Walking on my toes

[Matthew / BPL]

I’ve been thinking about how I walk lately. I have become aware that I curls my toes down push the tips of my toes downwards. I do this when stand in place, when I walk around work and when I hike.

I’ve noticed I do this barefoot, in my clogs or flip flops, wearing Brooks Cascadias or Pure Grits (at work and in the city) and in my favorite hiking shoes (Salomon X Ultra Primes). I don’t think I did this five years ago but I’ve only been hiking for about five years. My feet have grown more than a full size in these five years.

I’m wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the subject. I’ve thought about seeing my physical therapist about this but I am out of appointments for this calendar year on my insurance. I could go visit a podiatrist. Is there a name for what I’m doing? If I knew what it was called I could google it and read more about it.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or ideas.

[Christopher *]

As you know I’ve been dealing with some foot pain, and been on the interwebs searching for guidance. I’d try looking up hammer, claw and mallet toe to see if any of the indications sound familiar.

http://www.m.webmd.com/pain-management/tc/hammer-claw-and-mallet-toes-topic-overview

[Matthew / BPL]

Thanks for your response.

I read that article and a few others. I’m 80% confident those maladies are not the issue. I don’t have the straightest toes ever but there is no significant deformity like in those photos.

That said, maybe I should do some of the strengthening/stretching exercises and try shoes with a wider toebox. None of my shoes have a particularly wide toebox.

Can anyone recommend a brand of shoes that have a wide toebox and a relatively stiff sole that are NOT zero-drop? It seems like wide toeboxes are often associated with soft zero-drop shoes. I like a shoe with a little bit of stiffness (lots of rocks where I hike) and I’ve found zero drop shoes to aggravate plantar fasciitis in one of my heels.

[Bruce Tolley]

Matthew

So no trauma or surgery on your legs or hips?  It could be related to your plantar fasciitis since our feet tend to adopt a gait that avoids pain in that big ligament. When I first got PF, I found that when I scrunched up my toes and pushed on them every now and then, some of the PF pain went away.

An podiatrist or PT with expertise in sports injuries is probably the way to go.

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