Your doctor will ask questions about your symptoms and past health and do a physical exam. Your doctor will want to know:. During the physical exam, your doctor will look at your foot to see if the toe joint is fixed or flexible. A joint that has some movement can sometimes be straightened without surgery. A fixed joint often requires surgery. You can probably treat your toe joint problem at home.
If you start right away, you may be able to avoid surgery. Call your doctor if your pain doesn't go away or it gets worse after 2 to 3 weeks of home treatment, or if you get a sore on your affected toe. Sores can get infected and lead to cellulitis or osteomyelitis , especially if you have diabetes or peripheral arterial disease.
In general, surgery is used only for severe toe problems. You may need surgery if other treatments don't control your pain, if your toe limits activity, or if you can't move the toe joint. For fixed toe problems, doctors often do surgery on the bones. Doctors can often treat flexible toe problems by moving tendons to release tension on the joint and let the toe straighten.
In some cases, the surgery for a flexible toe problem will still include work on the bones. Surgery for these problems has not been widely studied and may not be for everyone. Talk to your doctor about the types of surgery and how much they might help you. Blahd Jr. Author: Healthwise Staff. Medical Review: William H. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated, disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information.
Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. Learn how we develop our content. To learn more about Healthwise, visit Healthwise.
Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. Updated visitor guidelines. Top of the page. Topic Overview What are hammer, claw, and mallet toes? A hammer toe bends down toward the floor at the middle toe joint. This causes the middle toe joint to rise up. It usually affects the second toe. Hammer toes often occur with bunions. Claw toe often affects the four smaller toes at the same time. The toes bend up at the joint where the toes and the foot meet.
They bend down at the middle joints and at the joints nearest the tip of the toes. This causes the toes to curl down toward the floor. A mallet toe bends down at the joint closest to the tip of the toe. It often affects the second toe, but it may happen in the other toes too. What causes hammer, claw, and mallet toes? What are the symptoms?
Besides looking odd, hammer, claw, and mallet toes may: Hurt. Make it hard to find shoes that fit. Rub against your footwear. When the muscle balance is thrown off, it can lead to bucking and contracting of the toe joint. A majority of hammertoe cases result from wearing uncomfortable shoes, particularly shoes that are narrow, tight or pointy toed — all of which can bind the forefoot.
Other risk factors include foot anatomy and prior toe injuries. Because of this, it is important that you seek treatment at the earliest sign of a developing hammertoe in order to ensure the best outcome. Since hammertoe is a progressive condition that gets worse over time, the earlier you seek treatment, the better. Here are four conservative treatment options that have shown successful outcomes for early stage cases.
In some cases, nonsurgical treatments may not work — especially for more severe cases of hammertoe where the affected toe is no longer flexible. If symptoms do not improve after pursuing conservative treatment options, Dr. Katchis may recommend a surgical treatment. Fortunately, our practice offers a cutting edge hammertoe correction procedure called Nextradesis , which uses a proprietary implant device that allows patients to bear weight on the affected foot immediately after surgery.
It also results in a much faster recovery for patients than traditional hammertoe surgery and it minimizes any chance of recurrence. It is often caused by wearing narrow shoes with little to no arch support. A hammer toe is a toe that has an abnormal bend in its middle joint, making the toe bend downward to look like a hammer.
This painful condition forms due to an imbalance in the surrounding muscles, tendons, or ligaments that normally keep the toe straight. Hammer toes are flexible to begin with. If hammer toe is not treated promptly, they may become fixed and require surgery to correct them. Hammer toe occurs from an imbalance in the muscles surrounding the middle toe joint. These muscles, tendons, and ligaments work together to bend and straighten the toes.
If one of the muscles weakens, it cannot bend or straighten the toe. If the toe stays bent long enough, the muscles tighten and the toe will not be able to straighten out.
These muscle weaknesses and imbalances are caused by a variety of factors. Because some of the causes for hammer toe are avoidable, it is possible to minimize risk of developing hammer toe. Due to footwear styles, women are more likely than men to develop hammer toe. The risk of hammer toe also rises with age. The symptoms of hammer toe are often very visible. The affected toe will be bent, looking like a hammer. A doctor normally diagnoses hammer toe during an exam.
The doctor may gently move the foot and toe to cause symptoms to occur. This helps the doctor to thoroughly evaluate the condition of the toe. Hammer toe is often very obvious in a foot exam. However, a doctor may order X-rays of the foot to further examine the bone structure of the affected foot.
Hammer toes are progressive, worsening over time.
0コメント