Among the conditions that are hard for you to note are those involving your feet and toenails. In most cases, as long as you are not experiencing pain or you cannot walk, most people ignore it. However, paying attention to your lower extremities is also essential because conditions like hammertoes or ingrown toenails affect your toes. Usually, you can tell you got hammertoes because they look like a hammer, and your joint remains upward. Mostly, you begin experiencing difficulty in walking, pain, and formation of a callus at the affected joint, and you are required to seek medical help. Therefore, if you are a victim of hammertoe Paramus, reach out to a specialist who will offer treatment for your abnormal toe for symptomatic relief. Below is all you need to know concerning hammertoes.
What is a hammertoe?
It is a foot abnormality where one of your toes bends down, assuming the shape of a claw or hammer. Usually, this condition commonly affects your second toe, even though it can affect other toes. When putting on shoes, it is pretty uncomfortable. Due to the shape of your hammertoe, you may develop calluses or corns at the top of its joint. And in serious cases, open wounds may form on the joint of the affected toes.
What are some of the causes of hammertoes?
Several reasons can lead to the development of hammertoes, including trauma like stubbing your toe, extending your second toe past your big toe, putting on shoes that crowd your toes and tendon, and muscle or ligament imbalances. In most cases, women commonly have a hammertoe, among other abnormalities such as bunions. Similarly, if you have diabetes or arthritis, you are at a greater risk of developing hammertoes and other deformities.
When should you consult your physician about a bent toe?
You should consult your care provider if your bent toe fails to straighten. Usually, hammertoes are flexible; thus, you can move your toe. In this case, your problem is not yet permanent, but you still require treatment because the problem becomes permanent if left untreated. A rigid or permanent hammertoe is quite challenging to treat. That is why you should seek treatment before it becomes permanent.
How can you diagnose a hammertoe?
Your health care provider begins by assessing your foot to see if you have any hammer-shaped toe. In other cases, your care provider may request some x-rays to help determine if your joint has been permanently affected.
How can you treat hammertoes?
Different treatments are given to treat hammertoes depending on their severity. The treatment depends on whether you got a rigid or flexible hammertoe.
- Flexible hammertoe treatment
The treatment available for flexible hammer toes is cushioning the affected toes to protect them from pressure exerted by your tight shoes or special stretching.
- Rigid hammertoe treatment
Surgery is usually the only treatment available if you are diagnosed with a rigid or permanent hammertoe. Fixation is usually performed using an implant or internal wire during the procedure.
Hammertoes can cause some destructive symptoms like pain and the inability to walk. Therefore, if you have been either flexible or rigid hammertoes and seek treatment, you can start by calling DeLoor Podiatry Associates today.
