Simple Steps to Foot Pain Relief. Katy Bowman

       TOE #2: The second toe, also called the index or long toe, can be the same length or sometimes longer than the big toe. This condition is typically referred to as a Morton’s toe. Oftentimes people will experience pain in this toe and be told that the longer toe is the problem. While a long second phalange will change the way the bones in the foot are loaded, damage to this area is caused not just by the toe itself, but also by a particular gait pattern coupled with the extra-long appendage. If you are dealing with pain and have a Morton’s toe, you can change the mechanics of how you move to decrease the pain. Fun fact: the “Largest Morton’s Toe” award goes to the Statue of Liberty.

       TOE #3: Ask most Americans, and they’ll tell you that this little piggy, the “middle toe,” had roast beef. My Irish mother-in-law will say that this little piggy typically has bread and butter. How about we settle on a roast beef sandwich? Those with webbed toes (a not-that-uncommon condition called syndactyly) will usually experience the tightest bond between the second and third digit.

       TOE #4: The fourth toe doesn’t have a special name. Maybe that’s why people wear toe rings, just to boost this toe’s self esteem. This toe does have a greater risk for brachymetatarsia (“brachy”—short; “metatarsals”—bones in the foot), a bone that stops growing at a young age. Many people with a shortened fourth toe may notice some of the surrounding toes moving underneath, leading to painful walking patterns and “rubbing injuries” like corns and calluses.

       Even though I have all my toes, I have been walking on only four toes ever since I was little. My next-to-pinky toe stopped growing at a certain age in my childhood, and that shorter toe has made it hard to find shoes that fit. Shoes either had to have lots of space in the front because the short toe sticks up (the pinky toe has curled underneath that toe to support it), or go high enough that they don’t rub that toe and make it sore. Can you imagine cramming that toe into heels and walking without it hurting? Not a good idea, of course, but I have done it anyway, since high school! Your exercises and Earth-brand’s wide toe box has helped me so much be able to spread my toes now and the shoes don’t rub the top of my toe next to my pinky toe and make it sore. No more sore and aching feet! I am forever grateful!

      —LANENE W.

       TOE #5: This little guy got the cutest name of all: pinky. Typically the smallest of the toes, this little guy, unable to defend itself against fashionable footwear, is often greatly displaced when wearing your favorite pair of shoes and develops a corn as a response to the extra pressure or friction from the tight fit.

      CORNEUM, CORNS, AND CALLUSES, OH MY!

      There are lots of visual signs you can learn to read that give you insight into how you use your body. Corns and calluses are actually very clear visual signals that your body is experiencing excessive pressure or friction.

      Have you ever wondered what a corn is, or how it got its name?

      The top layer of your skin is made of dead cells and is called the Stratum corneum. Corneum is derived from the Latin word for “horned,” as this layer is the oldest and “hardest” of the five layers that make up the outer layer of your skin.

      The normal physiological response to mechanical irritation (increased rubbing or squeezing) is to “beef up” the area, to protect irritated skin. This thickening process is called hyperkeratosis (“hyper”—excessive; “kerat”—from the word keratin, a family of structural proteins; “osis”—the process of).

      A “corn” is the small, kernel-shaped result of hyperkeratosis, which is a result of how your foot is interacting with its environment (shoe or landscape). A callus is the same thing, only more flat and broad compared to a corn. Corns are most commonly found along the outside of the pinky toe, although they can form wherever skin is pushing into something foreign. Calluses are typically found on the sole of the foot, where pressure (i.e., where you carry your body weight over your foot) is the greatest.

      An interesting note: calluses are actually areas of the skin that have better circulation than other areas. What makes a callus uncomfortable is the fact that it is only a small area of thicker skin. This small patch of “health” becomes like a rock in a shoe (or a pea under a mattress if you’re royalty).

      If we walked barefoot over natural terrain throughout our life, we would prompt a gradual adaptation in foot skin thickness over that time, giving us a stronger surface to handle walking barefoot. Said another way, our feet are sensitive to walking over ground because they’ve adapted to footwear (i.e., the skin on the weight-bearing surface of the foot is too thin).

      Key Points, Chapter 1

       1. The anatomy of our feet indicate their potential to move in much more complex ways than we actually use them.

       2. Allowing the muscles of the foot to go unused or underused allows muscles to atrophy.

       3. Many foot problems are a result of disuse, combined with overloading the underused tissue.

       4. The muscles in your feet are the same as the muscles in the rest of the body; they respond and adapt to regular use and specific exercise.

       5. Retraining the muscles in the feet can increase the regeneration of the tissues that make up the foot, which can decrease disease and increase the overall health of your feet.

CHAPTER 2

Where Do Your Feet Stand?

       “People are crying up the rich and variegated plumage of the peacock, and he is himself blushing at the sight of his ugly feet.”

      —SA’DI

      Once you have the basics of the anatomy of both the foot and footwear, you can begin to get objective about your own body. Before we start poking and prodding and measuring and quantifying your tootsies, you will need to remove your shoes. And yes, the socks have to come off too. You can’t tell what your feet are doing until you can see them—clearly.

      Now that you know a little more about your anatomy, it’s time to get scientific and do some data collection. I’m going to walk you step-by-step through parts of your foot that you didn’t even know you had! I’ve even included images and tasks to help you evaluate what is happening below your ankles.

      We often forget that how our feet look is simply a reflection of how we have been using them. Lumps and bumps, calluses and dry patches, bone spurs, inflamed nerves, and even fractures are simply the result of what we have done with our feet. Undoubtedly genetics are a contributing factor, as various bone lengths and certain skin qualities increase the risk for certain ailments. Most genetic factors, however, are not diseases in themselves. Genes are simply qualities of human tissue that, when combined with particular habits or environmental conditions, might result in chronic pain or injury. But while you can’t do much about your