Hammer Toes Podiatrist

There are four main forms of toe abnormalities, hammer toes, claw toes, mallet toes and trigger toes. A hammertoe can be best described as an abnormal contraction or buckling of a toe. This occurs due to a partial or complete dislocation of one of the joints that form the toe. As the toe continues to be deformed, it will press up against the shoe and lead to a skin irritation such as a corn. A hammer toe may be painful, especially when irritated by a shoe, if this irritation is allowed to continue it will eventually develop into a corn on the top of the toe. If a mallet toe has occurred, you are likely to suffer from a corn at the end of the toe, as this is driven into the ground these can be very painful lesions. There are many causes of hammer toes some of these include inappropriate shoes, flat feet can result in hammertoes due to poor mechanics this causes the long flexor tendons to over fire thus buckling the toe. High arched feet can also result in buckling toes, bunions are a major cause of hammertoes. Claw toes are usually the result of a shoe that is too short, for many people, the second toe is actually longer than the great toe, and if shoes are sized to fit the great toe, the second toe will have to bend to fit into the shoe. Shoes that are pointed make matters even worse. Combine pointed shoes with high heels the foot is under similar pressure as if it was constantly being pushed downhill into a wall. If you suffer from this condition it is well worth a visit to the Podiatrist to see what can be done to help this condition.

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Page last updated 14 October, 2007