During the early 1970s, as a young man, I broke a toe on my left foot. As the son of a podiatrist, I was quickly examined and treated by my dad. On the x-ray of my foot, the incidental finding of a small dorsal spur on the head of the first metatarsal was noticed by my astute father, early Hallux Limitus on a teenage male. Hmm, what to do about it?
Back then, the science of biomechanics was not as widely accepted as it is today. If a patient needed “arch support” they got orthopedic shoe recommendations, and likely a pair of cork and leather, or even stainless steel inserts for their shoes. My dad decided to use his only son as a guinea pig, and try out “orthotics” on me, for my terribly flat feet. He took me to a podiatry meeting, where in the vending hall, my feet were plaster casted, and I was made a pair of amber-colored plexiglas torture devices to wear inside my shoes. Not just any shoes mind you, only the ones my orthotics would fit into. I can’t honestly remember if I actually followed instructions at that time, but I doubt it.
Fast forward to the middle 1970s and I am now enrolled at Illinois College of Podiatric Medicine. While there, I first endured the endless jokes of “following in my dad’s footsteps” or having a family “legacy”, funny how every time someone cracks that joke they think it is the first time I've heard it. Anyways, long distance running became the fad at that time, and since I wanted to be part of that, I got a pair of Brooks Villanova running shoes, equipped with my Rohadur orthotics inside.
Now, here we are 50 years later. I still wear Brooks shoes, although I have owned and appreciated various models of Asics, New Balance, Mizuno, and even finished the Los Angeles Marathon in Nike Air Structures. I have worn countless numbers of orthotic devices over the years, and just like my dad, I am using myself as the orthotic guinea pig. My last foot x-ray, taken shortly before my retirement, showed a small dorsal spur on the first metatarsal head, no joint space narrowing, no subchondral eburnation or cyst formation, with a moderately hypermobile 1st ray on the lateral projection. Same as 1973, thank you Dr. Root.
