Toe Anatomy and Deformities

What You Need To Treat Toe Deformities

• Freezie Wrap^® Cold Compression Therapy
• Inferno Wrap^® Blood Flow Stimulation Therapy^™
• Therapeutic Ultrasound

Your foot is made up of 3 sections. Your forefoot is comprised of 4 smaller toes (phalanges) and 1 big toe (hallux). Each one of your smaller toes has 3 bones, as well as 3 joints, whereas your big toe only has 2 joints.

Your midfoot (metatarsal bones) and hindfoot (tarsal bones) make up your foot arches, instep, heel and ankle; these are responsible for weight bearing and propulsion. Your arches contain bones, ligaments, muscles and tendons of your foot, which require a lot of stability and flexibility.

Your toe bones work with your toe and foot flexor, extensor, lumbrical and interossei muscles to move your joints in 4 directions: dorsiflexion (moving toes upward), plantar flexion (moving toes downward towards sole of foot), abduction (move toes outward, away from each other) and adduction (move toes inward, toward each other). Your lower leg muscles have long tendons that cross your ankle and attach to your toe bones to help move them. The extensor digitorum longus and extensor digitorum brevis tendons attach on the top of your toes; the flexor digitorum longus and flexor digitorum brevis tendons attach on the bottom of your toes.

Flat feet, improper footwear, a major injury, or disease of your toe joints, can create an imbalance in your foot, which results in your smaller foot muscles being overpowered by your larger extensor and flexor muscles. Normally your toes will lie flat, however pressure on your toes or at the front of your foot can cause them to bend and curl. Any toes that stay curled have a toe deformity.

These deformities can affect all of your smaller toes, however most frequently you will notice them in your 2nd toe (as this can be the longest of all your toes; even longer than your big toe). You can also experience a toe deformity in more than one toe at a time.

There are 3 types of toe deformities that are very similar - hammer toe, mallet toe and claw toe. These conditions can either be flexible (your joint has the ability to move) or rigid (your joint has very limited and/or no ability to move). Each of these conditions has unique characteristics in relation to how the toes bend and the degree of deformity; however they share similar symptoms and treatment methods.

Failure to treat these conditions can lead to the development of serious and disabling ways of walking and carrying your body, which can create alignment issues and problems with your hips or knees. Ignoring these symptoms can lead to a breakdown of tissue and/or infection.

Toe deformities are among the most common toe problems. Although both men and women are at risk, women are 5 times more likely to experience a toe deformity then men (often a result of improper footwear). Also, the chance of suffering from a toe deformity increases by 2 - 20% with age.

Therapeutic Products

Blood Flow Stimulation Therapy^™

You can help your body repair itself by speeding its natural healing process with Blood Flow Stimulation Therapy^™. During normal activities, the movement promotes blood flow through our body. Our body responds to the movement by sending oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to the muscles, joints, tendons and other soft tissue in the body. When at rest, the blood flow to your tendons is greatly reduced. Unfortunately, when your tendon is injured it requires rest but it also needs the blood flow to promote the healing process. Since you can't work your tendon without danger of further injury, you need to stimulate the blood flow another way. Our innovative Inferno Wrap^® gives you the best Blood Flow Stimulation Therapy^™ available. The Inferno Wrap^® creates energy waves that stimulate blood flow by penetrating through the outer layers of your body. The energy waves reach deep into your muscles, tendons and cartilage, reducing your pain as they heal the inner tissue.

An Inferno Wrap^® gives you unparalleled blood flow stimulation to your injured tendon. You simply won't find a comparable product on the market. Other therapy products can not come close to offering the comfortable, contoured fit and targeted energy treatment an Inferno Wrap^® provides. You will experience a soothing, penetrating warmth deep in the tissue as it works to stimulate your blood flow, we guarantee it. Now you can reduce your pain and heal yourself with the comfortable, light weight Inferno Wrap^®.

The Inferno Wrap^® provides effective, non-invasive, non-addictive pain relief with no side effects.

When your tendon has healed somewhat and it comes time for more aggressive rehabilitation, stretching and activity, Blood Flow Stimulation Therapy^™ warms the muscles in the injured area which increases range of motion and allows for a safer more thorough stretch.

Therapeutic Ultrasound

Ultrasound Therapy is also a great tool for pain prevention of tendonitis or healing a tendon tear, and having a portable ultrasound device at home can be a powerful and convenient treatment tool. If you have symptoms of tendonitis or are recovering from a tendon injury, using ultrasound on a regular basis before your activity or throughout the day will help relax your tendons and muscles, diminish pain and inflammation, soften scar tissue and contribute greatly to the healing of your injury.

Therapeutic Ultrasound massages your soft tissue giving you three primary benefits. First, it increases blood flow in the treated area which speeds your body's natural healing process. Second, it reduces swelling and edema which are the main sources of pain. Third, ultrasound softens existing scar tissue and minimizes the build up of new scar tissue resulting in reduced pain while healing and greater flexibility once healing is complete.

Ultrasound can also be used to administer therapeutic medicines into the body. This is a process known as phonophoresis. Ultrasound with Phonophoresis is rapidly becoming more popular than Ultrasound Therapy alone.

Our MendMeShop^® Lavender Infusion Gel is the only topical therapeutic gel that is also a Phonophoretic Ultrasound Gel. It is made with natural medical ingredients including eucalyptus, peppermint, Bulgarian lavender and menthol. These effective ingredients have anesthetic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, decongestant, and circulatory stimulant properties. When applied topically and massaged into the skin, MendMeShop^® Lavender Infusion Gel relieves pain and speeds healing without any side-effects.

Cold Compression Therapy

Our cold compression wraps work by interrupting and slowing nerve and cell function in the area of your injured tendon. Once blood vessels are damaged they can no longer carry oxygenated blood to the damaged tissue and therefore cells begin to break-down. The deep cold provided by our cold compression wraps slows cell function thereby reducing cellular break-down. Less damage means less healing is necessary and a shorter recovery time

Aside from preventing tissue damage, cold compression therapy reduces pain by gently numbing nerves in the injured area and providing comforting support to your tendons. Initially, you may use pain killers or anti-inflammatory medications but these can affect your organs and should never be used for a long period of time. Cold compression therapy is the natural way to reduce pain quickly.

Freezie Wrap^® cold compression therapy is an effective and innovative way to treat your painful tendon. The therapy behind the Freezie Wrap^® has been doctor recommended for centuries but the Freezie Wrap^® itself is a new, safer way to get it!