One of these days, Morton('s Toe)...

My wife says that the blogosphere is not waiting to hear about my achy foot, but I aims to prove her wrong!

About three months ago, the bottom of my right forefoot began aching, especailly when running. At first I thought I had just stepped on some road debris or bruised it. After trying to continue my training, and feeling much discomfort, I decided it was time to bring in the professionals and see a podiatrist.

The big reveal came when the doctor pulled the insole out of my running shoe and there was a hole nearly worn into the sole where the ache was eminating from. Come to find out I have what is referred to as Morton's Toe. As defined on Foot.com, Morton's Toe results from having a second toe which is larger than the big toe and can

lead to excessive pressure on the second metatarsal head (behind the second toe at the ball- of-the-foot) resulting in pain similar to the discomfort associated with metatarsalgia. The constant pressure placed on the longer second toe while walking or standing can lead to callus formation under the second metatarsal head due to this excessive pressure.

Simply put, becuaes I have a freakishly long second toe (like a finger) the pressure causes the bones in my foot to rub downward in my shoe. When the doc explained it to me he used a cool model of foot bones which served as an excellent way to illustrate why this simple mutation of the foot results in many other little bones in the toes and foot being shifted around in shoe. The part of me that responds to things like a kid thinks this is "cool!" while the runner in me says "ouch!"

In order to fix this issue so that I could continue training, the doc attached a molded (actually the podiatrist cut down a thick pad with scissors and used an adhesive) a support under my insole which would create space under my forefoot creating an are for the forefoot to move and not rub, while I am running.

So far it has deon the trick, although my forefoot still aches occasionally and I reckon I'll need some sort of insert as long as I contune running.

La vie est une course d'entrailles !