Toes

Hello. I have a problem with crooked toes as you can see on the picture but I want to avoid surgery. A member of my family has after her fot surgery more problems than before.

I wanted to know if theres any other option to get them straight ?

Thank You.

Hi,

Hammertoes are classified as rigid or flexible, basically meaning that when your doctor holds your foot in a certain manner if the toe straightens then its flexible, if it stays bent then it is a rigid hammertoe.
Flexible hammertoes can sometimes be straightened by just releasing the tendons which means no bone work has to be done; this results in a straightened toe with very little surgical intervention.
By looking at your picture I would "guess" you are of the rigid hammertoe variety. As I tell my patients, when a foot is deformed it is like trying to put a square peg into a round hole; the foot just does not fit comfortably in conventional shoes. So, either you change your shoes, looking for boxier type shoes to give the toes more room, or you consider surgical intervention. I can see you are already getting irritation on the second toe and unless you make a change either way, chances are over time the situation will get worse.
Read my essay on surgical consideration and see if perhaps you need to reconsider surgical correction as an option.
Good luck.
Marc Mitnick DPM