According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, ill-fitting shoes are one of the most common causes of toe and foot disorders. Being overweight also increases a person's risk for foot problems. Toe and foot disorders range from mild to severe, and some disorders can be debilitating and affect a person's ability to perform her usual activities of daily living.
Bunions
Bunions are a common disorder of the toes and feet. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), over 50 percent of American women have bunions, a sometimes painful enlargement at the base of the big toe. The AAOS states that the larger a person's bunion gets, the more it hurts to walk. Bursitis, inflammation of a bursa, or fluid-filled sac, may develop and cause further pain around the bunion. Ill-fitting shoes, especially shoes with tapered toe boxes, are the most common cause of bunions. The AAOS notes that nine out of 10 American women wear shoes that are too small, especially in the toe box, where toes need to splay instead of being cramped together.
Many shoes place a person's feet in a bunion configuration, which means that they cause the big toe to deviate toward the foot's midline. Over time, this deviation predisposes a person to bunion formation. Wearing shoes that are flat, flexible and widest at the ends of the toes, along with returning the toes to their natural anatomical position using a toe-spacing product, may help prevent and treat bunions.
Hammertoes
A hammertoe is a common disorder of the toes and feet. MayoClinic.com states that a hammertoe is a toe that's bent or curled at the toe's middle joint. A hammertoe is usually caused by wearing shoes that are too short or too narrow in the toe box or that have heel elevation. Over time, the toes and feet conform to the cramped environment to which they are subjected, resulting in numerous possible foot deformities, including hammertoes.
Common signs and symptoms associated with hammertoe include: a hammer-like or claw-like toe appearance; pain or discomfort with movement of the affected toe; pain with walking and corns or calluses caused by toes rubbing against the inside of too-narrow footwear. Along with improper footwear, other possible causes of hammertoe deformities include toe trauma such as jamming or breaking a toe, aberrant foot mechanics due to diabetic neuropathy or nerve damage and other medical conditions that impair nerve and muscle function such as arthritis and stroke.
Tarsal Coalition
Tarsal coalition is a disorder that affects the toes and feet. According to the Seattle Children's Hospital, tarsal coalition is a type of flatfoot that occurs when two or more of a person's tarsal bones, which are the bones that join the lower leg to the toes, form an abnormal and unbreakable linkage that may alter foot mechanics. The SCH states that approximately 1 to 2 percent of people have a tarsal coalition.
Common signs and symptoms associated with tarsal coalition may include foot pain and the apparent lack of a medial longitudinal arch, the foot's principle arch that props up the medial or inside aspect of the foot. According to the American Academy of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, the connection between tarsal bones that characterizes tarsal coalition can be composed of bone, cartilage or fibrous tissue.
