My weird toes

[KnottedYet]

For my Irish footed folks who are having a very hard time with shoes, I suggest they try running in Chaco Z1 or Z2 sandals.

[Veronica]

Ahhh...that's a motion control shoe, which are not for me. Thanks.

Yep - my lower body is a disaster. hammertoes, bunions, overpronation, 1 leg shorter than the other... but lucky me, none of that hurts - usually!

Veronica

[OakLeaf]

Yup...that is what I'm currently wearing...but in a size 11.

Is that an 11 Wide? They do come in wide.

When I tried the shoes on in the shop, they didn't have 10-1/2 Wide in stock. I tried on an 11 regular and they were close, but I thought I could do better, so I had them order the 10-1/2 Wide no obligation. Those were it.

In a perfect world for my feet, yeah, they'd be 5 mm wider across the MTP joints and where the big toes flare (and also 1-2 cm lower at the front of the ankle closure and a couple of mm narrower in the heel. And the left one would be 3/8 of a size larger than the right. ) But they're pretty durn close. And they don't irritate my proto-tailor's bunions at all.

[OakLeaf]

If your heels slip, you know about this method of lacing, right?

It's not a cure if the heels are super wide, but it makes an enormous difference.

[TsPoet]

Those pictures could be of my feet, except yours are slimmer and it looks like your pinkie toe might not curl under enough o attack the underside of the toe next to it. I started wearing Vibrams last September, and I am so thrilled. My feet, knees, toes, hips and back haven't felt this good since I was in grade school.
The vibrams site lists feet types that they don't suggest their shoes for (awkward sentence?), including hammer toes. But, I've found that the muscles in those toes have strengthened and the separation of the toes keep them from attacking each other. I wish I'd taken a before picture. My toes are bulbous and ugly, but they no longer curl under.
I do have 5th metatarsal pain from the vibrams, my sports physiologist thinks this is from forcing the hammer toes to straighten somewhat in the shoe causing the nerves to be touchy. But, he likes what he's seeing so much in my feet and knees that he thinks the vibrams are a keeper.
I wear them all day every day, they aren't just running shoes to me.

[GLC1968]

Those pictures could be of my feet, except yours are slimmer and it looks like your pinkie toe might not curl under enough o attack the underside of the toe next to it. I started wearing Vibrams last September, and I am so thrilled. My feet, knees, toes, hips and back haven't felt this good since I was in grade school.
The vibrams site lists feet types that they don't suggest their shoes for (awkward sentence?), including hammer toes. But, I've found that the muscles in those toes have strengthened and the separation of the toes keep them from attacking each other. I wish I'd taken a before picture. My toes are bulbous and ugly, but they no longer curl under.
I do have 5th metatarsal pain from the vibrams, my sports physiologist thinks this is from forcing the hammer toes to straighten somewhat in the show causing the nerves to be touchy. But, he likes what he's seeing so much in my feet and knees that he thinks the vibrams are a keeper.
I wear them all day every day, they aren't just running shoes to me.

This.

I think that if your hammer toes are genetic, correction with VFF's or CorrectToes won't work as well. But if your hammer toes are from shoes (which I think quite a few are since virtually all modern shoes are not designed well for proper foot function), they'll eventually help.

nscrbug - I think I've already shown you my podiatrist's website, but he addresses this issue. I've only been wearing my 'barefoot' shoes (Vibram VFF's and Terra Plana VivoBarefoot styles) for a month and a half now but I can't even begin to explain how much better my feet are. I have different issues than you do, but my podiatrist was totally spot on with his diagnosis (mush of which is on his website). 7 years of pain, multiple podiatrists, custom orthotics - all gone. All I had to sacrafice was my entire footwear wardrobe!

I will say that he predicted that once my feet realigned to what they should be naturally that shoes that didn't hurt previously might start hurting if they didn't meet his 'rules'. Last weekend my cycling shoes actually started to hurt and that's new. The pain was similiar to what you described in your original post - it felt like a quick tingling sensation and the like someone was crushing my three middle toes in a vice. It came on all of a sudden near the very end of my ride and it literally brought tears to my eyes. I suffered the last half mile home and immediately removed my shoes and the pain vanished. I don't know what I'm going to do about this, but for now I'm just recording it as additional information and we'll see what the future brings.

[indigoiis]

When my podiatrist suggested surgery for my inward-tending pinkie toes, I went immediately to minimalist shoes for everything - walking, hiking, running - and barefoot whenever possible. My sidis are an exception, but they are all leather so they "give" somewhat at the toes. When I got rid of all of my synthetic narrow toe box shoes, my toes magically started feeling better and even straightening out some. When you walk barefoot, you strengthen everything in the foot, helping you to spread out those toes and walk more efficiently. Try it!

[OakLeaf]

It's amazing how much my toes have unfurled in the last two years.

One and a half shoe sizes worth. Just from wearing shoes that were big enough in the toes and not worrying so much about "support" in the arch.

[jessmarimba]

nscrbug, have you tried running with the injinji toe socks? My feet look a lot like yours, though running has never been all that painful for me. My biggest issue was that the toenails on the curled-in toes would routinely cut holes in the toes beside them on long runs. Several pairs of bloody socks later, I bought a pair of the injinjis just to see if forcing them to separate would help. Definitely helped the nail cuts, but maybe it would help your pain by forcing those toes to spread a bit? Just an idea.

[bmccasland]

Learned something new every day.
I just figured my curved toes were from early years of ballet. I do know I've broken most of my toes, except my big (great) ones.

My toes don't bother me, and if they affect the shoes I wear, I'm clueless. When my feet hurt it's usually the balls of my feet. Thanks to my bum knee, I've been wearing flats since March. Kind of forgotten what wearing heels feels like to my feet. Currently my knee doesn't like them. Every now and then I see if I can wear heels, put a pair on in the morning step back, 30 seconds later, take off.

[OakLeaf]

I like the way Injinji socks feel, but I don't find them to be nearly as friction-free as my Tekos or even SmartWool - even the wool Injinjis. Plus, they pill easily, and that creates friction of its own.

In any style, I've had to go to a larger sock size, as well as larger shoes. Socks that are too small do compress your toes and force them together.

We're really conflating two things - footwear that lets your toes and foot bones move independently, and footwear that's large enough to let your toes and feet take their natural shape. I'm not near ready for VFFs yet - and anyway they are just a hair short for my toes - but bigger shoes and bigger socks have solved most of my toe problems, anyway.

Foot, ankle and hip problems ... I'm working on 'em.

[Crankin]

And I though my curled toes were just some freak recessive gene.

[nscrbug]

nscrbug, have you tried running with the injinji toe socks? My feet look a lot like yours, though running has never been all that painful for me. My biggest issue was that the toenails on the curled-in toes would routinely cut holes in the toes beside them on long runs. Several pairs of bloody socks later, I bought a pair of the injinjis just to see if forcing them to separate would help. Definitely helped the nail cuts, but maybe it would help your pain by forcing those toes to spread a bit? Just an idea.

Actually, I have. Infact, I have 3 pairs of them. But after numerous attempts, I find that I cannot wear them anymore. Initially, they feel okay (if not a bit weird), but then after a few hours of wearing them...the material in between each toe pocket starts to irritate the skin between my toes. Especially with running...the forward motion of my feet just seems to jam that material into that space between the toes and almost feels like it's cutting or digging into the skin....OUCH! So now I have 3 pairs of Injinji socks that are sitting at the bottom of my sock drawer.