hammertoes – Anderson Podiatry Center

What are the best treatments to straighten painful hammertoes?

Posted on April 27, 2021June 30, 2025 by admin

Hammertoes are an affliction that affects millions of Americans. They can be very painful and disabling – not allowing people to be fully active because of the pain. Hammertoes may also be referred to as mallet toes or claw toes depending on their appearance and seldom affect the big toe.

Causes

Hammertoes can be caused by a shoe that is too tight, so make sure the shoe fits properly. This is especially true if one toe is slightly longer than the adjacent toes. This can push or shove on the toe to deform it. Hammer toes can also be caused by nerve problems that result in muscle weakness such as a drop foot condition or Charcot-Marie tooth disease. However, in most cases the cause could be from an imbalance between the flexor tendons and the extensor tendons that pull the toes up towards you. This imbalance causes the toe to flex.

In the affected toe the area of irritation may be on the tip of the toe, which if flexed too much bears weight rather than the fatty pad that it should rest on. This can be very painful and can result in the development of corn. The reason why is because the toe is resting on skin and bone instead of the fatty pad it should be resting on. When this results in corn, a vicious cycle starts. The toe is never straight, you can trim off the corn or callus, but it keeps coming back time after time.

The other area that can be affected with a hammertoe is the knuckle of the toe. When the toe is flexed, it is also sitting higher than the other toes and may rub against your shoe gear. So selecting a shoe with a deeper toe box and avoiding heels should be considered. There are other cases where a toe may be angulated slightly, which happens a lot on the fifth toe. And this sideways angulation, along with the flexion, creates irritation between the neighboring toe and the corn can result between the two toes. So how does one straighten a hammertoe?

Treatments

Treatment options can vary, including wearing wider shoes or shoes with a deeper toe box. Padding can also be used to help alleviate the pressure in these particular areas. Your doctor may recommend arch supports or shoe inserts. For many, however, these treatment options are a constant battle and may never resolve the problem permanently. Therefore, your doctor may recommend surgery to straighten the toe.

For those that require surgery to straighten the toe here are the three options.

Option 1

For more mild hammertoes, it may involve simply making a small incision on the toe to release the tendon that flexes the toe down. And this can be quite rewarding if the deformity is quite mild.

Option 2

Another treatment option would be to remove the knuckle. The bony joint knuckle is removed in many cases, which allows the toe to be straightened more easily and to stay in this corrected position. By removing the toe joint, the toe still can function, but these toes do not need a joint as they do not bear a load such as a knee. This is oftentimes highly successful for patients.

Option 3

The most aggressive treatment for more severe hammertoes would be the type of surgery where a pin is used. And in some cases, the pin may be kept in but in most cases, they are removed. There are also various types of implants that are placed in the toe to make sure that the toe stays straight. In all of these cases the joint is removed for the placement of the implant. Recovery can vary from a few days in a dressing or up to three weeks in a dressing before returning to shoes.

Overall, when the problem becomes severe and you are constantly having to pad the area or trim off the corn or callus, it’s important to consider the surgical option because for many, this can be the best treatment and has very little risk involved. The risk reward ratio for this tends to be high. So, for many doctors, it is recommended that surgical treatment should be considered. If you’re not satisfied with the treatments that you’ve been carrying on yourself, you may consider visiting Anderson Podiatry Center for further evaluation of the options that we can offer you.

Hammertoes 101- Part 2

Posted on August 30, 2017 by admin

Welcome to Hammertoes 101.

In the last blog, we learned all about what a hammertoe is, and about the different types that can occur. For a quick recap, a hammertoe is essentially a bent toe; it is when your toe bends or curls, instead of pointing forward.

There are two types of hammertoes: a mallet toe (when the toe is flexing downward only at the very end of the joint) and a claw toe (when the toe flexes at both joints). There are also hammertoes that bend and rub against the neighboring toe. Though some hammertoes are worse than others, they all offer a certain degree of pain and discomfort.

Today, you’ll learn about prevention & treatment

Before we delve into preventative measures, it’s important to understand what causes hammertoes. A popular notion is that you can control whether you get a hammertoe or not. This may be true in some cases, which I’ll cover later, but in most situations there is relatively little that can be done.

There are several causes of hammertoes:

An imbalance between the tendons that pull the toes up (extensor tendons) and the tendons that pull the toes down (the flexor tendons) can cause the deformity.
Neurological conditions such as neuropathy can cause muscle weakness, which in turn may lead to hammertoes.
If one toe is abnormally long, a tight fitting shoe may cause it to buckle.
Genetics plays a big part. If you have a less than ideal bone structure for the foot type you were born with, you may be predisposed to hammertoes. A very high arched foot may contribute to this problem and the opposite, a very flat foot, may do the same.

Alright, now for the good part.

What can you do to help prevent this pesky ailment?

When the second toe is longer than the first, shoe gear is a consideration. Make sure you fit the shoe to the second toe. It may feel like the shoe is a little loose or big, but it’s much better than scrunching the toe in there, and winding up with a painful hammertoe.

Other than in this instance, shoes can do little to prevent hammertoes, so please don’t feel guilty if you have one, as it’s usually not your fault. As I tell patients, it’s more a function of the parents you chose and the foot you inherited.

But, there’s good news.

How do you treat hammertoes?

Hammertoes, though frustrating and sometimes very painful, can be treated.

If there is a corn present, trimming done professionally (to prevent cutting too deep or injuring the toe) can provide relief especially in the earlier stages.

Hammertoe correction surgery may be necessary to correct the more severe deformities. This is a relatively simple procedure and most patients typically walk the day of surgery in a stiff soled postoperative shoe.

If you are suffering from one or even multiple hammertoes, there is no need to suffer any longer. Come see us and get back to the activities you enjoy and the shoes you’ve missed!

Make an appointment here.

Hammertoes 101- Part 1

Posted on August 22, 2017 by admin

What are hammertoes?

Hammertoes are the often painful deformities on toes that occur when your toe bends or curls instead of pointing forward and so it rubs against your shoes. You may not realize it, but there are different types of hammertoes. A hammertoe is really just a bent toe. This sounds simple enough, but there is a more to it than this.

There are two types of hammertoes:

If the toe flexes downward only at the very end joint (the joint closest to the toenail) it is called a mallet toe. In a mallet toe, the toe overall is straight. But, the joint closest to the toenail flexes downward causing you to walk on the tip of the toe. This becomes uncomfortable because each toe has a fat pad on the bottom. The toe rests on the fat pad, sort of like the rear end you’re sitting on as you read this. When the toe bends down too much, the tip of the toe is pressed upon, where there is no padding, just skin and bone. This type of hammertoe is the rarest, though it is just as correctable.
If it flexes at both joints in the toe it is called a claw toe. When a claw toe rubs against the shoe, a corn forms on the top of the toe, which often becomes painful.

What causes a hammertoe?

Hammertoes can occur when a toe crowds its neighbor. When you think of a hammertoe, you may envision a toe that is bent and sticks up rubbing against the shoe. However, in many situations, the toe may be deviated towards its neighboring toe. Typically, any of the smaller toes are more likely to drift towards the big toe rather than away from it. When this occurs, frequently not only is the toe hammered, but it is also angulated towards the neighboring toe. One toe rubbing against its neighbor may cause all kinds of problems, such as a blister, open sore, or corns between toes rather than just on the tops of them.

The fifth toe likes to cause problems:

Though all toes can become a hammertoe, the fifth toe is most common. This may be the smallest toe, but it causes the most frequent problems. It can have a hammertoe, with a downward flexion in the joints. But, it can also be twisted so that it rubs against the next toe. This may lead to a corn or sore area on that side of the toe, giving toe number four a sore also. Or, the pain can be on the outside where the knuckle may rub against the shoe. In these situations, with toe number five, surgery is the most common treatment to correct the problem.

So, now you are armed with knowledge about all the different “ins and outs” of hammertoes. What can you do to help prevent and treat them? Stay tuned for part two of this post to find out!

If you have a hammertoe and would like to make an appointment, click here.

What You Need to Know About Hammertoes

Posted on February 21, 2017 by admin

What are hammertoes? What causes this condition? What can you do about it? Today, we will discuss all those things. Most patients with hammertoes wonder why their toes are starting to curl or why they are no longer straight. While there can be other causes, like trauma, genetics plays the biggest role in their development, causing toes to curl over an extended period of time.

As the toes curl more they start to rub on the top of your shoes, or the tip of your toes may rub against the end of your shoes. You might start to notice a callus or corn on the top or tip of the toe, or the toe may start to rub against the adjacent toes. As the corn builds up it starts to cause pain. Pain can also develop in the joint due to contracture of the toe. Early on this can be reduced, but over time the soft tissue starts to adapt and the contracture becomes rigid.

So what can you do if you have hammertoes?

Treatment for hammertoes in their early stages can include trimming the corn/callous by a podiatrist, padding (available over the counter) to cushion the hammertoe or even a toe crest pad that rests underneath your toes. As you step down it helps to straighten the toes and take pressure off the tip of the toes and metatarsals. You can also wear shoes with a larger toe box to help reduce rubbing and shoe irritation. In rare instances cortisone injections can be used to reduce inflammation.

As hammertoes progress and if they are indeed causing you pain or affecting your daily life, then https://websitetest8.striveenterprisetest.com/anderson-center-for-surgery/surgical treatments are the best option to get you back to your activity level. This includes removing a small amount of bone in the toe and releasing soft tissue contractures. It often involves placing a pin or metal implant into the toe to help hold the position while the soft tissues and bone heal. Though surgery may sound daunting, most patients are excited to hear that they can typically walk the day of surgery in a special post-operative shoe.

If you are concerned about your toes starting to curl, come see us at Anderson Podiatry Center. We can help you better understand your treatment options, and start to feel like yourself again.