3 Ways to Treat Hammertoes and Avoid Surgery
A variety of toe deformities can affect the small toes, with hammertoes being one of the most common. One or more of the middle toes will start to bend downward at the middle joint. This is due to a tendon imbalance and is exacerbated by wearing tight fitting shoes like high heels. If hammertoes are noticed early enough before they have become rigid and inflexible, they can often be straightened without surgery.
If your toe is still reasonably flexible and not bending too much, these 3 conservative treatments will help to straighten it out:
Physical therapy exercises to increase toe strength and flexibility—A variety of exercises including towel scrunches and marble pick up exercises will help to improve the strength and flexibility or your toes and help straighten them.
Wear properly fitted shoes—You should have your feet measured every time you get shoes and be sure to choose shoes with a wide toe box to give your toes room to move and to allow space for inserts and braces.
Use proper arch supports, orthotic inserts, and braces—Supporting your arches properly is essential. Your foot doctor can properly position orthotics, pads, and braces to isolate hammertoes and redistribute pressure to prevent rubbing, corns, and blistering.
In cases where the hammertoe is very rigid and badly bent, surgery will probably be needed to straighten the toe.
If you are experiencing pain and discomfort from hammertoes, make an appointment with your foot doctor. At Fit Feet for Life, our team of board-certified podiatrists has access to advanced technologies and years of experience to help diagnose and treat a variety of foot and ankle problems, including heel pain, sports injuries, toe deformities, nail fungus, and plantar warts. Bonnie Sanchez, DPM, Gregory Cook, DPM, and Huy L. Nguyen, DPM provide high quality foot and ankle care to patients in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area at our five offices conveniently located in Sun City Center, Clearwater, St. Petersburg, and our two Tampa locations. Please contact us for more information or to schedule an appointment.