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[RC] - jpascuCarla; What we call Morton's Neuroma is the symptom of a foot that is out of balance. Riding contributes, accelerates this imbalance mainly because the stirrup and distance riding because of the amount of time we spend riding. The neuroma, believe it or not, is the healthy action of the body protecting the nerve. The nerve, usually the lateral plantar nerve (you can look this up online or in a good anatomy book) is being impinged by the 3rd and 4th metatarsal bones- the big toe is 1 the middle toe is 3 the little is 5 unless you have more toes! What the body is doing by creating the neuroma is trying to relieve the pressure on the nerve, the neuroma is in response to pressure not the initial cause of it. Once there's a neuroma if the space for the nerve isn't increased then the neuroma itself will contribute to the problem. Anything that can relieve the irritation and inflammation on the nerve will help reduce the pain, ultra-sound was mentioned by someone that's good choice, manipulation of the bones by a chiro or podiatrist can help. You can stretch your foot, rub it and work directly on the nerve, (back channel me if you want some instruction) to remove the inflammation. It's not difficult the nerve is easy to find. To stop the problem you'll need to address the cause. The cause comes in two flavors: your posture (tight legs, pronating or supinating foot, low back issues...), and how you ride what you ride on (stirrups that are too small and unforgiving, shoes that are too tight, not cushioning in the shoe, dropping your heels for a long time by pushing them down...). I've had about 4 clients with this issue over the 13 years I've been a Rolfer. One had surgery twice and is still in pain. The others are out of pain, but they aren't riding long distances! My main point is to not treat the neuroma as the cause. hope this helped jim -- Jim Pascucci Advanced Rolfer www.JimtheRolfer.com www.equinesi.com Author of; Equine Structural Integration: Myofascial Release Manual From: Tim & Carla Brady To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2006 6:17 PM Subject: [RC] Morton's Neuroma? I did the Lone Star AERC ride (LD) last weekend near Bandera, TX. At = about 20 miles of mostly trotting my left foot was just excruciatingly = painful. It's in the ball of my foot and it hurts and stings and burns. = I am using some wide endurance stirrups with pads and ride in Ariat = Terrains. My husband said "Morton's Neuroma, honey" and I said "no = way", but I did some internet research and the symptoms for that are = identical to what I am experiencing. It's from repetitive pressure to = the ball of the foot and something that runners get. I have a friend who does have this diagnosis (from a doctor and not = just her hubby) and has been through about a year of intense pain, = surgery, and even worse, and is still riding. Up to this point, I = really didn't realize that what I've been feeling is what she's been = dealing with. She said she might start riding in caged stirrups and running shoes. = For both of us....giving up riding isn't going to happen! I hope to move up to 50's eventually if I can with this problem. I = know that should be everyone's goal, right, to move up to 50's?? :-) For those of you that have this and deal with it, what do you do? = What kind of riding shoes/boots and stirrups do you use? Thanks! Carla =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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