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Tag: toe joint

What are the best treatments to straighten painful hammertoes?

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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

Symptoms of Hammertoes

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.

hammertoe treatment in fort collins, colorado

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.

What to Know About Arthritis Foot Care and What You Can Do

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Arthritis is a very common problem in the foot and ankle area and can occur in different locations. Because the foot has so many bones, there are many joints that can become painful. 

arthritis in feet causes, symptoms, and treatment

Symptoms

First, it is important to understand what the symptoms of arthritis are. Symptoms tend to present as a deep, dull type of pain that occurs when you first get up in the morning, Then after you take a few steps, it can gradually get better.  As the arthritis becomes more severe, it can present all the time, particularly when you’re active. Understand that arthritis occurs when the cartilage that lines the joint becomes worn down and thinner. In severe situations it can wear down to bone.  Cartilage is very slick- even slicker than ice! It acts that way to let your joints move more easily.   

Causes

There are a multitude of causes that can result in arthritis. It could be from gout attacks, where inflammation in the joints destroys the cartilage, or even rheumatoid arthritis, where patients have autoimmune diseases that can affect the joints.

There may have even been an injury to the joint or bone that caused the cartilage to be damaged. This is especially common in the ankle joint in the case of someone who is a chronic ankle sprainer or has had an ankle fracture.  All these conditions can be called “secondary arthritis” as they are related to another issue. 

For many that suffer from arthritis, it is commonly referred to as primary arthritis, meaning there is no direct cause. As we age from using our joints, the cartilage tends to wear down

Lastly, the most overlooked cause is foot structure. Very few doctors are trained  to evaluate foot structure and foot biomechanics. Some foot types, particularly flat feet, might lend themselves to wearing down joints more than feet that have a normal biomechanical structure.

 Where does arthritis occur most commonly?

 It occurs most commonly in the great toe joint, ankle and midfoot. In the great toe, it will frequently cause a stiff toe joint, referred to as Hallux Rigidus.  It can also occur in the midfoot area, halfway between the toes and the ankle in the arch area. This is also more common as we get older. Finally, it can occur in the ankle joint, especially if you have had multiple ankle sprains, or if you have any kind of history of ankle fracture- this lends itself to a greater possibility of having ankle arthritis at some point in your life.

Five things you can do

  • Avoid inflammatory foods: Foods high in sugars and carbohydrates should be reduced. Why? Because they create inflammation in your body. Breads, sugar and white flour should be avoided. Also watch out for fructose as this is used in many beverages such as fruit juices and is probably worse than just scarfing down a candy bar. Instead of fruit juice, choose to eat the actual fruit as it’s much healthier for you. This will also help keep your weight down.    
  • Exercise: Yes, that is right, keep moving. Maybe if you used to run and it bothers you too much, consider biking or walking. You may want to take on swimming or other activities. Make sure to modify the frequency and duration because motion helps your body create more growth hormones which can help repair your joints. 
  • Consider supplements: Supplements such as Turmeric, Sam-e , Hyaluronic Acid and Collagen may also be effective and help fight inflammation. 
  • Avoid anti-inflammatories: While they may make you feel good today, the long-term effects are negative for your joint health. An exception to this would be if you have an autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis that is managed by your doctor. 
  • Use more supportive shoes: If you think you may be an overpronator, meaning you have flat feet, supportive shoes should be considered. You may also want to use an inexpensive over the counter arch supports. 

Treatment

  • Support the foot and ankle: Oftentimes orthotics are recommended as they are custom-made inserts that go in the shoes. They are especially important to help stabilize the bony areas that can lend themselves to arthritis.
  • Repair and restore the joint: At Anderson Podiatry Center, we do this using stemcell treatment. Regenerative medicine is something we have been using now for over a decade and has been extremely useful for ankle joint problems, great toe joint pain, and pain in the midfoot area and the mid arch. It has proven to show improvement 80-90% of the time. 
  • Block your ability to feel the pain: We do this by shutting off pain signals to the brain.   In some cases, especially if the arthritis is in the midfoot or up by the ankle, we can remove one or two branches in the lower leg that block your ability to feel the arthritic pain in your foot or ankle.  This is also especially useful and has prevented many patients from going through ankle replacement surgery or ankle fusion surgeries (which have a significant risk factor and recovery time). 
  • Joint surgery: In the worst-case scenarios, when all else fails, there may be a need for revision of a joint by scoping it in the example of an ankle joint. Or finally a joint replacement or fusion. 

In summary, if you have these problems, it is important to understand that there’s a lot that you can do to repair your condition. And at Anderson Podiatry Center, we can offer non-surgical approaches and low invasive procedures such as stem cell or nerve resection, which may avoid more major joint replacement surgeries. Do not assume that you have to have an ankle joint replacement or other joints fused to treat your arthritis. Consider the options that you can do first, and if you are still struggling and want to get back to full activity, consider our unique approach.