simple cures

here is a picture of a simple home remedy to a problem that has plagued me for over a month.
My foot has an extra long second toe- with a short first toe- but it is the metatarsals that cause the real problem (the long bones in the foot leading down to the toes). It is called Morton's toe and is nothing unusual- was a favorite look for toes of Greek statues and even the statue of liberty has the second long toe.

My problem comes in when I walk- all the weight that the big toe normally takes gets thrust upon the 2nd toe because it is longer, and the second toe isn't really built for this and can cause direct pain the ball joint of that foot. It can also cause the way you walk and balance to change- thus affecting the knees, hips, back, neck and head.

So because of that direct pain that makes me not want to walk on that toe- I went to see a podiatrist- he took an x-ray and gave me the name of it, and told me to buy some new balance shoes (which is the only brand of tennis shoes I wear, when you can talk me into wearing any shoes at all).

But because it is December, I had already over spent my budget (even included a new pair of boots for me), and because the kids are home all day, I decided not to buy the shoes yet and did some research online. The highest recommended cure for this was to pad the big toe as pictured- making it behave has if the big toe is long enough to take the weight it is supposed to and creating a much more balanced foot.

so I have been walking around all day with some gauze taped to my foot with medical tape- these are both items I had left over from several years ago.... and I love it. Not only can I walk with out pain, but my hips that have been killing me all of pregnancy have stopped hurting. I think I will repeat that again. My hips, which have been killing me for all of this pregnancy, have stopped hurting. I can move again!!!! I can walk again and wiggle and even nap now without my hips causing major pain.

I am so thankful for the internet and all the information it provides.