Morton's Foot?

[OakLeaf]

I wouldn't make any changes for your race, but I'd try the padding without the arch support, not with. Assuming you still have the original insoles that came with the shoes? I knew I'd been keeping mine for a reason (other than the fact that I keep everything, no matter how useless).

The reason is, what you want to be doing is letting your muscles support your feet, not slamming your arch down on the orthotic, and that's what the pads let you do. They basically let you ambulate using the muscles that you're supposed to be using - getting the points of contact and push-off that a "normal" foot has. That's why the commercial sellers call them "proprioceptive" insoles - which I think is a misnomer, but it's a way for them to distinguish their product from arch supports (and charge you $50-100 ).

I'm really, really looking forward to getting some of these pads inside a pair of Vibram Five Fingers now. I never thought I'd be able to try those!

I'm on my third pair and am surprised not a single podiatrist has ever mentioned Morton's Foot -- and that every pair of orthotics has focused exclusively on the heel and arch area of my foot, not the forefoot. I was reading "The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook," and when I got to the Morton's Foot section, I felt like was reading about myself. I have all the classic callus patterns, pain in many of the referral points mentioned, and, of course, a freakishly long second metatarsal!

Yep, yep, and yep. And all those arch supports alleviated the arch pain and some of the knee issues, but left me with crummy balance and worse Achilles problems, besides not alleviating any of the myofascial issues all up my back body. And you can add physical therapists and orthopedic surgeons to the list of people who never mentioned it to me (and probably wouldn't know what you were talking about if you asked). Why would they tell me to try cutting up an old mouse pad, when they can get me to spend $200+ for orthotics for each pair of shoes, and get my insurance company to spend $700 for a knee brace? Actually, you can add a very excellent LMT to the list, too - obviously she's just not familiar with this condition, since she was well aware that I need to be doing something with my feet to keep my ankles in neutral and help with all the muscle imbalances. I'm sure she will notice the difference next time I see her though!


PS - ask the LMT for help putting your ankles into neutral, standing barefoot. They should be happy to help. Easier to do with a pair of eyes that's (1) not yours trying to look down at your ankles and (2) trained at recognizing a neutral ankle. That'll make it easier for you to figure how tall your pads need to be.

[nscrbug]

I've been using these metatarsal pads in my running shoes, with fairly good success -


http://www.hapad.com/hapadonline/pro...roductid=16155

[OakLeaf]

Under your first metatarsal?

If somewhere else, could they be cut down to fit under the first metatarsal only?

[NbyNW]

I've got this problem, too -- except it's more a case of my first metatarsal being really short, which also leads to the same callusing under the second. I've been using custom orthotics for years, but they don't do a lot for my forefoot mechanics.

Thanks for starting this thread, zia! I think I might experiment a bit with metatarsal pads, too.

[OakLeaf]

I'm curious... are your third metacarpals longer than your second?

Mine are. I wonder if there's a correlation.

[zia]

I'm curious... are your third metacarpals longer than your second?

What's the difference between a metacarpal and a metatarsal? My third is longer than my first... (but not my second).

[Owlie]

What's the difference between a metacarpal and a metatarsal? My third is longer than my first... (but not my second).

Metacarpals are the hand's equivalent of metatarsals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacarpal