This is a bump or prominence over the outer side of the fifth or small toe. These can run in families and early bunionettes are often seen in children. Pain arises from rubbing or friction in a shoe (where the seam or strap rubs against the prominence). Swelling and inflammation (bursitis) may develop, and this can fluctuate in size.

What to do if you have a small toe bunion

Most bunionettes are painless. To avoid irritation or swelling, it’s really important to choose your footwear carefully. Delicate sleeve dressings or stockings can protect your toe. If it’s painful, you can reduce inflammation by applying an anti-inflammatory ointment.

If your bunionette is severe (causing persistent pain), you may consider surgery to restore the alignment of the toe or shaving/contouring of the bony prominence.

How can Doctor Greene’s help you

Our specialist products can help address small toe pain and irritation associated with bunions.

• Small Toe Bunion Gel
• Gel Slip Separator

These skin thickenings, which are often painful, generally develop over bony prominences in the foot. Corns develop over hammertoes where the inside of a shoe rubs against the toe.

Calluses (also known as callosities) can also develop on the undersurface or ball of the foot or between the toes. Some calluses develop a hard centre called a seed corn, which can be extremely sensitive.

Calluses can sometimes be confused with verrucae and many are treated as such. If in doubt, you should talk to your chiropodist or podiatrist.

What to do if you have a corn or callus

To relieve symptoms, you can carefully trim, shave or pumice the thickened skin. Protective tubular sleeves, hammer toe splints (gel sleeves), toe spacers and careful footwear selection can relieve the pressure on the area and prevent the corn or callus from recurring.

You can also moisturise the area to help alleviate symptoms and reduce the risk of a skin ulcer.

If your corns persist, it is possible to have surgery aimed at addressing the underlying bony prominences.

How can Doctor Greene’s help you

Our specialist products can help address the pain and irritation associated with corns and calluses.

• Gel Slip Separator
• Small Toe Bunion Gel

Hammer toes refer to any abnormal curling of toes other than the big toe. Most often, the second toe is affected. This condition is caused by the toes drifting over time due to a loss of normal balance(in ligaments and tendons). Hammer toes are closely related to mallet or claw toes.

Typically, a hammer toe curls in a grasping position, but toes may separate or cross over each other. The process is slowly progressive and can be painless early on. When symptomatic pain may be felt on the undersurface or ball of the foot, as well where the toe rubs against another toe or a shoe.

Longstanding hammer toes can become stiff and inflexible. With this, the toe becomes irritated by constant rubbing against the inner surface of the shoe. Painful corns can develop, and continued skin irritation can lead to blistering, ulceration and infection.

What to do if you have a hammer toe

Recognising the problem early really helps to manage the situation. Stretching exercises at that point can slow progression of the condition and hammer toe splints can correct the deformity while the toe is still flexible. Remember to choose your shoes carefully and try to find footwear with a soft inner lining.

If your toes don’t improve with splinting and protection, it is possible to have surgery to rectify the issue.

How can Doctor Greene’s help you

Our specialist products can help address the pain and irritation associated with hammertoes and associated corns and calluses.

• Toe Gel Sleeve
• Gel Slip Separator

This local nerve pinching or irritation generates pain and sometimes numbness in the second, third or fourth toes. Standing or walking makes it worse, as can closed footwear and narrow pointed shoes or high heels.

This pain may be a dull ache, burning discomfort, a sharp stabbing sensation or electrical tingling. You may also experience swelling or occasional clicking or popping at the base of the toes.

What to do if you have neuritis

Choose wide shoes that do not squeeze or constrict the foot. Remove shoes when you hurt, and take time to rest and massage your feet and toes. Padded orthotics may also help, but they can also sometimes make things worse by reducing the breathing space for the toes and foot.

Overall, neuritis symptoms tend to settle between episodes.

If your inflammation and pain is severe, your doctor or podiatrist may consider a steroid injection or, rarely surgery can be performed to release or remove the nerve.

How can Doctor Greene’s help you

Our specialist products can help address the pain and irritation associated with Morton’s Neuroma.

• Gel Slip Separator
• Gel Heel Cushion
• Ball of Foot Cushion

Toenails may be discoloured for a number of reasons. Most commonly this results from local injury or bruising under the nail or fungal infection. A rare cancer called subungal melanoma can also cause discolouration, so it is important to seek medical advice if the dark area does not grow out over time.

Do you have a fungal infection (rusty toe)?

Fungal toenail infection is extremely common, as the warm, dark, moist environment of our feet and toes in footwear encourages fungal growth. It spreads through contact with contaminated surfaces; showers areas , pools or even shared scissors or nail clippers.

This type of infection doesn’t usually cause significant discomfort, but the nail can discolour, becoming yellow, brown, thickened and friable (or crumbly). The diagnosis is usually based on visual inspection, but if needed, nail clippings can be analysed to confirm infection.

What to do if you have a fungal nail infection

Good toenail and foot hygiene is essential. Trim your nails to contour the toe, leaving the toenail corners intact, then bathe and moisturise your feet.

If it’s hard to cut your toenail, ask your chiropodist or podiatrist for help.

Other treatment options include:

• Topical antifungal creams, usually for three months
• Prescriptive oral medication (again antifungals) taken for three months, in cases of resistant infection
• Nail removal, if the tissue is extremely thickened and painful

Athlete’s foot is a fungal skin infection that can affect people of all ages. It thrives in moist, dark, warm environments.

It is highly contagious and spreads easily through contact with contaminated floors (pool areas, shower areas and changing rooms), towels and clothes. While sandals or flip-flops help protect your feet, they don’t make you immune to athlete’s foot.

It usually begins between the toes, with an extremely itchy, scaling red-rimmed rash, sometimes with blistering or ulceration.

Athlete’s foot can also affect the ball of the foot. Another variety, called ‘moccasin athlete’s foot’, can cause chronic cracking, peeling and dryness on the soles and side of the foot. It looks like eczema. This scaly inflamed skin can also be an entry point for bacterial infection.

What to do if you have athlete’s foot

Treating athlete’s foot involves changing the environment to discourage fungal growth. Make sure to:

• Keep your feet clean, cool, dry or ventilated and open to the light.
• Apply topical antifungal agents (powders or creams). These are generally effective.
• Use ‘saline soaks’ before you apply antifungals.
• Try topical tea tree oil solutions. These can relieve local symptoms, they also have an antifungal affect.
• Change your socks frequently to keep your feet dry.
• Treat any footwear or insoles you have worn in the previous two weeks with antifungal powder
• Wear waterproof sandals or shoes around pool areas, showers and lockers rooms to prevent reinfection.

Verrucae are plantar warts, which are usually found on the soles of the feet. They’re caused by infection with a human papilloma virus (HPV). Up to a third of primary school children get verrucae, of which two thirds resolve within two years. They are often confused with calluses.

Verrucae develop at sites of increased pressure, such as the heel or the ball of the foot, where the skin is damaged and acts as an entry point for the virus. The virus can then penetrate the skin cells, replicate and shed more viral particles.

Verrucae appear as single areas or clusters of thickened skin. There may be no symptoms or they can cause pain. Sometimes, they create the sensation of walking on a pebble.

A key feature of verrucae is the presence of small black dots, which you can see after the hard skin is removed. These are small veins and distinguish verrucae from true calluses or corns.

Verrucae can be very hard to eradicate, as the thick skin on the sole of the foot allows deep penetration and can prevent topical medications reaching the virus.

What to do if you have a verruca

There are numerous treatment options, but they all require patience, persistence and the understanding that verrucae often recur. There is no single guaranteed solution

If you have no symptoms from your verruca, you can adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach as most resolve within two years.

The two most common treatments are

• topical salicylic acid (burning the wart)
• cryotherapy with liquid nitrogen (freezing the wart).

Those with diabetes or poor circulation should be careful when trying these.

More serious cases may require surgical removal, chemical cautery, phototherapy, laser treatment, immunotherapy or antiviral medications.

Stress-overuse injuries, bone bruising or fractures all occur due to repetitive loading. They can involve any bone in the foot or ankle. They are an extremely common cause of foot pain, often under-appreciated, with delays in diagnosis and timely management. Therefore they are associated with prolonged recovery.

Causes can include increased activity, a change in footwear or a change in the terrain on which you walk or run, but often there is no obvious cause.

If you notice a gradual onset of pain without any obvious injury and it gets worse when you walk or engage in other weightbearing activity, suspect a stress injury. Any bone (of the 30) in the foot or ankle can be affected.

Diagnosing the problem

X-rays may reveal obvious fractures, but don’t detect bone bruising, which is best visualised on MRI.

What to do if you have a stress fracture or overuse injury

Treatment essentially involves reducing your activity so your bone can heal. You may need to choose specific footwear to cushion and protect your foot, or to use a surgical boot or shoe. Physiotherapy can help to maintain flexibility and address muscle imbalance.

Contributory factors can include suboptimal bone density(osteopenia / osteoporosis), or deficiencies in calcium, vitamin D or vitamin C , so consult your doctor if you are concerned.

How can Doctor Greene’s help you

Our specialist products can help address the pain associated with stress injuries to your foot.

• Gel Heel Cushion