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Morton’s Toe (Second toe longer than the first) and Five Fingers

Can you wear Vibram Five Fingers if you have Morton’s Toe — a condition where your second toe is longer than your big toe? It is possible given your case isn’t too extreme.

See the update to the original post below!

Mike writes in with this question:

I’d like to give VFF a try, but my first toe is fully one-quarter inch longer than my big toe. Can VFF be ordered to accommodate such a thing, also known as Morton’s toe/syndrome?

Wikipedia describes Morton’s toe as:

[T]he common term for the second toe (second from innermost) extending farther than the Hallux (big toe). Morton’s Toe is typically due to a lengthened second metatarsal. This promotes an anterior position of the second metatarsal-phalangeal (MTP) joint in relation to the Hallux.

“Long toe,” another name for Morton’s Toe, apparently affects some 10% of the general population, enough to warrant it to be considered just a normal foot variant and not a foot disorder.

At present, Vibram does not offer a Morton’s Toe variant for those with this foot variant. Depending on the difference in toe lengths, a larger size pair of Five Fingers may be enough to accomodate the discrepancy; however, your mileage may vary. This makes ordering your Five Fingers online a fairly risky gamble.

At least one person has requested that Vibram make a Morton’s Toe VFF (See @robbycochran’s tweet about it). Furthermore, as some anecdotal proof that Morton’s Toe can still work with VFFs, Gerry, a runner/forum member at runnersworld.com who says his second toe is a full half inch longer than his big toe, notes that he runs some 12 miles a week in his Vibrams.

All of this is anecdotal and inconclusive, unfortunately. Does anyone out there know more about Morton’s Toe and VFFs? If so, please comment below and tell us what you know!

Robby Cochran got back to me on Vibram’s response to his request. Apparently, Vibram’s CEO has Morton’s Toe, and their recommendation is to measure foot length by going to the longest toe, which would be the second toe in the case of someone with Morton’s. Thanks Robby!

Finally, if you’re brave, you can mod your Vibram Five Fingers to accommodate Morton’s Toe by lengthening the second toe.

By Justin

Justin Owings is a deadlifting dad of three, working from Atlanta. When he's not chasing his three kids around, you'll find him trying to understand systems, risk, and human behavior.

11 replies on “Morton’s Toe (Second toe longer than the first) and Five Fingers”

I run 8 miles a day in my VFF Sprints, have Morton’s toe (well, two of his, actually. One per foot). I also run barefoot when I can. THe VFF’s fit fine. THe challenge is the extra wear the second metatarsal takes because it gets more landing and push off force than it was designed for. See here for a possible solution with moleskin…
http://RunningBarefoot.org/?p=1518

I have Morton’s Toe, and the sizing chart at the Vibram website worked perfectly. I was surprised at the size—M42 in KSO, which corresponds to a size smaller than my ‘normal’ size of 11—but they are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever had, and fit, well, like a glove.

To fix the issue with wear under the second metatarsal, I placed quarter-size cut-outs from Dr. Scholl’s gel insoles under the head of my first metatarsals, attached with double-sided tape. It took some experimenting to get the placement just right, but now it works great.

I think they need to make a special shoe for this situation. I not only have a longer second toe, but my foot is narrow. When I’ve tried to size the shoe to fit my second toe, I get a very weird, floppy fit with tons of extra space around my smaller toes- very uncomfortable.

I can look at this from both sides, literally, as I have Morton’s on my right foot, while my left foot is normal. Fortunately, both feet measure the same length, to end of big toe on left and second toe on right. I’ve always had problems with my right foot in regular running shoes, it always felt unstable and was easily blistered on long runs. With the vffs those problems have all but disappeared, with runs of 14+ miles and no issues I’m so happy with my ksos that I haven’t worn my regular running shoes in 3 months.

Hi, this message is directed at Michael Harti:

Where exactly is the head of your first metatarsal? I am trying to understand where to put the pad in my Vibram’s. I am excited to try your method because the stress of all the pressure on the tip of my second toe is starting to really hurt.

I haven’t been able to wear my Vibrams for about two weeks while I wait for the pain to subside. I tried to stretch out the second toe slot by heating the rubber (I read that technique in another post) but it still isn’t long enough, and I can’t risk the injury since I am in the military.

I bought the Vibrams according to the length of my second toe, but now my heel isn’t sitting in the heel cup, and so my second toe is taking all of the stress of keeping the shoe in place. I have relatively high arches, and I don’t know if this is a contributing factor.

I appreciate any suggestions people might have.

I was worried about going a size larger for my second toe because it made the rest fit poorly. So I got the size I would have needed had my second toe not been longer and stretched and pulled at the rubber a bit and cut the bungie strap off that you should tighten with and its been fine.

Morton’s toe on both feet, and one foot almost a full US size shorter than the other. If I go with Vibram recommendation, I end up with one that fits pretty well, and one that fits kind of lose until I cinch up the bungie, leaving extra room in the heel. With the forefoot strike, I actually feel like the shoe doesn’t really kneed a molded heel, anyway.

Sizing for my first (big) toe resulted in a fit that felt pretty good, but caused my second and third toes to kinda of scrunch or curl up just a little, and in my experience that leads to painful hammertoe issues.

It would be nice if they let me mix and match sizes, or better yet if my feet conformed more closely to whatever norm Vibram used for their designs.

I actually went to the store today because I was interested in VFF’s for like a gym/ cardio shoe but they wouldnt fit me because my toes are to long. All of them. I would love to see Vff’s with different toe sizes but until that happens you may want to check out the Merrell Trail Glove. it feels the same as a five finger, just without the separation of the toes.

My second toes are about 1/4 inch longer than my big toes. I sized for my second toes so that they fit the pocket exactly, a 44 for my Bikila LSs. I found that having some space in front of my big toes has not been a problem at all. No modifications required.

I did bruise the second toe of my left foot the first time I ran outdoors with my VFFs but this was a function of excessive forward vector on the forefoot landing. I’ve adjusted my landing and this is no longer a problem.

One unrelated observation: my first pair of VFFs was a pair of Flows. Because the one piece PVC sole was too stiff and inflexible I didn’t see any particular advantage in toe shoes after trying them for a month in the gym and relegated the Flows to my dive gear where they made outstanding dive bootees. I decided to try VFFs again after 6 months and bought the Bikila LSs. The flexible soles make a huge difference–I’ve finally felt the advantages of barefoot walking and running. I regularly use them for workouts, runs and long walks in downtown areas.

My second toes are a quarter inch longer than my big toes and I haven’t experienced any problems. I run a couple miles a night, and haven’t felt any discomfort in any of the toe pockets, or anywhere else in the shoes for that matter–I’ve been sticking with the komodosports for now.

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