Hammer Toes Specialist

Amit Shah DPM

Podiatrists & Board Certified Foot and Ankle Surgeons located in North Brunswick, Edison, & Cranbury, NJ

If your little toes look shorter than they once were or if they bend downwards, you may suffer from hammertoe. This condition is quite uncomfortable and may also trigger other foot and ankle problems because it can make you walk abnormally. At Amit Shah DPM in North Brunswick, Edison, and Cranbury, New Jersey, Drs. Shah Armanious, DPM, have a high hammertoe cure rate using an advanced surgical approach. Reach out to the office nearest you by phone, or book your appointment for hammertoe treatment online now.

Hammer Toes Q&A

What is hammertoe?

Hammertoe is a foot deformity in which the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint in the middle of your toe contracts. This causes your toes to form a tent shape instead of laying flat as they normally do.

Hammertoe usually affects your lesser digits (the second, third, fourth, and pinky toes) but may only affect one or two toes at once.

Hammertoe occurs in two forms: flexible hammertoe means you can still move your affected toe joint, while rigid hammertoe means your toe is immobile. Hammertoe is flexible when it first develops, but it can progress to rigid if you don't get treatment.

If you have arthritis, your hammertoe could grow rigid more quickly than it otherwise would due to the joint damage that comes with the disease.

What causes hammertoes?

Irregular muscle balance in your toes creates tension in its joints and tendons, and this leads to hammertoes. The cause of the abnormal muscle balance can include heredity, trauma, chronic disease, and constricting footwear.

What symptoms does hammertoe cause?

Hammertoe can lead to many irritating issues, including:

Sharp PIP joint contraction
Stiffness in your PIP joint
Soreness or pain on top of the affected toe
Corns atop your PIP joint from skin friction
Calluses on the ball of your foot from uneven pressure

Sometimes, hammertoe may cause such constant problems that you're unable to wear most shoes. Unfortunately, hammertoe symptoms often increase until the problem's unbearable. So, it's smartest to seek treatment at Amit Shah DPM as soon as possible.

How do you straighten hammertoes?

The Amit Shah DPM team can help. Often, conservative treatments are the first treatment approach, particularly for flexible hammertoe. Your treatment could include any of the following.

Splint to straighten your toe
Taping to restore muscle balance in your toe
Pad to cushion the top of your hammertoe
Anti-inflammatory or cortisone injections
Custom orthotics to correct foot function problems

For rigid hammertoe or for flexible hammertoe that doesn't improve with conservative treatments, the team offers hammertoe surgery.

With a simple surgical procedure, your provider can remove the excess bone around the joint and correct the joint alignment. The team has an excellent success rate in curing hammertoe with surgery.

For the best New Jersey hammertoe treatment, call or use the online appointment tool now.