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| Hammertoes: Learn How to Avoid Surgery, Find Relief |
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If your toes appear crooked or misshapen, chances are you have hammertoes, also known as clawed toes, crooked toes or mallet toes. Hammertoes can form on your feet regardless of age or sex.
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| What Causes Hammertoes? |
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A muscle imbalance from an unnatural walk is one of the top causes of hammertoes, although genetics can also play a role in why you develop hammertoes as well.
- Do you have a very long second toe? Is the top of that toe often crowded into a bent position? If so, you could have hammertoes.
- Do you have a stiff tendon that prohibits a toe from resting flat? Again, you could have hammertoes.
- Is a bunion on your big toe forcing your second toe into a cramped position? You might want to think about going to the podiatrist to determine if you have hammertoes.
Other common causes of hammertoes include:
- Ill-fitting shoes that put pressure on the toes in an unnatural way.
- High-arched feet where the tendon on the top of the foot pulls back on the toes.
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| How Hammertoes Form |
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Hammertoes form when your foot is flattened, and greater than usual stress is placed on your foot. (People with flat feet, then, are especially at risk.)
Hammertoes initially take the form of calluses. Ongoing chafing leads to corns or, on occasion, ulcers. As the tendons on the bottom of your feet try to stabilize each foot, the muscles controlling the toes feel the added pressure, and your toes pull back, forcing the knuckles to become prominent. Hammertoes result.
As the condition worsens, walking can become extremely painful and difficult. The misshapen hammertoes may hit shoes at the wrong spots, causing friction. Fashionable shoes are not made to accommodate distorted hammertoes. As contact continues between gnarled hammertoes and the shoe, irritation sets in.
Once hammertoes are fully retracted, they are difficult to straighten out.
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| Relieving and Preventing Claw Toe Pain |
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The easiest way to avoid developing hammertoes, especially if you have flat feet, is to make sure your shoes have a wide toe box. Shoes that provide extra depth and more room help relieve the pressure put on feet from standing and walking.
Other ways to treat hammertoes include:
- Use corn pads and cushions for temporary relief from pain caused by friction. If your hammertoes stem from flat feet, shoe inserts and orthotics can help provide support, encouraging the muscles to work together as a team.
If you have hammertoes, and your toes look severely bent and cannot be straightened out with treatment, surgery may be required. See a podiatrist for a consultation.
Information on foot, leg and lower body health conditions provided by The Podiatry Institute, dedicated to advancing the standard of care in podiatric medicine and its effects on muscoskeletal health. |
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