Unless a person had arthritis or an injury, at the end of life the fingers don’t look much different (other than having wrinkles) than they did at the beginning.
Not having something on them constantly or being walked on for thousands of miles are the main reason why our fingers don’t change much.
Also, genetic conditions don’t afflict the hands like they do the feet. Ugh!!
It’s a lucky person who gets to the end of life with decent looking toes.
If we walked on all four limbs and didn’t wear shoes, most of us wouldn’t ever have a foot problem. (Hmmm…what would our profession be)
With the focus on our toes here, how can a person avoid permanent deformities of the toes that have them looking like the fingers do when our time is up?
Again, since genetics play a big role in foot conditions, some of us will just have bad luck on our side.
Bunions, Hammertoes and toes that cross over each other are often unavoidable.
You may have seen elderly family members with toes that look that way.
Minimizing their impact on the feet is mission critical.
Here’s the most important thing to know about keeping your toes straight…
When the foot is optimally aligned the risk of toe deformities decreases.
An optimally aligned foot leads to a foot that moves optimally.
One of our prime objectives as foot specialists is to use shoes and inserts to improve the alignment and movement of the feet we treat.
One minor flaw in the alignment, such as a foot that is flat, can lead to a tendon or muscle pulling a toe into an abnormal position.
Toes don’t get misaligned because of improper fitting shoes but rather improper foot alignment and function.
The shoes we recommend and the custom inserts we make aren’t just for better cushion and arch support; optimally aligning the feet is more important.
We can avoid pain in the toes from them rubbing together or shoes rubbing on them by focusing on aligning the entire foot correctly.
If your toes are just starting to look less than as straight as they were made, addressing the alignment of your feet is job one.
Pads and splints are just “bandaids” compared to correcting the alignment.
We aren’t as concerned with our patients getting to the end of life with straight toes as we are with helping avoid the pain that comes with walking around with crooked toes.
To Straight Toes,
