Claw Toes: Causes, Stages, Treatment & Prevention (2024)

FAQs

How to get rid of claw toes? ›

Non-surgical treatments should be tried first to correct claw toe. Wear shoes with soft, roomy toe boxes and avoid tight shoes and high heels. Use your hands to stretch your toes and toe joints toward their normal positions. Exercise your toes by using them to pick up marbles or crumple a towel laid flat on the floor.

Claw toes may be caused by a nerve problem in the legs or a spinal cord problem or signs of arthritis. The cause is unknown in many cases. Most of the time, claw toes are not harmful by themselves. Rarely, they may be the first sign of a more serious disease of the nervous system.

Treatment of Claw Foot

Physical therapy, usually consisting of stretching exercises, may prove helpful to patients with this condition. In cases where the claw foot continues to present a serious problem after these conservative treatments, surgery to straighten the affected toes will be considered.

Claw Toe Treatment Options

If you notice that you have a claw toe, you will need to see a podiatrist so that you can get it treated. Splints and Tape-if you still have mobility in your toe, a podiatrist will recommend taping your toes or placing a splint on your toe to get it in the correct position.

Lay a towel flat on the floor in front of a chair and sit down. Place your heels at the edge of the towel closest to you and use your toes to pull the towel back until all of it is under your feet. Smooth it back out and repeat twice more. Use fingers to stretch toes.

Yes, they probably do help. They will improve the alignment and flexibility of the toes which is a good thing.

Claw toe is not generally a serious problem on its own, but it can result in discomfort, particularly if you find it hard to get shoes that fit. Claw toe can also cause toe corns, or calluses, to develop in response to friction. These are areas of thick and hardened skin which can cause pain when you walk.

Older toes have a propensity toward curling into "claw toes" because of muscle imbalance. And older people — especially older women — are prone to developing bunions, a misalignment of the bones in the big toe that causes the end of the metatarsal bone at the base of the toe to angle out.

Curly Toes Treatment Options

Switching to comfortable, supportive shoes with wider toe boxes that won't exacerbate your symptoms or worsen the problem. Custom foot orthotics to redistribute weight and pressure on the toes, reducing pain and discomfort while discouraging further toe curvature.

Disease or injury of the first and second sacral segments of the spinal cord or of the corresponding spinal nerve-roots may produce the characteristic deformity of the toes, in which case there may be disturbances of sensibility in the corresponding cutaneous areas.

What causes toes to curl up and cramp? ›

Summary. Common reasons for cramping in your toes and feet include not drinking enough water, not getting enough exercise, and wearing shoes that don't fit right.

Foot exercises designed to stretch the muscles and tendons of the toes may help. Try picking up small objects with your toes, or using them to crumple soft fabric, such as a towel. Working with a physical therapist may also be beneficial.

‌Wearing a splint.

A splint can help keep your toes straight if they are curled but still flexible. Splints are firmer than tape. So they're more effective at reversing significant claw toes.

Hammertoe surgery is usually covered by insurance if the condition is deemed a medical necessity. If correction of a hammertoe is done for only cosmetic reasons, insurance isn't likely to pay for it. Out of pocket surgery for hammertoe costs around $4,200 on average.

Severe obesity causes pressure on toes causing strain on toe muscles. A study reveals that obesity with men is cause of claw toe. A severe foot injury can cause your toe to curl inward. Other reasons for curled toes are strokes or nerve damage, arthritis and diabetes that can cause systematic conditions and many more.