still there in principle, but it becomes heavier, thicker, more foreign. The nerve that was meant to carry information suddenly carries a burden.