Vibram 5 Fingers and hammer toes

lisaidem

Do any of you 5 Fingers owners have hammer/mallet/claw toes? My second toe is not the issue, it is actually my 3 smaller toes that turn in and down. I think I have a very, very mild case of one of those toe deformations, but it is enough to make the 5 Fingers quite uncomfortable on one of my feet. I think it might have initially been caused by wearing tight cleats for years as a child/teen. The foot that is worse was also injured playing softball, and was never properly treated after injury.
The result of this is that I cannot comfortably fit my turned-down toes in my 5 Fingers. It actually feels like I'm jamming them in the shoes curled-up, rather than straightened out. And as those of you who own them know, they are quite tight/fitted, and it is not easy to straighten them out once they are in there. My husband seems to think that if I wear them more often, and push through the discomfort/pain, it might help straighten them out. He is not a doctor, so I think he's making this up. Thoughts?

Also, any adults have success with stretching and exercises for mild cases of hammer toe?

Jazzart

It's time to make an appointment with a podiatrist and have you feet looked at, this is not something that will go away and get better on it's own.

jmijaressf

I don't have hammer toes, but after having worn men's dress shoes for over a decade, my toes were squished and bunched together. Mine straightened out after while because they had room to splay in my new shoes while running.

I think your best bet at the moment would be to transition over to another type of minimalist shoe with a wide toebox to see if your toes will straighten out. Also, try doing some barefoot strengthening exercises like picking up golf balls with your toes. I can do that easily, though I'm still working on being able to pick up a tennis ball.

tammyquinnlmt

I don't know about hammer toes, but I do know they've done wonders for my plantar fasciitis!

Rubie81

I wouldn't suffer through the pain/discomfort with the hops that the Vibram's straighten your toys. I'd switch sneakers and if the issue gets worse then visit a podiatrist.