Book Reviews

[cjsmith]

My Amazon order came in. I promised reviews.

1) Acupressure's Potent Points: Not a word about foot pain. (A few pages on "foot and ankle pain" are all, without exception, about the ankle.) This isn't yet a definitive review but I suspect this one's not what I'm looking for. It's just not chock-full of detail.

2) Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: I LEARNED SOMETHING! In ten minutes I learned a LOT, actually. I can now identify muscles I previously didn't even know existed. I bet this book is going to be AWESOME.

The most exciting thing I learned: there's a syndrome called "Morton's foot." (Presumably Morton's feet are prone to Morton's neuroma... I dunno.) Anyway, it's a situation where the second metatarsal is longer than the first. I'd read about problems stemming from the second toe being longer than the first, which mine isn't, so I mostly ignored them... but the second metatarsal? So I bent my toes down to see where the bumps on the top of the foot showed up. My second metatarsal is noticeably longer! I have this type of foot! And GUESS what it's prone to. GUESS. Yep, it sounds remarkably like the sort of pain I've got. SURPRISE! And... this book has suggestions for what to do with it. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

This is a hopeful development. I shall keep you posted, my faithful readers. :)

(Also coming up soon: a review of Egoscue's "Pain Free for Women".)

Comments

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

It was a pleasure to see you, earlier! :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Likewise.

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

Oh, cool! I hope the suggestions work!

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Yay! :-)

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

Yep, it sounds remarkably like the sort of pain I've got. SURPRISE! And... this book has suggestions for what to do with it.

Hooray!!!!!!!! that's great news! *does a happy dance for CJ*

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I have the second toes longer than the first bit, and also the second metatarsal. I shall have to follow your progress closely. So far I haven't had any significant foot problems, but now I know something to watch for.

I sincerely hope the book gives you some information that will help you get over the worst of the pain.

Oh wow -- here, I'll take notes.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

According to the book, Morton's foot is not in itself painful; the trouble happens as a side effect of the changes to the weight-bearing pattern of the foot. The head of the second metatarsal takes over a lot of the load that should be divided between the first and fifth (making a nice triangle with the heel).

Personally, I don't see how length alone will do that, except during a portion of the gait when the heel is lifted. But I can see that running does have that position, and with a fair bit of "launching" force, too. And my problems may well stem from a combination of this and another factor: my fourth metatarsal sits very, very low in my foot. I could have the same problem they're describing, while standing motionless, but with my fourth rather than my second.

Apparently what happens is that the balance becomes more of a two-point than a three-point thing. The ankle does more work to remain upright. According to the book, many people with this type of foot walk and stand with their toes pointing outward to get back into balance; this works, but because of the unusual positioning it can cause ball-of-foot pain, knee pain, and weird imbalances that go all the way up to the neck.

(I'm synthesizing here: Also would mean unusual muscle use. The adductors would be helping to flex the hip joint (swing the leg forward), and abductors helping to extend it. Vice-versa at the knee joint. Don't know what any of that would cause. Maybe the knee pain? I also do not see how pointing the toes out gets a person back in balance, EXCEPT during that heel-up part of the gait, or (when standing) if the ankle falls inward. Perhaps all this is presumed to be happening. I don't know.)

Book says one in four people has Morton's foot. It describes a characteristic callus pattern: one under the head of the second metatarsal, one on the inside edge of the big toe, and a couple where a bunion and tailor's bunion would be. (Me, I have a bit of one under the fourth metatarsal and an ENORMOUS HONKIN' BLOCK of callus on the inside edge of the big toe. I take off chunks of that one with scissors periodically.)

Their suggestion, if you're having pain, is to cut a quarter- or half-dollar-sized support pad out of molefoam and stick it to your insole right under the head of the first metatarsal. Make sure it doesn't extend under the second. I'll give this a shot. Book says "you'll be amazed at the difference, your toes will point forward, bla bla." Plus of course all the trigger point therapy for the specific pain -- I'm still working on all that stuff. :)

Re: Oh wow -- here, I'll take notes.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... interesting. I have that callus pattern on both feet! Also, on long forced marches I invariably got blisters on the tips of my second toes, and just adjacent to the callus on the balls of my feet. It's never been a problem for me while running though.

I see a copy of this book in my future.

Re: Oh wow -- here, I'll take notes.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Interesting! I never get blisters in those spots, but then my second toe is shorter. Hmm.

Unlike a couple other books I've looked at lately, this one doesn't claim to cure EVERYTHING... but I still find its claims a bit expansive. Eh, we'll see. If its techniques give me even partial relief, it's worth the $13.57 I paid for it.

Re: Oh wow -- here, I'll take notes.

[ambar.livejournal.com]

I have the same sort of feet (only my second toe *is* longer than my first). If you want to get together and swap elbows some time, let me know.

Re: Oh wow -- here, I'll take notes.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Sure! Another dinner, or lunch sometime? (I do so enjoy food.)

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

Awesome news re: those books!

And thanks for the wonderful footrub yesterday... it was good hanging out with you!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

You are very welcome! And thanks for the footrub you gave me. Purrrrrr.

[vito-excalibur.livejournal.com]

Yay!

Apparently in popular belief Morton's foot is associated with dominant women. :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Ooo, now I have a reputation to live up to. :)

[jupiter29.livejournal.com]

I'm glad at least one of the books in working out for you. I never thought much about it, but I think it would definitely make sense if certain types of feet (that doesn't sound right!) were more likely to develop certain problems. So I hope there is some advice in there that's helpful to you. And now I just have to refrain from taking my shoes off at work to measure my metatarsels. :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

At least you're not trying to measure your shinbone or something. That's probably best done somewhere other than the work environment. ;-)

[jupiter29.livejournal.com]

(*sings quietly for a moment to figure out what the shinbone is connected to*)

Yeah, that doesn't sound like something I'd want to do at work. At least not on myself. There's a couple of coworkers here that I wouldn't mind... hmm, maybe I can convince them I'm doing some kind of study. ;)