Morton's Foot?

[NbyNW]

ooo, cool! I've had good luck with Keens, but I didn't know they made wool clogs! Time to start writing out my Christmas wish list . . .

[zia]

So I have an interesting post-script to this thread. During the course of this thread, my knee pain was nearly 100% eliminated by placing a small pad under my first metatarsal.

Well.

I have been upping my mileage to train for a half marathon, and was very worried after a 9-mile run. My right knee was in intense pain from 5 miles on, and I was concerned 13.1 just wasn't going to be possible.

Nonetheless, I scheduled a 12-miler with my running partner and crossed my fingers for the best. Right before the run, I decided to check the pads I'd put under my insoles, and -- lo and behold -- the right one was missing! I'd been fiddling with the shoes and forgotten that side. I put a new pad on, ran 12 -- at a brisk pace! -- and had no kneed pain at all, and felt great the next day! (Last August, pre-padding, my knees hurt so much I literally had to crawl up stairs after my first Olympic Tri.)

Maybe it was just my body adjusting, but, given my 20 years of fairly persistent knee pain, my bet's on the Morton's Foot diagnosis and subsequent insole changes.

Just thought I'd share.

[OakLeaf]

... I'll update too in case anyone's missed my posts from the general running thread...

I'm experimenting with barefoot running, just a weetie little bit so far. Between Knott's exercises, the hip exercises my own PT has me doing, yoga, and the muscle strengthening I got from putting the pads in my walking-around shoes... I started to feel like I was ready to try it. So far, so good, but just a little so far. With the marathon looming, barefooting isn't my #1 focus right now, but I'll continue to build.

Still, it's pretty apparent that all the cr*p people have been putting in my shoes since I was six years old has only exacerbated my problems. It's impossible to tell at 44 years' remove, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was starting to wear shoes that caused my problems to begin with. It's going to take a lot of work to undo 44 years of imbalances, but little by little.

[NbyNW]

Zia, that's so great that you've had such positive results with that little pad!

Oakleaf, hope the marathon training continues to go well.

I've been struggling a bit. I was pretty religious about doing Knott's exercises for about a month, and then we got really busy moving out of temp housing and settling in to our new place. I usually do the exercises 3-4x a day, but rarely 6. Definitely have increased flexibility in my met arches, especially on the right (not surprising, I'm right-footed, so that foot seems to work a little better).

Other things I'm doing: I work on the trigger points in my shins and calves when I'm watching TV or reading in bed. I've also added in that exercise where you scrunch up a towel using your toes and then push it away, just the toes. I try to do that a couple of times a day. I'm looking to find a balance board/wobble board so that I can add some ankle strengthening/proprioception work.

The barefoot running thing is intriguing but I thought I'd try barefoot walking first, so I've ditched the Birkenstocks I usually wear inside and try to be conscious of my foot posture as I move around the house. I've reduced my use of Rx orthotics and so far no problems. I've been keeping my feet warm this winter wearing Ugg clogs or snowboots, and my orthotics don't fit into either, so it's been great to have that option!

[KnottedYet]

OMG you guys! What perfect timing to bring this thread back up!

I consulted on a patient today who had a classic Morton's foot, with a profoundly dropped 2nd met head and the associated ills.

She had the intense orthotics and the intense shoes... but her over-all leg posture was excellent, especially barefoot.

She wasn't my patient, so I couldn't tell her "do the exact opposite of what you've been doing, and change it soon!" but I gave her a couple websites and strongly suggested she take a look at them.

I used to work closely with a podiatrist who was very anti-surgery. He inspired me and he taught me so much. Working with his patients was a joy, because he let me get creative with treatments and was always willing to teach me, to the point of letting me accompany patients to their appointments with him.

Feet are amazing and beautiful things, and given their 'druthers, they will work! Don't be afraid to try stuff. You'll know pretty quickly if it is going to help you or hinder you.

[Bike Chick]

Glad this thread popped back up too Knot. I had thought to revive it myself because I had something to add.

I had been seeing a podiatrist since September for what he finally diagnosed as Morton's Foot. First he diagnosed a stress fracture (which I'm not sure now that I had), told me to stop running for 6 weeks and sold me a very expensive pair of orthontics. Then he told me he had never heard of Morton's Foot or Morton's Toe and told me I was confusing it with Morton's Neuroma, then a month later tells me I had Morton's Toe, gives me a cortisone shot, talks to me about surgery and tells me to stop running again. That was January and my last visit to him. I went to see a chiropractor instead who is amazing. The adjustments, therapy and pressure point massage have fixed the problem--without drugs or surgery! I'm training for a half marathon and up to running 5 miles and the foot is doing fine (it's everything else that hurts --Ha! Ha!)

Oh, and by the way, the chiropractor told me what my problem was the minute he saw my foot and then looked at the x-ray. He also gave me the same exercises to do that Knot had suggested. The podiatrist told me to never, ever walk barefoot and not to even put shoes on that didn't have the orthontics in them. Gee whiz!

[OakLeaf]

The other thing I've been doing, self-prescribed, is working to strengthen the muscles in the anterior lower leg. As my calves loosen up, it's become clear that my calves were doing all the work holding me upright in a slight forward lean, and that the dorsiflexor muscles are extremely weak. Right now I can work the muscles to fatigue without resistance, just sitting at the computer like right now.