Letter to the Editor: Morton’s toe observed more frequently in Celtic populations
I qualify as a person with Morton’s toe (as described in Steve Eighinger’s Daily Dirt column on April 11) and wondered for a long time of its significance, if any. While working in Ireland, I first learned it being called a Celtic toe and something I should be proud of. I had not heard of it being referred to as Morton’s toe.
A quick look online found this: Having a longer second toe, also known as Morton’s toe or a Greek foot, is more common in individuals of Celtic ancestry, according to healthline. This foot type, characterized by the second toe being longer than the first, is not exclusive to any one ethnicity, but it has been observed more frequently in Celtic populations like those from Scotland and Ireland.
Morton’s toe was first described as a medical condition in a 1927 article by Dudley Joy Morton, an orthopedic surgeon, in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. It is not so much that the second toe is too long, but that the first metatarsal bone, which connects the big toe to the main part of the foot, is too short.
Rudy Ray Seward
Denton, Texas
Miss Clipping Out Stories to Save for Later?
Click the Purchase Story button below to order a print of this story. We will print it for you on matte photo paper to keep forever.
