Why you really hurt : it all starts in the foot

189 Pages·2009·3.76 MB·English

by  Travell

WHY YOU REALLY HURT
IT ALL STARTS IN THE FOOT
WHY YOU REALLY HURT
IT ALL STARTS IN THE FOOT
DR. BURTON S. SCHULER
To my patients, the wonderful people of
Panama City, Bay County, and Northwest Florida,
who for the past twenty five years have allowed me
the daily joy of hopeful making them feel better,
and making them laugh.
Acknowledgement

When I finally decided to sit down and get serious about writing this book,
I had no idea that it would take me where it did and would introduce me
to the wonderful group of people that it has. The following people made this
book possible.
I’m indebted to the staff at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and
Museum of Boston. I especially wish to thank Stephen Plotkin, Reference
Archivist, who spent a great deal of time helping me hunt down the June, 1961
note that Robert F. Kennedy wrote about Dr. Travell. In addition, Cynthia
Walker of the reference room was very helpful in locating a specific photo of
President Kennedy and Dr. Travell I craved. Lyle Slovick, Assistant University
Archivist, and G. David Anderson, University Archivist at the Gellman Library,
George Washington University in Washington D.C., assisted me in regard to Dr.
Travell’s papers and collection. At the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum
in Austin, Ms. Morgan Blue was of great assistance to me. Laurie Langland,
University Archivist at the George McGovern Library of Dakota Wesleyan
University was very patient with me when I was looking for RFK’s handwritten
note to George McGovern. The staff at the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library, at
the Yale University Medical School, and the medical library at Columbia
University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons were of great help to me.
My deepest thanks goes to Janice Berger, Sandy Morton, and Chris Morton,
the grandchildren of Dudley Morton, who were very gracious with their time in
telling me about their grandfather. I also thank them for sharing (for the first
time with any researcher) the private letters, papers, and photos of him—that
was invaluable to me in writing this book. My thanks also goes to Mrs. Virginia
P. Street, daughter of Dr. Travell, who was always available when I had a
question about her famous mother. My gratitude is offered to Dr. David Simons
for taking the time to speak to me. Dr. Ben Daitz worked with Dr. Travell on the
1990 videotape, and I want to thank him for telling me all about how it was
made.
I need to thank the folks at Columbia University Press, especially Sarah
Scott, for giving me the clearance to reproduce Chapters 22 and 23 of The
Human Foot in the appendix. Ms. Florence Eichen of the Penguin Group (USA)
assisted me in getting printed the cover of Dr. Travell’s autobiography. Thanks
to my friends, the staff at the new and improved Bay County (Florida) Public
Library for always getting me the books I requested and the research I needed.
To the folks at the Cardinal Publishers Group, the Friesen Group and the La Luz
Press, Inc., I appreciate your time and effect on my behalf.
At one time or another, several people worked on this book and helped to
edit it. I need to thank them—this includes Joan Peace, Kate Estes and Connie
Zales. But in the end it was Douglas Zang of Hawaii who did the bulk of the
editing when I was wrapping up the book.
The one person who spent the most time on this book besides me was
Rachelle Painchaud-Nash of Oakbank, Manitoba (that’s in Canada). For about
eighteen months, she has worked with me on numerous design changes to the
book. I might have written every word but she is the one who got it down on
paper. Thanks Rachelle.
The cartoon on page 22 was done by Kevin Goddu and was taken from my
first book The Agony of De-Feet. Many of the photos, diagrams and drawing
were done by Victor Strickland of beautiful Wewachitcha, Florida.
Again, thanks to all of you.
Introduction

Millions of people get out of bed hurting. Millions go through the day
hurting. And millions more try to get a good sleep while hurting. I wrote
this book for those people. If you are one of them or know someone who is,
please believe me when I tell you there is hope in getting better. This hope is not
based on pills, injections, surgeries, dietary supplements or arch supports. This
hope is based on the work of two brilliant doctors and on well-established
proven medicine that was first written about over eighty years ago, that I have
seen help thousands of people. The hope is also based on using a simple little
pad that goes on the bottom of your foot that you can make yourself for less than
two dollars. For the past four decades, I have used this simple little pad to treat
my patients to feel better, walk better, sleep better, and have less pain all over
their body. If you follow my directions, there is a good chance that you can start
feeling better at once.
Because of this, I know there is encouragement for many of you who believe
that you might have to suffer forever with your aches and pains. It is highly
unlikely that any doctor you have ever gone to has considered a very common
foot condition known as Morton’s Toe as the real reason for your suffering. This
is not your doctor’s fault. Despite the fact that Morton’s Toe and the pains it
could cause were well-known in the 1920s through 1950s, the modern physician
was neither trained nor taught to recognize the torment it can cause. So it does
not matter what you have been told in the past about why you hurt. It does not
matter what tests, treatments or medications you have had. It does not matter that
you may be even thinking about having surgery for your foot, knee, hip, leg, or
back problem. The only thing that does matter is to find out if you do have a
Morton’s Toe and if any of your foot or body pains can get any better by just
putting the simple pad on the bottom of your foot. Until you do that, you may
never know if the real reason for your hurting is due to a Morton’s Toe.
This is not a medical textbook. It was written for the average person.
However, the book does have a bibliography and many endnotes throughout
which support and document all of the long-established medicine and other facts
that I have presented. I know some of the medical terms and words that I use in
the book may be confusing. So for that reason, I have also included a glossary. If
you find a word that has a next to it (e.g., Joint), you can find the meaning of that
word starting on page 191 of the appendix.
Even though this book is about medical conditions, I wrote it so it would be
easy to read and simple to understand. I hope I have achieved that goal.

Burton S. Schuler, D.P.M., D.A.A.P.M.
Panama City, FL
Contents
Acknowledgement
Introduction

Part 1

Chapter 1
The Best $8.00 I Ever Spent
Good News
What this Book Will Do for You
Two Doctors
Why and How I Wrote this Book
Never Say Never

Chapter 2
What is a Morton’s Toe?
Do You Have a Short First Metatarsal Bone?
Do You Have Hypermobility of the First Metatarsal Bone?
Why is this Important, or Pain from Head to Toe
The Toe Pad

Chapter 3
Do You Have a Morton’s Toe or the Wrong Type of Inheritances?
How a Morton’s Toe Makes You Hurt
The Short First Metatarsal Bone
What Goes Wrong
Joe and Rudy
Self-Testing for a Short First Metatsal Bone
Hypermobility of the First Metatarsal Bone
How Important is This?
The Chain Reaction

Chapter 4
Pronation, Morton’s Toe and How the Foot Works
What is Pronation?
Super Quick Review
How the Morton’s Toe Causes Compensation
Heel Problems and Pronation

Chapter 5
Conditions of the Foot Caused by Morton’s Toe
Problems of the Forefoot or Ball of the Foot
Do You Really Have Nerve Damage Due to Diabetes or Just Bad Feet?
Calluses – What are They and Why Do You Get Them?
Corns
What Causes Corns?
What are Bunions?
Why We Get Bunions
Fallen Arches, Weak Ankles, Ankle Sprains and Tired Feet
The Why
The Neuroma of Dr. Thomas G. Morton – What is a Neuroma?
How a Morton’s Toe Causes a Morton’s Neuroma
You Really Need to Sit Down for This
Self Test for Morton’s Neuroma
Arthritis
What is Arthritis?
What Causes Arthritis in the Feet?
The $0.75 Pad or the $7,500.00 Surgery?
March or Stress Fractures
Night Cramps and Restless Legs Syndrome
Can a Morton’s Toe Cause Night Cramps?
Restless Legs Syndrome
Special Situations
High Heel Shoes
Sports
Jogging or Running
Other Activities
Eldridge

Chapter 6
Heel Problems
Can You Say Poststatic Dyskinesia?
Plantar Fasciitis (Heel Pain Syndrome)
Heel Bursitis
Heel Spurs
Heel Spurs Don’t Always Hurt
Why the Morton’s Toe Can Be the Reason for Plantar Fasciitis, Heel Pain, Heel Spurs,
Poststatic Dyskinesia and Lots of Other Stuff
Why?