My toes are wonky

Q

The little toe on my left foot has turned in and bends over the next toe. It hurts. What can I do? Anna-Marie, Masham

A

It’s called an overriding, or overlapping, toe. Usually it affects your little toe on one or both feet, which twists inwards and sits over your fourth toe. Your toes become squashed and your little toe rubs against your shoes, making walking painful.

Often an overlapping toe is something you’re born with or appears soon after birth and is inherited from a parent, although sometimes it appears in adult life due to injury, flat feet, nerve damage or overpronation, where you tend to walk on the outside of your feet.

In babies, simply taping the toe into position often does the trick, but as an adult, treatment might mean wearing toe separators, exercises, specially made shoes or even surgery.