Hammertoes

Hammertoes

Day in, day out, you probably don’t pay much attention to your toes. But then one day, you begin to notice that one of your toes looks odd. And by the time your 60th or 70th birthday rolls around, you may wonder why a number of your toes look as if they were cowering in fear.

Well, if you have a hammertoe—or a number of them—your poor piggies probably are cowering. Tucked inside stylish, ill-fitting shoes, they can take quite a beating, sight unseen. Not only that, a case or two of hammertoe can really hurt.

Usually, hammertoe starts with an imbalance created by two tendons, says Kathleen Stone, D.P.M., podiatrist in private practice in Glendale, Arizona. One tendon connects the muscles on the top of your foot to your toes, and an opposed tendon connects the muscles on the bottom of your foot to your toes. As the stronger top tendon starts to win the day-in, day-out tug-of-war, your toe’s knuckle migrates up. Simultaneously, the end of your toe heads down. The result is a claw-shaped toe.

When shoes are too tight and too narrow, they scrunch your toes together into a tight space. Over the years, some toes may become permanently flexed. It can hurt just to walk, says Dr. Stone.

Even worse, each toe that’s now sticking up in the most unnatural way will rub against your shoes and your other toes, creating painful corns and sometimes even ingrown toenails. The misaligned toe also encourages the fat pad that cushions the bottom of your foot to move away. Once that cushion is out of position, walking becomes even more painful, says Donna Astion, M.D., associate chief of foot and ankle service for the Hospital for Joint Diseases, Orthopaedic Institute in New York City.

Only a podiatric surgeon can set your toe straight. But you can keep matters from getting worse and prevent some pain with the following strategies, advises Dr. Stone.

Try This First

Get bigger shoes. You need shoes with wide toe boxes, says Dr. Stone. Look for shoes such as Easy Spirit and Nine West that come in different widths, he suggests.

Follow these fitting tips, advises Robert Schwartz, certified pedorthist (professional shoe fitter) and founder of Eneslow Pedorthic Institute in New York City.

• Shop for shoes near the end of the day, when your feet have swollen to their largest.

• Always have the salesperson measure your feet, and be sure you’re standing when the foot measurement is taken.

• Look for shoes that are wide and long enough. There is no such thing as breaking in a shoe that is too narrow. You should be able to wiggle your toes while you are standing.

• When you’re trying on shoes, make sure the ball of your foot feels comfortable.

• Get a shoe with extra depth to provide more room for your toe. If the shoes on display don’t have enough depth, be sure to ask the store clerk for help.

Other Wise Ways

Move up a sock size, too. Too-tight socks or stockings will pull on your toe, encouraging it to pull up even more. So make sure your toes have plenty of wiggle room after you put socks or nylons on, recommends Dr. Stone.

Buy leather. Leather shoes are softer and provide more give than other types of shoes. This will give your toe slightly more mobility, says Schwartz.