Hammer Toe

A hammer toe is a toe stuck in an abnormal bent position. Instead of lying flat, the middle of your toe sticks up.

• It happens most often in the second, third, or fourth toe

• Women and older adults get hammer toe more often

• You may feel pain when wearing certain shoes or have pain in the ball of your foot

• Wide shoes and toe pads can help lessen pain

Hammer Toe

Causes include:

• Unusually long toe bones

• Weakness in certain muscles in the foot

• Rheumatoid arthritis

• Injury

• Pressure on the toe from a bunion

• Years of wearing shoes that don't fit right

• Genetic causes

The toe is bent so the middle part of it is higher than normal. The higher part can rub on your shoe, causing:

• Corns (hard cone-shaped bumps of skin on the top of the smaller toes, particularly over a joint)

• Open sores

Shoes with low and narrow toes may be painful to wear. You may also get pain in the ball of your foot.

Doctors tell you have a hammer toe by looking at your feet.

To treat hammer toe, doctors will:

• Have you wear comfortable, wide shoes

• Have you use toe pads (shields sold in pharmacies to protect the toe from rubbing against the shoe)

• Treat any skin irritation or open sores

• Have you wear special devices that fit in your shoe

• Do foot exercises

• Do surgery if your hammer toe can’t be treated in other ways