bone, joint, and muscle disorders
Hammer Toe
Treatment of Hammer Toe
Wide toe box, taping/splinting, and toe pads For metatarsalgia, orthoses Doctors treat hammer toe by ensuring that the shoes are comfortable and have a wide enough toe box to avoid further irritation to the toe. Taping/splinting the toe may decrease the deformity temporarily. Toe pads also help by shielding the affected toes from the overlying shoe. Any ulcer or other skin irritation is treated. An operation to straighten the hammer toe may be needed when other treatments do not relieve the pain and disability caused by the rigidly fixed toe. To alleviate the pain caused by metatarsalgia, people can use orthoses (devices placed in the shoe). 