Now about my toe's! follow up!

[KnottedYet]

If the met head isn't dropped too far, you can get it back into the met arch with exercises. I got one of mine back into place, the other is still a bit low (but not dropped). The low one is the same side as the grumpy neuroma. I need to get to work on that one, I might be able to relieve some of the pressure in that foot. But I'm so darn lazy... and it's not bothering me much... and I'm really lazy...

do as I say, not as I do!

I'm a total chicken about surgery, and I'd do darn near anything to avoid it.

[Brandi]

I am not entirely sure what you are saying. I don't know the lingo? Dropped? I think you mean metatarsal for met?

[bike4ever]

KnottedYet - Please describe the exercise you were able to use to improve your dropped met head. I find I have become extremely picky as to my footwear of late. I am only using my Brooks Ariel for daily shoes with Superfeet and my Sidi Mega wide for cycling. I can use my Chaco's for short periods, but they will push on the dropped one too much.

[KnottedYet]

Oh, sorry! The metatarsals are the "knuckles" of the ball of your foot. If you have a dropped met head, it means the normal arch of your forefoot that goes left to right from big toe to pinky toe is "dropped" at one of the met heads. That particular met head has sunk down a little from the arch the rest of them are trying to hold.

The easiest way to see if you have one is to look at the sole of your foot, at the ball. Often you will get a big ol' callous under a dropped met head (mine was under my 2nd toe knuckle) When that met arch flattens the nerves running through the ball of the foot get sqeezed, there's less room in a flattened met arch.

If you've already got a neuroma, the pressure from a flattened met arch can take it from being an occaisional irritant to being unending misery. (mine did that.) If you don't have a neuroma already, a flattened met arch can give you some of the symptoms of one, but it won't be anything like the level of misery caused by a true neuroma!