Toe Pain House Call Doctors and Hammertoes Specialists

-Presentation: Lesser toe deformities are very common and include, mallet toes, claw toes and hammer toes and can significantly impact quality of life. A toe contracture giving the toe a curled up appearance is usually due to improper biomechanics and improper shoe-gear placing abnormal pressure. There is then a imbalance in muscle function of the lesser toes causing instability to the other joints and soft tissue structures.

-Common Causes: Abnormal biomechanics of the lower extremity, shoe-gear, genetics.

-How to Prevent: The goal is to reduce mechanical stress on the toes that can lead to friction and pain so proper shoe-gear with orthotics to stabilize the underlying deformity is also a great option to reduce and stabilize the underlying deformity and prevent worsening of the hammertoes.

-Treatment: Proper shoe-gear with wide toe-box and depth and padding/strapping of the toe can help with pains and progression of the deformity. If conservative measures fail to treat the problem, surgical intervention can then be considered which is generally performed in the operating room setting.