Suffering From Hammertoes?

Walking is a foundational activity, involved in almost all aspects of life. If you are suffering from hammer toes, walking can be impaired and significantly disrupt functions in your day-to-day life. Dr. Barry Schoenberg and Dr. Jeffrey Horowitz from Palisades Podiatry Associates in Pomona, NY both treat hammer toes often and effectively.

What Are Hammertoes?

Hammer toes involve an abnormal bending of one or several toes. Hammer toes may affect any toe but are mostly seen in the smaller toes. If you suffer from hammer toe, the affected toe or toes will bend upward at the base of the toe joint. And instead of lying flat at rest, the furthest part of your toe bends downward. This abnormal bending causes excessive friction on the toe or toes from your shoes, which may lead to corns and callouses on the top of your toe.

What Causes Hammertoes?

Hammer toe is a result of an imbalance of the muscles and other structures supporting the toe joint. Tendons, ligaments, or the muscles themselves surrounding the toe shorten.This may cause a contracture to develop, which is a permanent shortening of the structures surrounding a joint. This causes the joint to acquire an unnatural position.

But if you are still able to manually straighten the toe with your fingers, a contracture has not yet developed. Address it before it gets to this point. Diagnosing and treating this condition in the early stages will save a lot of time, pain, and money.

What Are Treatment Options for Hammertoes?

There are steps that you can take at home to prevent the condition of hammer toe from progressing and getting worse. Severe cases of hammer toes require more involved professional care. At-home and medical treatment options for hammer toes in Pomona, NY are:

  • Purchasing new shoes will decrease excess friction.
    • Shoes must be roomy in the toe area. When shopping for new shoes, do so in the evening and ask to have your foot measured each time you buy a pair of shoes. This is because our feet tend to flatten as we age, so you may need to buy a larger size shoe than normal.
  • Custom orthotics
  • Toe pads worn in your shoes
  • Over-the-counter painkillers and anti-inflammatories
  • Steroid injections
  • A course of physical therapy aimed at stretching and strengthening targeted structures of the toe
  • Taping to help with muscle imbalances

The above conservative measures will hopefully resolve the problem. But if not, and if pain and dysfunction become intolerable, you may require surgical intervention. 

Contact Us

Treat your hammertoes in Pomona, NY at Palisades Podiatry Associates. Schedule a consultation with Dr. Schoenberg or Dr. Horowitz by calling our Pomona office at (845) 362-0100 or our Tappan location at (845) 359-1200.

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