I heard it as succinctly as the crunch of my first automobile accident. It was at Moore’s Beach near Westmeath where some friends and I had walked to for enjoying the warm summer water and much warmer sandy beach. The remark came in such a contemptuous expression, “You have Morton’s Toe.”
I glanced at my feet as she strode off with her hideous laugh. Other sunbathers got a kick out of it too, making me realize that I had a horrible deformity that must be hidden from public view.
I thought about it plenty over that summer but gradually began to forget about the ordeal as it wasn’t brought up again – I wore socks and shoes ever since. And when I did chance swimming, I always wore a light-fitting runner to hide my toes under a cloak of secrecy.
Years later the subject came up again when my wife said, “Keep that big toe on your own side of the bed.” I don’t exactly know what toe she was referring too but the next day I did what research I could but it was limited back then. It seems that you can tell by simply looking at your foot and if your second toe projects out farther than your big toe, you’ve got it.
It didn’t say that it was repulsive and should be kept out of sight though. However, it said Morton’s toe is heredity. I reflected on my parents then. I didn’t recall mention of such a problem nor did I notice anything odd about any of their toes. I did remember my sister complaining about someone who said that her feet were unusual or smelly or something like that.
Life is funny sometimes. Some years later I was invited to a neighbour’s party and I got into a conversation with a man who revealed he was a podiatrist. I asked, “What does a podiatrist do?”
He said he was a physician trained to diagnose and treat conditions affecting the foot and ankle and related structure. I asked him if he had heard of Morton’s toe. Of course, many people have Morton’s toe. With a surge of relief I then revealed to him what I had been ignoring for so long. This guy couldn’t believe his ears about how I kept it behind closed doors. He proceeded to tell me some facts about the condition and some theories that were amusing.
Morton’s Toe is not caused by ill-fitting footwear, injuries, or overuse. Instead, it is a factor of genetics. I was born with it. Interestingly, the condition is also known as “Greek toe” and legend has it associated with being a natural leader, having great intelligence, and even showing a royal demeanour. That didn’t surprise me at all!
“As you know”, he continued, “There is an obsession with Meghan Markle’s trendy fashions and recently she wore a pair of shoes that made headlines for a whole new reason. They showed her toes, and now the world could finally see that her second toe was longer than her first.” Shocking, right?
All Jokes aside, having a second toe that’s longer than your first toe, aka your big toe, is super common. “It’s found in about 20 per cent of the population,” said Jacqueline Sutra, Innovation Lab expert and podiatrist in New York City. So there’s no reason to freak over Markle’s feet, but what you probably don’t know is there’s actually a name for this minor abnormality: Morton’s toe.”
“Toenail damage, ingrown nails, and nail injury is also very common from having a longer second toe, especially if you wear high heels, pointy, narrow, tight shoes, or are a runner,” the podiatrist said.
Research suggests that Morton’s toe may even be an advantage to athletics. A 2015 study ‘Trusted Source’ comparing professional athletes to non-athletes found that the professionals tended to have Morton’s toe more frequently than non-athletes. I guess I could have been a natural at hockey or baseball!
Now that I am older and more mature, I realize that I experienced a Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and that my extreme worry about my long toe being noticed and/or ridiculed by others was nothing to be concerned with at all. Just the same I am thankful that I always wore socks and shoes.
