Clubbed or Hammer Toes

Posted by Debbie @dbeshears1, Jul 19, 2022

I’m wondering if anyone with PN has had problems with any toes kind of curling downward, as if heading toward hammer or clawed toes? My toes on one foot tend to be getting toward that direction and I can’t seem to get them to lay flat. I was in a wheelchair for 6 months, but that was about 6 yrs ago, and I’ve had PT for legs, and am up and about every day, getting a reasonable amount of steps with walker, and quite a few steps unassisted. My last neurologist just pointed out to his trainee “see, her toes are clubbing”. When I asked him, and later a podiatrist, what I can do to stop it from getting worse, neither had ideas, and once again I was told we just need to watch and see what happens. So I am asking this great group for thoughts and ideas to release the tightness or whatever leading to these toes? Any exercises, splints or creams? Thanks for any ideas or thoughts!

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centre | @centre | 7 hours ago

In reply to @dbeshears1 "Thanks John, they are very inexpensive so I will definitely try! I am in stocking feet/inside..." + (show)

I can highly recommend Yoga Toes Classic for Women, I bought mine on Amazon. I read about them in Running magazine. The directions recommend building up wearing time to 15 minutes. I slide them on to my neuropathy leg toes (being sure to moisten the toe places with a bit of water- also recommended) while sitting in my Lazy-boy and relaxing. I’ve built up to an hour, because my toes really feel good when it’s on. They gently and comfortably stretch out my hammer toes. The hammer toe “position” is still present but NOT fixed, which the PT said is the important thing. My home program also includes stretching the toes out, holding for 20 seconds, relaxing, repeating 3 times- I’m guessing to keep the tissues and muscles from shortening to the hammer position.
Hope this helps 🙂

arflmi33 | @arflmi33 | 7 hours ago

I have hammer toes on one foot and do many things that have helped me. One is to buy longer and wider shoes in barefoot style. It helps to buy shoes with nearly zero "toe spring" as the toe spring all by itself can cause hammer toes. I always buy shoes that are a bigger length than what I measure at, usually a full size larger. Another thing is that I wear the "Correct Toes" toe spacers. They can be found online, as well as lots of shoe recommendations for many different brands of shoes. A good barefoot shoe has zero drop, no/little toe spring, and a wide toe box at the least. You can also find the shoes with more support or less support depending on how much support you prefer. This web site is really helpful and has free articles on many foot conditions: https://www.nwfootankle.com/patient-resources/foot-conditions/. This same group also has put up free videos on youtube with topics like how to stretch your feet and toes etc. In fact if you search youtube for hammer toe stretches you will find a lot of them. I hope this helps others here.