Fellowship of the Morton's Toe

Getting closer to a

Getting closer to a diagnosis!

This morning I had xrays done to rule out a stress fracture. Yay! Nothing was found. The doctor thinks it could be a neuroma and I've been given an appointment with an orthopedic specialist for next Thursday. Usually it takes months to see one of these people so I'm not sure if I should be concerned that they got me in that quick or thankful for my good luck? I guess I'll know for sure next week.

My running has been drastically reduced in overall mileage, which is very frustrating, but if there's any time of year that a layoff has to happen, I'm glad its the winter. I'm going to do a short run tonight and see how that feels. Now that I know its not a stress fracture I'm not as worried about doing permanent damage. I'll keep all my fellow Morton's Toe peeps in the loop!
 
Chic, I have Morton's Neuroma

Chic, I have Morton's Neuroma (MN), and it can be a permanent thing, if you don't take care of it and have it removed. For me, orthotics, 1 cortisone injection, 16 alcohol sclerosing injections, electroshockwave therapy with 8 more injections, and cryosurgery with 12 more needles (in all, like 37 needles) did nothing to help my four neuromas (2 in each foot). If I could give anyone any advice, I would say have traditional surgery (Scalpel) and get it over with. Don't go through the misery I have been dealing with the past two years.

If you have any questions, please PM me, and I will send you my whole sorted story. Trust me. It will save you tons of time, pain, aggravation, and money.

BTW, studies show the number one cause of MN is the shoes we wear.

Good luck to you!
 
So my second toes on both

So my second toes on both feet is longer than my big toe, and much longer than all of my toes. Is this morton't toe? If so then I have it all my life without even knowing it.

This could be my imagination, but I think that second toe is started to bend a bit, maybe running barefoot? Is this something to be alarmed about?
 
It's a longer second

It's a longer second metatarsal that qualifys as Morton's Toe, not a longer second toe. Bend your metatarsals, so you can see the whites of you knuckles, then compare.

Do you tend to grip the ground with your toes when you run?
 
Okay then, are your toes

Okay then, are your toes turning under causing you pain or problems?
 
Hi All,  Thanks again for

Hi All,

Thanks again for all of your input and suggestions. In the past week and a half I've had xrays done, with one doctor saying MN, and the specialist she referred me to saying it was a second metatarsal stress fracture. It's been a pretty frustrating road, and now I'm in the darth vader bootie for the holidays (plus 4 weeks) :-( Wil this turn me off minimalist/barefoot running? NO WAY! But I am desperately looking for any and all cross training advice while I'm sidelined for 5 weeks. For instance, can I use the stationary bike? Would that be doing more damage than good? I plan to go for a swim tomorrow, so I have that at least but the pool is really only a once a week reality so I'd love some other suggestions. And what about resting this thing? With the holidays its been really hard to find time to just sit on my rear, but will rest help heal this thing faster or can I keep hobbling around?

Thanks and happy holidays everyone :)
 
I'd say rest as much as

I'd say rest as much as possible staying in the boot as much as possible. Good luck, Chic! Wishing you a speedy healing. If the problem still exists a few weeks after you are out of the boot, then you'll know it wasn't a stress fracture. Be sure to take extra vitamin D and calcium, and make sure it's a good product. You can check with your local health food store or herb shop.
 
 Sooo I may be a bit late but

Sooo I may be a bit late but I definitely have MT, I just did the "knuckle test" to confirm.



Now what i don't seem to understand is if this is a throwback genetic variation why does it cause problems with running barefoot? I would think since it's from a more primitive time it would be more adapted to going barefoot....
 
I don't know that MT is a

I don't know that MT is a problem for everyone who runs/walks barefoot though. I "have" MT, and I don't have the problems others have with MT, such as bone on ground grinding and calluses in those areas.
 
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I received one of my usual

I received one of my usual Google Alerts today, but this one contained something (I think odd) about Morton's Toe. An article in the Canadian Medical Journal Association included this text:

In the 1920's and 1930"s Dr. Dudley J. Morton of Yale Medical School and Columbia Medical School wrote that a problem with the 1st metatarsal bone, known as a Morton's Toe could be the reason for most foot problems. Dr. Janet Travel, White House physician to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, and Professor Emeritus of Medicine at George Washington University took this concept further by writing and teaching that the Morton's Toe could cause pain all over your body. She wrote and taught for four decades that a Morton's Toe could cause back, hip, knee, leg foot and ankles problems. She felt that the Morton's Toe, was so important that at the age of 89 she made a video tape to teach other physicians about how to recognize it and how to treat it.

Full article here:

http://www.expertclick.com/NewsReleaseWire/Is_Going_Barefoot_the_Answer_to_Runners_Foot_Problems,201134670.aspx

And pointed to this Youtube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eiTplL915k
 
I don't get a "grinding"

I don't get a "grinding" feeling, but on longer runs my 2nd Metty head starts to hurt pretty bad. The pain is somewhat similar to the feeling after hiking for hours slamming your feet in boat anchors. I don't slam my feet though, I have pretty light footfalls. Maybe they could be lighter, but the pain isn't proportional to the problems with my form. Your lucky if you don't have that problem TJ, I'm going to have to make one of those MT orthotics if I want to start getting my mileage up.

I don't know what you can really do to treat MT, aside from the pads. Not like you can make the bone shorter (well I'm sure you could, but it wouldn't be worth it.)
 
Yea, I'm not sure what else

Yea, I'm not sure what else can be done either, except the metty pad. I may be lucky that I don't have MT, but I sure am not lucky that I have MN.
 
One of the confusing issues

One of the confusing issues about runners with morton's toe is the particular technique to stop the pressure at the base of the second metatarsal. There's another foot condition called "Rothbardt's Foot," where the big toe is elevated, and the proper way to deal with it is to put a 3 to 6 mm pad all the up to the end of the big toe. Dr. Schuler, who has written a book on Morton's toe called "Why You Really Hurt," disagrees, and says you should have a pad only under the first metarsal head. I've tried both, and I can't decide which works best. I definitely have morton's toe.



Any comments would be appreciated.
 
Welcome then, TRP!  Nyal

Welcome then, TRP! Nyal created an orthotic for his MT. There's a few posts about it in this thread, which might be of help to you.
 
Thanks for the welcome; I'm

Thanks for the welcome; I'm actually from Georgia (don't know why I'm showing up as from Alabama, though I was born there). Anyway, there are a lot of posts on this site, so I'll try to find Nyal's description of an MT orthotic.



trp
 
trp, go back up to the

trp, go back up to the Chapters tab, and select Georgia. You can remove yourself from Alabama as well. If not, please let me know.
 
Thanks Barefoot TJ, I

Thanks Barefoot TJ,



I changed it to Georgia.



There is a website called "morton'sfoot.com", where the athletic insole has a full-length 3 mm pad under the whole first metatarsal. Most people who have morton's toe say this is not for morton's toe, but for Rothbardt's foot. Strange.