Ouch! Another cause of a Painful 5th Toe

Last week's blog focused on one cause of a painful 5th toe, which is a lister corn. This week we will focus on one of the most basic reasons the fifth toe can hurt, and that is a contracted toe. Two forms of a contracted fifth toe are called the hammer toe (contracted toe with no curvature) and digiti quinti varus (curved and contracted). These toes can be flexible, which means they can be straightened out, or rigid (do not flatten out). Contracted toes can lead to pain, corns, swelling, blisters, and in some cases open sores. Some patients do not like the way their toe looks and come into the office complaining of the contraction, which can be accompanied by discoloration (darkening or redness). There are many ways of dealing with these problamatic toes: padding, shoes with a bigger toe box, trimming painful corns, and surgery to straighten out the toes. Does your toe hurt? Give us a call, 708-763-0580. Dr. Bender