What is the cause of the deformed little toe nail?

Many women will say that they find it difficult to accept when they find that their little toes are deformed and they don’t know what the reason is. In fact, most women who experience this condition wear high heels for a long time, which causes their feet to be squeezed. Let me explain why wearing high heels for a long time will cause such a phenomenon and what harm will it cause to women?

Survey shows

The incidence of hallux valgus in workers who wear high heels for a long time is 5-6 times that of workers who do not wear high heels. For those who wear high heels for more than 6 hours a day, the incidence will increase exponentially with the extension of their working years.

After wearing high heels for 3 years, my toes have grown crooked

Xiao Zhu works in administration at a company in Nanjing. After graduating from university three years ago, she has to wear five or six centimeter high heels to work every day due to work requirements. However, due to her busy schedule, she is usually standing or walking, and her feet are exhausted when she returns home every day.

Just a few months ago, Xiao Zhu discovered that there was something wrong with his feet: the inward tilt angle of his big toe became very serious, and due to the pressure of the shoes, a bulge appeared at the base of the big toe, which became red and painful when he walked.

Unable to bear it any longer, Xiao Zhu came to the orthopedic department of Nanjing First Hospital, where chief physician Gui Jianchao, who specializes in foot and ankle surgery, diagnosed her and found that she had mild hallux valgus.

Uncomfortable shoes can cause toe deformities

It is reported that the so-called "hallux valgus" is the most common condition in foot and ankle surgery in China. "In addition to congenital genetic factors, it has a lot to do with later shoe-wearing habits." Gui Jianchao said that due to uncomfortable shoes, the muscles in front of the toes are prone to spasm, which in turn pulls the joints and causes the toes to shift. Over time, secondary changes will occur, leading to bone deformities.

For Xiao Zhu's mild case of hallux valgus, conservative treatment can be done by adding a silicone pad between the big toe and the second toe, but there is no guarantee that the deformity will not occur again in the future. So Xiao Zhu chose to have surgery to cut off the bulging bone in his toe, thus restoring his toe to normal.

30% of women with hallux valgus are "harmed" by high heels

According to statistics, the Department of Orthopedics at Nanjing First Hospital has completed 3,000 operations since it began performing foot and ankle surgeries in 1999. The two most common conditions are hallux valgus and flat feet.

Gui Jianchao told the Modern Express reporter that in addition to genetic factors, ordinary women are most likely to develop the disease around the age of 45 when they reach menopause. This is because the relaxation of the ligaments accelerates the disease. In the past two years, the incidence of hallux valgus among young women is also not low. According to estimates, 30% of women with hallux valgus suffer from this condition due to frequently wearing pointed-toe shoes or high-heeled shoes.

High heels should be below 5 cm

Jiang Yiqiu, an orthopedic doctor at the hospital, reminds that for women who often wear high heels or pointed shoes, the initial symptoms of hallux valgus are excessive squeezing, which causes the soles and edges of the feet to become hard, calluses or corns to form, or the toes to be rubbed red. When these conditions occur on the feet, most people will go to a foot massage shop to get their feet fixed, but the condition recurs after a while, without considering that this is a sign of "foot illness."

From the above we know that in addition to genetic reasons, the most likely cause of the disease is long-term compression of the toes by high heels in women. When this happens, the comfort of the shoes should be considered. Try not to wear high heels higher than 7 cm, and less than 5 cm is best. After getting home from get off work, you should soak your feet more to relax your foot muscles.