Articles about Hallux Valgus

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Barefooters
Jan 1, 2011
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SHOES FOR ALL PEOPLE BY PRESCRIPTION, WILLIAMS W. RENO, A.M., M.D., MAJOR, MEDICAL CORPS, UNITED STATES ARMY
https://books.google.com/books?id=Z681AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA173
Barefoot and sandal wearing races are notoriously better marchers than shoe-wearing peoples. History is full of testimony of this fact. To quote from Butler, “Whenever shoe-wearing people are matched against shoeless people in marching the barefooted people show superiority.” It seems that one of the penalties of civilization is decreased marching and walking power. And one of the principal causes of this is not hard to find. A shoe limited the freedom of the foot an in time causes atrophy of certain foot muscles.

The normal foot is very flexible. Great freedom of action is needed in walking, running, jumping and climbing. The large joints of the foot must not be confined. The grasp of the toes against the ground, and the backward push of the great toe are of value at every step.
The following extracts from letters from prominent shoe manufacturers explain the situation very clearly:
No. 1. “The man who will buy purely anatomical shoes is the man who has arrived at years of maturity and discretion, but he is not the fellow who creates volume in shoe manufacturing.”
...
No. 2. “The difficulty, however, in building shoes along anatomical lines is not usually a difficulty of manufacture, and is not due to the manufacturers not knowing what constitutes at least some of the principles of anatomical footwear, but it has been amply proven in our case that the public does not want, at least any great numbers, shoes so made.”
...
“I was forcefully impressed on day with a parallel another business man drew for me. He says, ‘A school teacher is giving the public what it, ought to have -- a first-class actor is giving it what it wants.’ Draw for yourself the conclusion as to who is making the most money.”

The seriousness of hallux valgus must not be underestimated. This condition as surely reduces the capacity for walking or marching as night follows the day.

Figure 2 shows a foot with hallux valgus. The line drawn across is Meyer’s line; so called after Dr. Hermann Meyer, the man first to formulate correct lines for footwear. In a normal foot the axis of the great toe falls in this line. Or as Meyer stated the condition, “The great to must lie in such a position that its axis when carried backward shall pass through the centre of the heel.”

In general terms the foot is a lever of the second class. The fulcrum is at the ball and great toe, the power at the heel -- transmitted through the tendo-Achilles from the calf muscles -- and the weight, the body is between. This lever is the prime factor in walking or marching.
...
A foot with hallux valgus is a lever with a lateral bend at its fulcrum end. See Fig 3 (b). No workman would think of using such a lever as the loss of power would be tremendous. Why should anyone walk or march with such levers? In exactly the same proportion as the great toe is bent is the efficiency of the foot as a lever decreased and walking or marching capacity lessened.
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Nor does this exhaust the serious disability of hallux valgus. At every step as the foot leaves the ground the great toe by virtue of its intrinsic muscles and leg assistance gives a final backward push that is of merial aid in propelling the body. The effectiveness of this backward push is greatly increased as the body is already falling forward for the next step when it is applied. The continual loss of power in the backward push caused by hallux valgus is a further potent factor in decreasing walking or marching power.

Fig. 4 presents the footprints of an Arab who never wore shoes. Also the outlines of a baby’s feet. The feet of neither have been deformed by shoes. Note how Meyer’s line and the axis of the great toe coincide.

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Fig. 2 is an X-ray picture of the left foot of case No. 2124. This is a case of permanent hallux valgus. This person has worn shoes so widely removed from his proper size that the limit of flexibility was passed and permanent deformity produced.

The wearer of this shoe does not possess the walking power which is rightfully his portion. He has so deformed his feet by ill-fitting shoes that he loses leverage at every step. Of the 2,413 men examined, practically 90 per cent. of them had more or less hallux valgus.
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A READY MEANS OF INCREASING MARCHING CAPACITY. BY MAJOR WILLIAM W RENO, MEDICAL CORPS, U.S. ARMY
https://books.google.com/books?id=5LQ1AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA606
https://books.google.com/books?id=cVBCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA606
These extracts show clearly why the feet of American people are deformed and why they will continue to be deformed. There is no especial demand for correct footwear. The campaign of education need to create such a demand in civil life appears formidable if not hopeless. But all our recruits come from his mass of people with deformed feet.
 
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MANUAL OF MILITARY HYGIENE FOR THE MILITARY SERVICES OF THE UNITED STATES BY VALERY HAVARD
https://books.google.com/books?id=NQHRAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA441
A badly-shaped shoes, or one too short or too narrow, produces a misshapen foot and various lesions which seriously impair the efficiency of the solder… the big toe, not infrequently, is partly dislocated at the metatarso-phalangeal articulation, which may swell into a bunion. This displacement and deformity of the toes deprive the foot of much of its propulsive power in walking.

Hallus valgus is the name given to the very common condition described above, in which the great toe is pushed away from its proper, straight inner line (Fig. 104), its two phalanges making a marked angle with the first metatarsal, if more than slight, has a very appreciable effect upon the soldier’s ability to stand and walk, while, if considerable, it may constitute a cause for rejection in applicants for enlistment.
104.jpg
 
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Dr. Mark Cucuzzella
https://nwfootankle.com/files/TestimonialCorrectToes.pdf
The great toe being able to stabilize the arch in midstance and takeoff is critical for a functional gait and normal arch functioning.

The big toe must be properly aligned and the flexor hallucis longus and brevis allowed to perform normal stabilizing functions.

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Correct alignment of the Great Toe

You can feel this yourself if you stand on one foot and try not to shift to the side to balance…you feel the big toe activated and gripping the ground.

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Alignment of Great toe with Hallux Valgus

Periodically I tried spacers between my 1st and second toe to get the large toe aligned. Often these would move position as I ran. What was certain though was the immediately felt benefit in stride efficiency when the big toe was perfectly aligned…I felt my foot was the magic spring it was when I was a child running effortlessly on the beach.
 
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SHOES FOR ALL PEOPLE BY PRESCRIPTION, WILLIAMS W. RENO, A.M., M.D., MAJOR, MEDICAL CORPS, UNITED STATES ARMY

That's what I've always said too. :)
 
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