Although some treatments can ease the pain, only surgery can correct the deformity.
Some people have significant toe deformities that are painless but cause difficulties with footwear, while others have relatively subtle toe deformities that can be very painful. Associated medical conditions like arthritis can alter the shape and position of your toes, as can trauma. With advancing age, toe deformities may progress. Poorly fitting footwear tends to aggravate the problem as it can squeeze the forefoot, crowding the toes together and exacerbating the underlying condition, causing pain and deformity of the joint. It is very common to see corns and calluses around the tips of toes or on the small toe joints.
They are most often caused by a defective mechanical structure of the foot which can be caused by genetics certain foot types make a person prone to development of toe deformities.Īltered position of your lesser toes commonly results in pressure from shoes or the next toe which results in painful hard skin forming. Like bunions, there is no single cause of lesser (small) toe deformities. Certain inflammatory and neurological conditions can cause toe deformity as well. External pressures from shoes and direct injury can cause buckling of the toes that can result in toe deformity. Toe deformities can occur when there is an imbalance with the muscles within the foot and the leg. The larger muscles and tendons within the leg move these toes. These bones are connected by ligaments and have small muscles and tendons within the foot that control their movement and stabilise them against the ground when you walk. In the average person, there are three small bones (phalanges) in each of your four small (lesser) toes on each foot. There are various types of lesser toe deformity and depending on the shape, we call these hammer, clawed or retracted toes.