Why Toes Overlap

When a toe crosses over and starts to overlap your other toes, it can cause problems. If you are able to identify an issue that can lead to this situation early, you might have a chance at preventing it from happening, or at least worsening. Now, we can provide care for overlapping toes here at the office of Kevin J. Powers, DPM, but you would likely avoid the problem from developing in the first place. Understanding why toes overlap may help you do exactly that.

Generally-speaking, toes start to overlap on account of either muscular or tendon imbalance within a joint. More specifically, this includes conditions like:

• Bunions – This common toe deformity stems from an imbalance in the joint located at the base of the big toe (your metatarsophalangeal joint). The imbalance causes a big toe to start drifting inward while the affected joint pushes out along the inside edge of the foot. Left untreated, the big toe eventually overlaps the second toe, which can create an abundance of difficulties for you.
• Hammertoes – Whereas a bunion causes a toe to angle inward, a hammertoe can create an overlapping situation when the toe is abnormally bent upward, which creates room for a neighboring toe to sneak under it.

It is difficult to overstate the importance of wearing comfortable, well-constructed shoes that fit your feet properly. Choosing the right footwear plays a major role in helping protect your feet and provide much-needed support. That said, there is somewhat of a misconception that shoes actually cause issues like bunions or hammertoes. We certainly agree that poorly-fitting footwear can exacerbate and contribute to an existing foot problem, but the condition usually has roots in a different area. Of course, you can remove any doubt from the matter by always choosing shoes that fit well!

No matter if your overlapping toe is being caused by a bunion or hammertoe condition, we will create a treatment plan to help. For some patients, we are able to do this with conservative treatment options. In other cases, we do need to recommend surgery to address the problem. The good news is that we have ample experience in performing successful procedures for many patients.

Contact us today for more information by filling out our online form or calling our Bloomington, IN foot doctor office at (812) 333-4422 to request an appointment.