Dear Beverly,

Hammer toes most frequently occur due to tight or badly fitting shoes, very commonly being tight high heeled sandals. These reduce the blood supply to the toes, causing the muscles to contract and remain contracted permanently, called contracture.

The most obvious treatment is to where shoes which have more space for the toes. Also manually stretching your toes is also a good idea to prevent the condition. Daily exercise of the toes by doing exercises such as crumpling towels with toes, or trying to lift objects with your toes also helps.

A warm towel massage with a wet towel warmed to about 100-110 degree Fahrenheit placed under the toes improves blood supply and can reduce pain substantially. Surgery should be the last option to be considered if all other treatments have failed.

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AskMDx Team