What is a Hammer Toe?

Have you ever asked yourself "What is a hammer toe"? Many people suffer from having a hammer toe. A hammer toe is when something is wrong with your toe that makes your toe go downwards in appearance. It is a malformation. The toe actually curls under itself so that it actually looks like a claw. This can happen to any of your toes. There are many things to know about hammer toe.

Causes

There are many causes in having a hammer toe. The main cause is that people are not wearing the right shoes for themselves making their toes actually bend permanently in a downward position. If you are wearing shoes that are too small for you, you could get hammer toe. Ladies you may want to think twice before you put on those high heeled pointed shoes because pointed shoes cause hammer toe. Unfortunately, one of the downfalls of having diabetes is that the nerve damage in your feet may cause you to get hammer toe.

Symptoms

One of the first things you may notice if you have hammer toe is pain in your toes, and it may hurt to walk on your feet. Next you may notice that your toe is starting to bend at the middle joint, and that it looks like a claw. You may see some redness on the affected toe. That would be from the rubbing of your toe against your shoe when walking. You may even develop corns that are very painful on your toe because of the irritation of wearing shoes. Look at the bottom of your foot because you may also develop calluses from wearing shoes that are too tight. You will notice that your affected toe will slowly start to lose movement until you can no longer move it at all.

Treatment

If you start to notice any symptoms of hammer toe then you should go see your doctor so that you can come up with a treatment plan. You may want to make sure that your shoes have soft insoles to help take off the pressure of your affected hammer toe. Your doctor may recommend that you wear special foot devices designed to help you with your hammer toe. For example, your doctor may recommend that you wear special pads to help cushion your hammer toe. Surgery may be an option to help straighten your hammer toe.

Prevention

There are several tips to prevent hammer toe. Always make sure that you wear shoes that are right for your feet. Your shoes should never be too tight, and you should have plenty of room for your foot in your shoes. Wearing wide shoes will help you to prevent getting a hammer toe. So avoid shoes that are narrow. Do foot exercises' to keep your toes healthy. If you follow these simple tips, you may avoid getting hammer toe.

Source:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001235.htm