Anyone has kids with curled toes?
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Anonymous
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Recently, I find out that my son's both feet have curled toes. I google online, they look like pictures of hammer toe/mallet toe. Both feet's 2nd/3rd/4th/5th toe curl down, and he never complains about foot pain. His toe nails are always a bit weird (irregular edge), and pediatricians were never concerned. It is not a good timing to take him to have his feet checked out now, and anyone knows whom should I consult? Anyone has kids with curled toes? Do they outgrow or need treatment? I am a bit worried. His footwear are stride rite sneakers or saucony sneakers since he was 1.5 years old. And, he wears socks when he wears shoes. DH says the cause of his curled toes could be because I always have him wear socks year around, really??
And, one more thing is that I notice that he likes to walk tip toe, and his ankles rarely touch the floor when he walks or runs. What should I do about this? Physical therapies or something that kids will outgrow as well. |
Anonymous
| Forgot to mention, he is 4. |
Anonymous
| Pretty common in little kids. Likely overly tight tendons. Good chance he’ll grow out of it. If not, he’ll need a simple surgery. See here: https://www.schn.health.nsw.gov.au/fact-sheets/curly-toes. (P.S. Your DH is an idiot if he thinks it’s from socks.) |
Anonymous
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My son is almost 11 and has hammer toes on both feet. We took him to a podiatrist in 7 Seven Corners when he was 4. The doctor did a thorough exam including having ds jump, walk and run. He could do all of these things with no pain. The doctor explained the surgery option and then told us if it were his child (he had at least 5 kids) he would not do the surgery. He did make some little splints out of mole skin and told us to use thick lotion on the underside of his toes every night and to stretch the toes every night for 2 months.
We did this and made it about snuggling and storytime so ds didn't get upset. We saw no change after 2 months. The doctor told us to not worry about the toes. He said they will either get worse and then you do surgery or they won't. Our son's toes still curl under but have straightened a slight bit in the past year. They do not hurt so we are just living with it. Once it is safe to go out, take him to a podiatrist. If they push surgery please get a 2nd opinion to be sure. For now Do NOT stress over this. |
Anonymous
| My toes have always curled under, as far as I can remember. I'm 41. I've had no issues with this...no pain, no hindrance in walking/running/sports/etc. I wouldn't worry about it unless it is actually causing problems. |
Anonymous
| I haven’t thought about it fir a while, but my son had “hammer toes” as a young kid. I remember when he was 5 or 6 Thinking it was because his shoes were too tight. Then just resigned that it was genetic and how his toes would look. I had forgotten about it until now. But he is 18 and they are fine. His toes are freakishly long now though (he wears size 13 shoes). Not sure when they straightened out, but thinking back, prob when he was 10 or 11. |
Anonymous
^^ also he can actually curl his toes and also spread them out like fingers. Creepy!! |
Anonymous
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My 13 year old daughter has hammer toes. She can’t use her toes, like a normal person would, like to balance while standing on a boat or keep flip flops on. She can’t move them at all. You can’t see her toenails at all from the top. I actually never really noticed it until she was about 8 when we went to get pedicures and then I couldn’t see the color at all when she stood up. The pediatric orthopedist said that you don’t mess with the foot (ie. surgery) unless absolutely necessary. They said the only pain she may have possibly in the future is with the skin rubbing on the insides of shoes, etc.
I see a time in the future when she may want to wear cute strappy heels or sandals and may want to have surgery to make them look more normal. But I don’t think they would be functional. |
Anonymous
| I'm 34 and have curled toes my entire life. I don't have pain and have seen many feet specialists who always say it's only a problem if you have pain. No need to worry - he will be just fine. |
Anonymous
Me too. I’m 50 and have had no problems, no pain. My brother has the same. Our spouses joke that we have “finger toes” because we can pick things up off the floor with our feet. If my hands are full, I’ll open drawers(like garbage drawer) with my toes. |
Anonymous
Same here. |
Anonymous
Me too! But I never connected my curled toes with my ability to pick things up with my feet so well. Interesting! Anyway OP, no issues my entire life. |
Anonymous
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I had this as a child too, but it continued as an adult.
They have only started straightening out after wearing birkenstocks and other large toe box shoes for a decade. In my case, I need a large toe box and narrow heels in shoes, which are hard to find. I think I curled my toes to try to keep my shoes on my feet. |