Morton's Foot?

[NbyNW]

Oakleaf -- thought you and others watching this thread might find this article interesting:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/1...etter-for-you/

[OakLeaf]

So how are the exercises going, ladies?

My experiences so far:

(1) Oddly, it's the skin over the top of my foot that needs to stretch. The internal structures don't seem to lack flexibility, but the skin sure pulls when I stretch.

(2) My feet are weaker than I thought. I'm pretty good at picking stuff up with my toes - and I know wearing Crocs has strengthened my feet quite a bit - but I definitely get some fatigue with the exercises.

(3) The biggest impediment to doing the exercises is taking my socks off in late October - especially with my history of frostbite. Brrrrrrrr. Where are my wool Injinjis???

[jasmine]

I am so psyched to find these pages of discussion about metatarsal pain---I have morton's foot, hammer toe, and big ole bunions--SO I'm trying to get the whole padding idea down, i've read through all of these pages @ 3 times, ordered the pads--2 kind, one from Pro Tec and the the HAdpad ones---thanks everyone for all the amazing info. I still can't figure out where exactly to put the padding--and I can't figure out how to figure it out?? What exactly am I going for ( ob-vee pain reduction!!) in terms of sensation? My first met head is way out of whack so padding under that? My biggest pain issue is on my bike and I've moved around my Look cleats all over but haven't figured out what is best ( yet) Though it's tempting to get rid of the clipless pedals I can't imagine not being clipped in and being able to get any real power? I hope this thread keeps going, the more input the better!!!

[NbyNW]

So far, so good. What I notice is that when spread my toes, I feel like I have more control in my right foot than my left.

I feel like it's getting incrementally easier to transfer my weight to my first met rather than my second met when I'm walking on carpet.

This has me wondering about foot exercises that I could be doing for my flat feet, and oh heck, it probably wouldn't hurt to be doing some ankle exercises too. I've been putting off buying/making a balance board for that very purpose.

Incidentally, I've been shopping for a new Pilates studio and one of the places I've checked out also incorporates some Yamuna body rolling into their classes. They've got these bumpy half-spheres called "wakers" that you stand on, on different parts of your foot. They're great for developing awareness of how you distribute your weight around your foot, and for a general massage of the bottoms of your feet! I'm thinking I might investigate this a little more.

Jasmine, welcome to the discussion. I haven't messed with any of my padding yet. One thing at a time for me.

ETA: Oakleaf, I think for the first time I'm considering buying a pair of Injinjis!

[zia]

I still can't figure out where exactly to put the padding--and I can't figure out how to figure it out?? What exactly am I going for ( ob-vee pain reduction!!) in terms of sensation? My first met head is way out of whack so padding under that?

Follow this link: http://www.triggerpointbook.com/mortons.htm and look at Figure 3. I bought new insoles today, and have it perfect on one foot, still tweaking the other. The perfect foot leaves me with a slight sensation of padding directly beneath the first metatarsal, with the weight of that area being transferred directly onto the pad. My "off" one feels too far to the side, like my foot is sliding off, a little.

Remember the pads should go under the insoles. I'm also experimenting with thickness. I'm at 1/8" right now. That feels about right. Another knee pain free five miles today -- absolutely a miracle, considering I literally had to crawl up the stairs after running a 10K this summer!

Good luck, and report back!