Foot pain can be the result of several things that put abnormal pressure on your feet. These things include improper footwear, certain repetitive daily activities, and specific ailments. Over time, this abnormal pressure will wear and tear different components of your foot.
One of those vital components is your toes. While the big toe might bear most of the weight placed on your feet, all the toes need to be healthy to enjoy happy, pain-free feet.
At Canyon Oaks Foot and Ankle, our elite team has the experience you need with many common toe deformities. For this reason, we will discuss some of those deformities to help you identify which one the culprit is in your case.
Common Toe Deformities
Some of the most common toe deformities include:
Sausage Toe
Medically known as dactylitis, sausage toe refers to inflammation between the tip of your toe and the first knuckle. The distal interphalangeal joints will visibly become red, swollen, and feel hot, creating a sausage-like appearance.
Some of the common causes of sausage toe are:
- Autoimmune diseases. Certain types of arthritis, such as psoriatic arthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, can exhibit sausage toe as a symptom.
- Infections. Blistering distal dactylitis is a form of this disease that infects the fatty pads of the toe. Some studies have also shown a correlation between sausage toe and osteomyelitis.
Turf Toe
One of the deformities that affect the big toe is turf toe. Turf toe is a sprain of the big toe’s main joint and occurs when excessive force bends this joint upwards. This type of injury is common among athletes that play on artificial turf, hence the name.
Some of the most common symptoms of turf toe include:
- Swelling in the big toe
- Stiffness of the big toe
- Being unable to bear weight on the toe
Hammer Toes
When there is an imbalance of the tendons or muscles in the toes, they might gradually bend. If you notice that your toes aren’t pointing straight but rather pointing downwards, you might be suffering from hammertoe.
It’s urgent to seek treatment, not only for aesthetics purposes. If hammertoe is left untreated, it can lead to:
- Corns or calluses. Footwear can rub against this raised portion of the foot and lead to painful corns and calluses.
- Pain. Over time, the muscles and tendons will get stiffer and cause pain by limiting movement.
Bunions
Bunions, also known as hallux valgus, occur when the bony framework of the foot changes. You will notice that the big toe will lean towards the second toe. The misaligned bone will then create the bunion’s bump.
There are various treatment options to correct bunions. One of those includes Lapiplasty Bunion surgery, an innovative procedure developed to correct the misalignment that has occurred in the bone vertically, horizontally, and rotationally.
Podiatrist Serving Fresno, Visalia, and Porterville
While it might be easy to determine the deformity affecting your feet, your local podiatrist team at Canyon Oaks Foot and Ankle are eager to alleviate that frustrating foot pain by identifying the proper course of treatment.
Schedule an appointment with us today!