What Is A Hammertoe?
The imbalance in the muscles, tendons and ligaments causes abnormality in the toes, resulting in hammertoes. In such cases, deformity usually occurs in the middle three toes because they suffer the most pressure when a shoe is too tight, too short or too pointy.
If you can still move the toe that is deformed, it means the hammertoe is flexible and can be treated with exercise or by simply wearing wider shoes. But, if moving the hammertoe is causing severe pain, then the toe needs urgent surgery.
Causes And Symptoms Of Hammertoe
A small shoe size is the most common reason for hammertoe. However, such toe abnormalities might occur because of other acute diseases such as:
Arthritis,Spinal tumor,Polio,Charcot-Tooth-Marie disease.
These are some of the causes of hammertoes. So, instead of ignoring such minor abnormalities, the affected person must immediately consult a doctor.
The main symptom of a hammertoe includes abnormal bending of the middle toes, upwards. The deformity causes severe pain and stiffness in the toes which might eventually lead to the inability to walk.
Risk Factors Of Hammertoe
Hammertoes can surely happen to anyone but unfortunately, some people are more prone to such risk than others. The knowledge of risk factors helps some people take this deformity seriously.
The risk factors include:
Age: The older a person is, the higher the chances of a hammertoe. Shoes: Women are highly likely to get a hammertoe because of wearing pointy heels or shoes that impose pressure on the toes. Size: Some people might have a lengthier second toe which is usually entrapped in shoes. Heredity: You can have a hammertoe if it runs in your family. Diseases: The diseases mentioned above, such as arthritis or spinal tumor can cause a hammertoe.
Prevention Tips
The following tips will save you the cost of expensive surgery:
Exercise: The most trusted way to cure a hammertoe is to consult a physiologist. Treating the deformed toe by exercising is the best way to deal with the pain. Wide Shoes: We cannot stress more about wearing wider shoes. The pointy heels feel stylish for sure, but the unbearable pain they give you is not worth it. Emollients: Refer to a doctor and if the hammertoe is curable without surgery, use emollients to soften the skin.
Hammertoe Surgery
Surgeries happen to always sound scary. But, you should remain firm on the surgery decision because it is a matter of your health. The hammertoe surgery is not painful, although you might feel a little pressure on the toes.
Hammertoe surgery is conducted with either a fusion method or a joint resection surgery. Joint Intersection Surgery is called Proximal Interphalangeal (PIP). This surgery is done by cutting the bones in the joint and fusing them.
The fusion method involves cutting the ligaments of the hammertoe in order to straighten it. After the cutting, the bones are fused together through pins and screws so that they remain straight after the surgery.
Hammertoe Surgery Cost And Recovery
The surgery is completely painless. Although, it requires the patient to avoid putting weight on the toes for six months or at least a year. The patient can walk immediately after the surgery, but healing requires time and effort.
Hammertoe treatment costs around $500 without insurance. If the pain has reached the point of surgery, then it will cost around $10,000-$30,000. This does not include the cost of local anesthesia, which costs around $1000. After the surgery, the patient requires physiotherapy, which costs $50-$350 per session.
Conclusion
The medicine research field is carrying out experiments to find an alternate and less invasive to conduct hammertoe surgery. If such an experiment succeeds, chances are the patient will be able to walk around in a short period after surgery. The current procedure is still painless, and you will not have hammertoes after the surgery if you follow the prevention tips.
Is hammertoe surgery worth it?
The surgery has a 90% success rate with fewer chances of hammertoes recurring. The patient will be able to walk right after the surgery, and the procedure is painless. This surgery basically improves the quality of life.
How much is the recovery time of hammertoe surgery?
Hammertoe surgery allows the patient to walk right after the surgery. Physical exercise increases the chances of a speedy recovery.
Is hammertoe surgery serious?
The hammertoe surgery uses less invasive methods by using small incisions. The surgery causes mild discomfort which lasts for at least a month. Nothing serious about this surgery as it causes no pain.
