Ailments of the Smaller Toes

Claw toe is a common foot deformity in which your toes bend into a claw-like position, digging down into the soles of your shoes and creating painful calluses. People often blame claw toe on wearing shoes that squeeze your toes, such as shoes that are too short or high heels. However, claw toes often are the result of nerve damage caused by diseases like diabetes or alcoholism, which can…

Clubfoot is an abnormal inward curving of the foot. One of the most common nonmajor birth defects, clubfoot affects a child's foot and ankle, twisting the heel and toes inward. The clubfoot, calf and leg are smaller and shorter than normal. Clubfoot is not painful, the deformity is correctable, and your baby is probably otherwise normal. Approximately one in every 1,000 newborns has clubfoot.…

A hammertoe is a deformity of the second, third, or fourth toe. In this condition, the toe is bent at the middle joint, so that it resembles a hammer. Hammertoes typically start as a flexible deformity but if left untreated could potentially develop into a fixed/rigid deformity that may require more aggressive surgery to correct.

Intoeing means that the feet curve inward instead of pointing straight ahead when walking or running. If your young child has intoeing, he or she probably will outgrow the condition naturally. You don't need special shoes, stretching exercises or other treatments. By age two most children walk with their feet pointing in the direction they are heading.

Pain in the ball of your foot, the area between your arch and the toes, is called metatarsalgia (MET-ah-tar-SAL-gee-ah). The pain usually centers on one or more of the five bones (metatarsals) in this area under the toes.