Read Chapter 1
The Best $8.00 I Ever Spent
One day, during my sophomore year at the New York College of Podiatric Medicine, I stopped by the little bookstore on the top f loor of the school. In my free time, I would often go there to check out the new books that arrived. That day, I was looking around and noticed a stack of books I had never seen before. On the very bottom of that stack was an olderbook that appeared to have been there for some time. It was more worn, dusty and beaten up than the newer books, and undoubtedly had seen better days. As I read the title, I had no idea as to the importance this book would represent in my future. The book was entitled The Human Foot by Dr. Dudley J. Morton, and was published in 1935 by the Columbia University Press.1 Since I was planning to spend my professional life as a foot specialist, I thought that price allowing, it might not be a bad idea to own a book called The Human Foot. I asked the clerk, “How much for the book?” After checking numerous lists and catalogs, he was unable to find a price for it. In frustration, he said to me, “Look, the cheapest book in the store is $8.00, so you can have it for that.” Now, you must understand that $8.00 was a lot of money to me in 1972. It would have paid for two movie tickets and a pizza, which back then, was a really hot date for me and my then girlfriend. So I had a major choice: hot date or a book by some guy named Dudley. It was a close call, but I took Dudley home with me that night, and my girlfriend had to settle for a tuna fish sandwich, no movie, and the simple pleasure of my company (she had a wonderful time). Thirty-five years later, I cannot even remember the girl’s name or what she looked like, but to this day, I use what I learned in that one book and because of it, I have helped a lot of people.
Good News
I hope you find this book easy to read and understand. It is all about one single bone in your foot, the first metatarsal bone, and whether the one you were born with is working correctly. If your first metatarsal bone is not working the way it should be because the first bone is shorter than the second bone, then you may have a common foot condition known as Morton’s Toe. Morton’s Toe is not a new medical condition. In fact, it was first written about 80 years ago2. It has been well established by several admired medical doctors that the Morton’s Toe is a major cause of aches, pains and torment not only of the feet and ankles, but also of the back, hips, thighs, calves, knees, legs and other places all over your body. It can even be a cause of fibromyalgia. I personally believe it can cause sleep disturbances and possibly be a contributing cause of Restless Legs Syndrome. The good news is that all of the pains and problems associated with Morton’s Toe can by treated by putting one simple little inexpensive pad on the bottom of your foot or in your shoe. I am hoping that what you will read in the following pages will help you feel better.
What this Book Will Do for You
The aim of this book has always been to help get people out of pain as quickly as possible. In order to do this, I designed the book to be in two parts. Part I is written so it would be as easy as possible to find in one place all the information on why you are really hurting and what to do about it quickly, easily, and cheaply.
By the end of Part I, you will hopefully:
• know what Morton’s Toe is;
• know if you have a Morton’s Toe;
• know if any aches or pains in your feet or body are caused by Morton’s Toe;
• know how to make a simple pad for your foot or shoe, for only two or three dollars, that will treat the problems associated Morton’s Toe; and
• learn about the lives of Dr. Dudley J. Morton and Dr. Janet Travell, the doctors who were associated with the concept of the Morton’s Toe and with all of the problems it could cause.
Part II contains a lot of other important information, but it is not needed in getting you feeling better quickly. Part
II contains information about:
• Myofascial pain, fibromyalgia and Morton’s Toe;
• Diabetic ulcers, amputations, and the Morton’s Toe;
• More about the life of Dr. Morton; and
• Why arch supports really don’t work and the national ripoff associated with them.
There is also an appendix that contains a glossary and reprints of Chapter 22 and 23 of Dr. Morton’s book The Human Foot, and other interesting things.
Two Doctors
Two of the most noted physicians of the twentieth century were linked with defining the condition of the Morton’s Toe and the pains and treatment associated with it. The most important physician in the story of the Morton’s Toe is Dr. Dudley J. Morton, the man whose name it bears. He was an orthopedic surgeon, who during his career, taught at both Yale and Columbia Medical Schools. In the 1920s he wrote two articles about the problems one can have by being born with abnormalities of the first metatarsal bone, or as it has come to be known, Morton’s Toe. The articles were published in the highly respected Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, the leading medical journal in its field3. For the next thirty years, Morton was recognized as one of the foremost medicalexperts in the world when it came to problems of the human foot and its treatments. I will tell you much more about Dudley J. Morton in Chapter 10 and how his work could help you. The other physician who is essential to this story is Dr. Janet Travell. She was no ordinary doctor. From 1961-1965 she served as the personal White House physician to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson and their families4, the first woman ever to do so. Robert F. Kennedy felt that Dr. Travell, in fact, changed the history of the United States by being partially responsible for making John F. Kennedy the thirty-fifth President of the United States5. She understood the importance of the Morton’s Toe, or the “Dudley J. Morton Foot,” as she called it. Dr. Travell knew that having a Morton’s Toe could be the real cause of having pain from your head to your toes. This was because Morton’s Toe could be one of thecauses of a body-wide painful condition of the muscles called Myofascial Pain Syndrome. She knew what she was writing and talking about concerning Myofascial Pain Syndrome. You see, Dr. Janet Travell was and is still considered by many people to be the world’s leading author-ity on Myofascial Pain Syndrome. Her two-volume book, called Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger PointManual, coauthored by Dr. David Simons, is still the leading authority on this painful body-wide medical problem6. For decades, she alerted the medical profession about the significance of Morton’s Toe as being a cause of Myofascial Pain Syndrome. She was so dedicated to this mission that at the age of 89, she made a series of videotapes to teach the medical profession about Myofascial Pain Syndrome. One of these tapes was specifically made about the Morton’s Toe in order to assist doctors in recognizing and treating it.7 I will further discuss Dr. Travell,JFK, LBJ, RFK, Myofascial Pain Syndrome, trigger points and why your body may hurt all over, in Chapter 11. Trust me, it is a fascinating story.
Why and How I Wrote this Book
I had known for many years that the pain and suffering associated with having Morton’s Toe was easily treatable with a simple pad on the bottom of the foot. And, it was based on good, proven medicine, developed by two eminent physicians: Dr. Morton and Dr. Travell. What I could not understand or accept was why this treatment, capable of relieving so much suffering, was not known or used by more doctors. Could it be that I was the only doctor who ever read The Human Foot? During the last twenty-five years or so, it was rare to read anything in any medical or podiatric publication about the effects of having a Morton’s Toe or about how to treat it. Nor was it lectured about at any medical meeting that I was aware of. Because of that, I became very frustrated. Knowing how important the work of Morton and Travell was in reducing pain, I knew I had to do something to re-introduce it to the public and medical profession. Sometime in the early 1990s, I toyed with the idea of writing a book about the Morton’s Toe. To be honest, the idea of writing another book did not thrill me. My first book, The Agony of De Feet, a Podiatrist Guide to Foot Care8, took a great deal of time to research and write, and the process was very demanding. I got lucky, the book was very well received around the country. But after that book, I decided that birthing one book was enough for me, and I had no desire to write another one.
Never Say Never
So there I was in the early 1990s, not wanting to write another book, but knowing deep down inside that I really had to. Knowing that, I did what came naturally: I procrastinated. I always looked for, and found some excuses or distraction that got in the way of me writing this book. However, during those years, I kept telling everyone that I was writing a book about the Morton’s Toe and its treatment. Eventually, my family, friends, patients and staff got so sick and tired of me running my mouth about the book that they told me to write the damn thing or shut up! So, by popular request, sometime around 2003–2004, I finally started to write. And ladies and gentlemen – here we are. The people of this country spend billions and billions of dollars a year treating pain, be it pain medications prescribed by personal physicians, over-the-counter pain killers like aspirin or acetaminophen, creams or ointments, special shoes, arch supports, copper bracelets, back braces, special beds, Tens units, dietary supplements, or numerous other items. We will try almost anything to feel better. I hope that the day may come when we routinely look at our feet and decide if we really need any of the above or just a simple “toe pad” to feel better. The following pages will explain how and why this should and could be possible.
