Toe Trouble POLL

[jaysonsmom]

I have freakishly long second toes, and third toes for that matter. Due to their length, the 3rd toes are curled up most of the time, I think they're called hammer toes....

Anyway, kudos to you brave people who have posted pictures of your feet. I would never post pictures of my feet because I'm disgusted by my own feet. My only consolation to my hideous toes is that Charlie Sheen would never try to date me!

 

[decodelighted]

Oh Haven ... what other muscles have you been, uh, "training"?

 

[LJL]

5-4-3-2-1 ... and i refer to them as "monkey toes" since they do all that picking up stuff that people have described....

 

[LALove]

My 2nd toes are a wee bit shorter than my big toes. DH says I have Fred Flintstone feet (I guess because they're kind of wide and flat and each toe is slightly shorter as you get to my baby toe..?). I think he's just jealous because I can totally write legibly with my right foot and commonly use my toes to pick things up when I'm too lazy to bend down and his feet are only good for walking. (Oh and DS, who is 3, just started picking up stuff with his toes too- maybe it's genetic?!)

 

[packrat]

Ohhh you people and your cute feet and toes that bend and look normal! I've been sitting here about 10 minutes now examining my feet and the strange pseudo toe nodules attached. My big toes are enormously fat and then balloon out so the next toe fits into the curve of it and angles to the side. When I put my feet flat on the floor and then scrunch my toes, they do some sort of weird thing where they look like they retracted, and the skin makes an upside down U sad face like my toes are very angry. I think they might stage a revolt someday, angry at the world for being short and unbendable and only good for gripping the floor in some crazy balancing act.

 

[ksinger]

Curl??? Curl schmurl. The REAL question is, can anyone here lock their knees totally straight, then invert each foot at a 90 degree angle (rotate the bottom of the foot towards the midline of the body for all you non anatomical-term-nerds) and clap their feet like a seal?

( Not a random question: yes, I can do that. It is in fact, why I tend to fall down a lot.
Lack of ligament tightness and strength = BAD )

 

[Haven]

Curl??? Curl schmurl. The REAL question is, can anyone here lock their knees totally straight, then invert each foot at a 90 degree angle (rotate the bottom of the foot towards the midline of the body for all you non anatomical-term-nerds) and clap their feet like a seal?

( Not a random question: yes, I can do that. It is in fact, why I tend to fall down a lot.
Lack of ligament tightness and strength = BAD )

Pics or it didn't happen!

Packie--I totally want to see your angry toes. Pretty please?

LALove and LJL--You ladies have some cute feet!

Deco--You naughty little thing, you.

 

[ksinger]

Curl??? Curl schmurl. The REAL question is, can anyone here lock their knees totally straight, then invert each foot at a 90 degree angle (rotate the bottom of the foot towards the midline of the body for all you non anatomical-term-nerds) and clap their feet like a seal?

( Not a random question: yes, I can do that. It is in fact, why I tend to fall down a lot.
Lack of ligament tightness and strength = BAD )

Pics or it didn't happen!

Packie--I totally want to see your angry toes. Pretty please?

LALove and LJL--You ladies have some cute feet!

Deco--You naughty little thing, you.

I would Haven, but it's not exactly something that is good for someone to do, especially at my age. Even doctors are like, 'uh..no, please don't do that", when I tell them I can. When my foot flips, I don't feel it (ligament hyperlaxity comes with bad proprioception - meaning (as I'm sure your husband could tell you) that I don't have a good sense of where my joints are in space, so when I take that step, I step down to ....nothing, it's like my foot disappears, and I end up on the ground in less than an instant, and get pretty damn hurt.

 

[LJL]

thanks Haven! i have had people comment on them saying they are "chicken nugget toes" because they are so short.... so rude! lol

and ksinger, i have REALLY weak ankles, i roll them often w no problems and people are concerned that Ive sprained or broken them. but yours must be impressive. i cant imagine clapping without bending the knees... will have to try!

 

[sillyberry]

My feet are very short, very wide, and my toes decrease at a steady angle. They are, however, slightly webbed between 4 and 3. And I really need a pedicure!

 

[decodelighted]

So deco-tell me more about this Morton's toe thing-what issues do you think it's caused you? I did what the websites said to figure out if my second metatarsal is longer than my first, and it definitely is on both feet, even the one without the long second toe!

Hey T2 -- I missed the question earlier. Recently, as I enter my mid-forties (GAH), I've been noticing more random foot pain ... especially when I squat for long periods of time, painting/gardening/scrubbing ... or when I was trying to stabilize on a rocking ship ... or in certain shoes that always used to be fine. Also had some recent lower back trouble after years of no trouble ... and hip tightness & knee/heel pain. AND stiffness in the morning, mostly in my calves. So it's been a real combo plate that I just chalked up to my excess poundage & getting older. But when I looked into this I realized that maybe it's not JUST weight/age ... but a biomechanical malfunction. And my slim, younger sister has almost as much back/leg/hip trouble as I do. Honestly maybe more! So I asked her immediately if she had "The Toe" and she does! So she's gonna look into possibly correcting the foot issue in the hopes of being more comfie overall ALSO.

It does worry me a bit that it seems to be linked to fibromyalgia but maybe correcting it as soon as I'm feeling/aware of some affects will help it never get that far? Today's my first afternoon w/ Big Toe supporting "shims" in my shoes and the first time I tried to stand up I fell backwards onto the sofa. HA! It feels W.E.I.R.D. -- but we'll see. This is just me exploring the D.I.Y. "treatments" I found online. Gonna go to a podiatrist for the real scoop soon I'm sure.

On the other hand ... my parents are 69 & 72 ... both have it ... and neither have had a lot of back/leg/foot problems over the course of their lives. My Dad does have gout but that's different I think? Now that I know everyone in the family has it -- some things make more sense ... like the fact that, despite living hundreds of miles apart, we're always wearing the same brands/styles of shoes. So hard to find the right comfie fit and what's comfie to one is comfie to all! HA!

 

[jstarfireb]

Ksinger, I have ligament hyperlaxity too. Not so much in the feet, but I freak people out with the stuff I can do with my hands and shoulders. It makes for some fun party tricks.

And along the lines of being a freak, I think I have the world's ugliest feet. First of all, my toes are long and finger-like, and I can curl them and pick stuff up with them. If I had toes of reasonably normal length, I would not have a size 11 foot. I'm all toe. Secondly, they're substantially webbed, most prominently between the 2nd and 3rd toes, where the webbing goes almost all the way up to the first knuckle. And thirdly, not only is my 2nd toe longer than my big toe, BUT my 2nd and 3rd toes are about the same length and just slightly longer than the big toe when stretched out. And finally, my 4th and 5th toes are literally twisted. They don't come out straight...they curve under my other toes in a banana shape.

I'd post a pic but it would seriously gross you guys out. I hate wearing sandals because of my ugly-arse feet and can only wear limited types of peep-toe shoes that don't actually show much toe.

 

[ForteKitty]

OMG you guys are my people!!! My second toe is a lot longer than the first and the rest, and I can curl them up, wiggle them, and pick up anything up to 3lbs. Oh, and I pinch real hard with my toes too.