Toe Deformities

Since it’s in your best interest to seek early treatment, it helps to recognize these deformities.

Now, between the two conditions, bunions tend to be more well-known within the general population.

For the benefit of those who aren’t familiar, a bunion is a bony protrusion jutting out along the inner edge of the foot. More specifically, the bump appears at the joint where the big toe connects to the foot (the metatarsophalangeal, or MTP, joint).

Along with the distinctive protrusion, the big toe itself will start angling inward.

Because the bump juts out to the side, it may be reddened, swollen, and irritated due to friction from the inside of your shoe. Additionally, there might be callousing on the surface.

While a bunion shifts on the horizontal plane, a hammertoe has a vertical element.

In this case, the toe features an abnormal bend at the middle toe joint. This bending creates a hammerlike appearance—thus the condition’s name. (When the bend is at the joint closest to the tip of the toe, it may be referred to as a mallet toe.)

There’s another related deformity known as a claw toe. This happens when there is an upwards bend at the MTP joint and downwards bends at the other two toe joints. As you might imagine, the name is because affected toes look kind of like claws.