The Pebble in My Shoe: Morton's Neuroma Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe Morton's neuroma, the nerve pain between the toes that so many compare to walking on a pebble. Some writers were first told it was arthritis, flat feet, their back or simply pregnancy; one headmaster took tablets for almost a year for a disease he did not have. They include a bus driver, a dentist, line cooks and chefs, a flight attendant in slim black uniform shoes, a port worker in steel-toe boots, an offshore platform worker, a mail carrier, a tango teacher, a church choir soloist and a vegetable seller who cannot sit down at her stall. They write from Ohio to Osaka and Stavanger to Enugu. Treatments include wider shoes, pads and insoles, taping from a physiotherapist, injections, an alcohol injection, a freezing treatment, acupuncture alongside medical care, and surgery. Writers with diabetes describe extra caution, and several asked employers for different footwear. Families appear throughout, from a small son trying on his mother's wide shoes to a daughter telling her trucker father what to do. The outcomes are mixed. One injection felt like the answer for three weeks before the pain returned, one woman needed a second operation, an eighteen-year-old gymnast changed her plans, and several are still managing it day by day.

Who it's for

For anyone who keeps stopping to check a shoe for a stone that is not there, and for the partners, children and friends who have noticed the limp.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 233 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.