A hammertoe develops when you have an imbalance in a ligament and muscle surrounding your toe joint. This results in the buckling of your toe’s middle joint, which then causes it to get stuck in a bent and awkward position. Irritation and rubbing on the bent toe’s top portion is the most common side effect of a hammertoe. Here at Advanced Foot Care Center in Ridgefield, CT, our podiatrist Dr. Allan Rosenthal can perform a thorough examination of your condition to determine if you have a hammertoe and suggest a proper treatment plan for it.

Home Remedies for Hammertoes

If you have yet to see your podiatrist for your hammertoe, meanwhile, you could take certain measures to alleviate your discomfort and pain:

• Only wear shoes that have a broad and high toe area. In general, there must be at least a half-inch space between the shoe’s tip and your longest toe, which could either be your second toe or big toe.
• Always wear the appropriate footwear for the specific activity you’re doing.
• Refrain from wearing shoes that have heels higher than two inches.
• Massage the affected toe to ease the pain.
• Consider purchasing non-medicated footpads for hammertoes. These fit around your toe joint’s top portion correctly to help reduce undue pressure on the area. Some products even come with a gel lining to help prevent irritation on the toe from the shoe. Additionally, OTC metatarsal pads may help when placed correctly.

Medical Treatments for Hammertoe

If you have a more severe hammertoe, your Ridgefield podiatrist may recommend the following treatments depending on the severity of your hammertoe:

• Medications that treat inflammation could ease swelling and pain. For more severe cases, doctors usually recommend cortisone injections.
• Your podiatrist may likewise recommend that you wear customized shoe inserts to prevent your hammertoe from worsening and alleviate your pain.
• Splinting the affected toe may also help relieve discomfort and pain.
• Your podiatrist may also teach you foot exercises for restoring your muscle balance.

If these medical treatments still fail to fix your hammertoe, your podiatrist may recommend surgical intervention. Surgeries to treat hammertoes are done on an outpatient basis. Doctors use different surgical procedures for treating hammertoes.
 

Need Relief from Hammertoe?

Call (203) 431-0048 to book your consultation date with our podiatrist, Dr. Allan Rosenthal, here at the Advanced Foot Care Center in Ridgefield, CT.