When we talk about foot health today, terms like Morton’s Toe or Morton’s Neuroma often come up — but few know the man behind the name.
Dudley Joy Morton (1884–1960) was an American orthopaedic surgeon who dedicated much of his career to understanding the structure and function of the human foot. In the 1930s, he published works such as The Human Foot (1935) and Civilization and the Feet (1939), where he argued that many modern foot problems were not inevitable, but caused by footwear that distorts natural anatomy.
Morton was one of the first to link footwear design with widespread dysfunction — from collapsed arches to bunions — long before “barefoot” or “minimal shoes” became a movement. His observations on the short first metatarsal (now known as Morton’s Toe) and nerve entrapment between metatarsals (Morton’s Neuroma) remain central in podiatry today.
While his warnings were largely ignored by the shoe industry at the time, Morton’s work feels more relevant than ever. In an era when millions still suffer preventable foot pain, his call to respect the natural shape of the foot is both timeless and urgent.
Takeaway: Dudley Morton wasn’t just describing conditions — he was pointing to the root cause. And until footwear design truly changes, his message still stands: healthy feet need freedom, not fashion.
