I want to get socks that don't cram toes as much. The two types I'm aware of are the ones that have a separation for each toe like a glove, and the ones that just look like a normal sock but with more wideness at the toes. For aesthetic reasons I would prefer the second option. If anyone has good recommendations that are ideally pretty cheap and reasonable it would be greatly appreciated.

full disclosure first - this is my app, built with my co-founder, so i'm biased.

it's called walkito (iphone and android). you tell it where it hurts and how much time you have, and it builds a 3, 5 or 10 minute daily routine - short foot, calf raises, balance, stretches - with a video for each exercise. each morning you check in, and a bad day makes the session lighter.

the exercises follow published studies and the 2023 heel pain guideline. it's not a replacement for a clinician, and if your flat feet are rigid (the arch doesn't come back when you stand on your toes) exercise won't change the arch.

not here to spam, just figured some people here might find it useful. happy to answer anything about the exercises or the research behind them.

One of my middle toes has started to curl under. It isn’t painful yet, but it’s becoming noticeable, so I’m trying to address it early before it gets rigid. I’m looking into toe mobility and strength work, toe spacers, and wider toe-box shoes, and I’ll get it checked by a podiatrist if it keeps progressing. Would be interested to hear what has worked for others in a similar situation.

I (22F) had a pretty severe ankle injury while hiking almost 6 months ago. I’ve attached part my mri report from a few weeks after the injury. One of these injuries was my peroneal tendons. I’ve seen a foot and ankle specialist who hasn’t recommended surgery due to not being able to replicate any subluxation of the peroneal tendons on exam. However, I intermittently have a feeling of a click/ shift behind my ankle bone which makes the walking motion very painful meaning I have to limp until I’m able to click it back in place. I also have pain behind my ankle bone which is also intermittent. This has become extremely bothersome. I’ve done physio and it seemed to get better and I didn’t have those symptoms for about a month, but it’s now come back and happens pretty frequently. This is a big issue because I was a regular runner and hiker which I haven’t really been able to get back into like before. I’m going back to the specialist for a follow up but was wondering if anyone has had something similar and had success without surgery? Or if you had surgery, what the recovery process was like and whether it was worth it. Thank you!!!

First time wearing these and as you see the right one is creased far more in just 30 minutes. I can feel my right foot sort of overbending as i walk causing my foot arch to hurt. This isn't exclusive to the boots but also shoes

a little about me:

• 30 years old now
• realised i have flat feet 10 years ago
• realised my flat feet were causing me problems 10 years ago
• tried many different things (insoles, supportive shoes, etc.) that didn't really work (well, they seemed to work at the time, but didn't fix the underlying problem, and things eventually got even worse)
• finally found the right method about a year ago and fixed my problems at the root

i didn't know i had flat feet until i realised that not everyone feels tired after standing for 5 minutes, walking for 10 minutes, or has knee pain after running for 10 minutes. i thought it was normal until i saw people who could walk and run for hours without any problems.

that's when i started looking into fixing my flat feet.

10 years ago, there wasn't much information online, so it was really hard to find proper guidance on how to treat flat feet. i ended up going to a specialised foot clinic for advice. the doctor recommended a few pairs of customised insoles (which were extremely expensive) and some supportive shoes.

it was great in the beginning. with the insoles and shoes, i could walk further and run longer. i still had some pain in random places, like my lower back after longer runs, but hey, it was already a huge improvement. the insoles gave my arches more support so they wouldn't collapse as much as before.

I thought i had fixed my flat feet.

After a few years, there was a week when i went travelling and forgot to bring my insoles and supportive shoes. i went for some walks and runs without them, and that's when i realised, im screwed.

My flat feet were now even worse than before. the tiredness after walking and pain after running were worse than i remembered. i'd been relying entirely on the support all these years, which gave me the false impression that my flat feet were fixed.

I then visited another specialist and had a more advanced assessment, where the specialist drew lines on my feet and ankles to check their alignment, arch angles, and more. (i didn't have any of this done during my first assessment years ago). highly recommended.

Then the specialist gave me some really good, life-changing advice. i followed the guidance, and it genuinely changed how my feet felt and functioned. so if you only take away one thing from my experience, this is it:

• FOOT EXERCISE is the most important thing that helped me "fix" my flat feet
• Insoles and supportive shoes are FINE if you need something to ease the pain or discomfort, depending on how bad your flat feet are. but DON'T rely on them as your only solution. If you're on a trip and need to go for a long walk, that's totally fine. But don't forget to train your feet too. Support can make walking more comfortable, but it doesn't necessarily build the strength your feet need. i wish i'd understood this much earlier.
• Barefoot shoes are worth trying for everyday wear, but make the transition gradually. Even normal shoes are fine.

So the key to healthy feet, at least in my experience, is foot exercise. The goal is to have strong calves, strong ankles and strong feet. It's not necessarily about having "high" arches, because some people are naturally born with flat feet and might never develop high arches physically. in fact, many pro athletes have relatively flat feet, but strong muscles and good foot function can make a huge difference to the problems flat feet can cause.

Feet training is not difficult, but it takes time. The difficult part is being consistent for months. It takes months of training to build up strength and improve how your feet function. but the good news is, you can start noticing improvements within weeks. for me, it took about 6 weeks to start seeing some improvements. And that's with only 15 minutes a day.

There are tons of videos on instagram, tiktok and youtube teaching foot exercises. however, there are literally hundreds of exercises out there, and it can get overwhelming. so here are my tips to get you started:

• dont overthink it. you dont need to learn 30 exercises. find 5 simple exercises, such as calf raises, toe stretches, etc., and just stick to those.
• you dont need to buy anything if you dont want to. people are selling incline boards, resistance bands, yoga blocks, etc. they can be useful but aren't a must. one thing i'd recommend trying is a toe separator (especially if you have bunions). it can help with toe positioning during exercises. you can easily find them on Amazon.
• 10–15 minutes a day is enough to get started. consistency is key.
• here are some good videos to get you started: https://www.instagram.com/r.a_movement/reel/DWf26i3k3cF/, https://www.instagram.com/p/DajZsrpgcpm/, https://www.instagram.com/p/DY2TQUMyNOT/
• if you want something easier to follow, there are also apps with follow-along videos and progress tracking. i personally use https://apps.apple.com/us/app/arch-flat-feet-trainer/id6755728858?see-all=reviews&platform=iphone, but there are others too. just search "flat feet" in the app store.

If there's only one thing to take away from my personal experience: TRAIN YOUR FEET 10 MINUTES A DAY!

Forefoot pain between or under the lesser toes gets labelled Morton's neuroma far more often than the exam supports, and the label matters because the three common causes need different treatment. Neuroma, intermetatarsal bursitis, and plantar plate injury all hurt in the ball of the foot, all get worse in tight shoes, and all can feel like a pebble under the toes. The differences show up in where the pain sits and what the toes are doing.

A neuroma is nerve irritation, so it tends to give burning, tingling, or numbness that radiates into the toes on either side of a web space, most often between the third and fourth. The pain often eases within minutes of taking the shoe off, and squeezing the forefoot together from the sides (Mulder's test) can reproduce a click and the nerve symptoms. Bursitis in the same space gives a deep ache and sometimes visible swelling that pushes the two adjacent toes apart, but numbness is less typical.

A plantar plate injury behaves differently. The plantar plate is the thick ligament-like pad under the metatarsophalangeal joint, and the second toe is the one that tears most often. Pain sits directly under the head of the second metatarsal, it is usually worse barefoot on hard floors, and the toe may drift sideways, cross over its neighbour, or float slightly above the ground when you stand. A toe that has started to drift or cross is a strong pointer to the plate, because neuromas do not change toe position.

The distinction changes management. A neuroma usually responds to a wider toe box, a metatarsal pad placed just behind the metatarsal heads, and sometimes injection. A plantar plate injury needs offloading, taping or splinting to hold the toe in position, a stiffer sole, and a slower return to loading, and surgery is considered if the joint keeps destabilising. A steroid injection into a joint with an unrecognised plantar plate tear can weaken the tissue further and speed up the toe drifting, which makes the diagnosis worth settling before any injection is agreed.

If you have forefoot pain and one toe has started to drift, check three things. Where exactly is the pain, under the metatarsal head or between the toes. Does it come with numbness or burning. Does the toe sit differently than it did a year ago. If the toe has moved, ask for the plantar plate to be examined directly, and ask whether imaging (ultrasound or MRI) is planned before a diagnosis of neuroma is settled on.

I have Psoriatic Arthritis and have been suffering since Aug 5th and nothing seems to help (I’ve tried ice, heat, massage, acupuncture & it helps temporarily, shockwave). Any suggestions? I’m in so much pain.

Does anyone here have complications with PTTD arising from connective tissue disorders (eg., EDS)? How are you managing? Btw, what's up with r/PTTD? The most recent post is a year old.

Hello All, recently, as if nearly out of no where, my running shoes, a mix of both trail/road/hybrid-gravel all are contributing to interdigital irritation between my pinky toe and 4th toe. The 4th toe is nearly completely fine, while the pinky has acquired a kind of annoyed callous. Going through my rotation of shoes (none of them Topo or Altra's) seems to make minimal difference on irritability. (got a foot sizing scan at a Hoka store and they say I'm wearing the sizing they'd recommend, so I don't really think it's a shoe size problem as that's been the same for the last year)

I've got some thin silicone spacers for just that pinky-fourth-separation that I've been wearing that are helping mitigate the irritation for training sessions, and I used KT tape on a 50mile race I did recently that helped get me through without any serious chaos.

What's interesting, and why I'm asking here, is that this only occurs on one of my feet, while the other is completely fine AND I've been running consistently for the past 1.5 years without this happening with no real sock/shoe sizing changes. (I also use silicone lube between my toes for anything longer than 2 hours).

Nothing much has changed in the schedule, still running around 50-70 miles a week, no elevation profile changes, or significant surface/technicality spamming, or specific new shoe to the line up as I run every day in a different pair (7 shoe rotation which might sound crazy to you guys, I'm not sure).

Outside of running I'm mostly wearing wide toe box shoes (Birkenstock-esc), bare-foot-minimal (toe accommodating Vivo Barefoot, Bluesun, Altra, Lems) or no shoes as I have the privilege to work from home.

My theory is this could be a muscle imbalance regarding supination/pronation and foot loading, but I'm finding it hard to research how running or walking gate can affect pinky toe activation.

Isolated pinky toe exercises (like toe spreading) don't seem to address the issue, as I have that foot dexterity skill, it isn't offline, I've been in minimal shoes outside of running for 10 years, and known about toe spacers and use them since then relatively often. It seems I'm just not using that dexterity skill when I need to: while running.

ChatGPT advises against the salicylic acid pads, and also suggests this is a 'corn'.

I'm 40, female, from India.

Onset (19 August): About two months ago, I wore a small-sized heeled sandal for no more than 30 minutes and felt a stretching sensation in the centre of my right sole. In India we walk barefoot at home, so I kept walking that way. I assumed it was a simple strain that would settle overnight, but it didn't.

Progression: On 20 August the pain in the centre of my foot increased, and it worsened with pressure. By 22 August I could barely walk. The pain felt like it was in soft tissue rather than bone or muscle.

Diagnosis and treatment so far:

An orthopaedic doctor diagnosed metatarsalgia and advised RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation). I saw no relief.

An MRI of my right foot showed soft tissue oedema.

Meanwhile, similar pain began in my left foot. The doctor explained that my left foot was bearing extra weight because my gait had changed to protect the right one, and he advised orthotics.

On 8 September I got orthotic flip-flops. After wearing them for only 10 minutes, I had severe pain in both heels and could barely stand. My feet could not tolerate any pressure.

I was advised to stop walking barefoot.

A second doctor, a podiatrist, ordered ultrasounds of both feet. The findings included:

Plantar fascia thickening of 4.7 mm in the right foot (only 0.7 mm above the threshold)

Heel fat pad thickness of 11 mm unloaded, compressing to 5.7 mm under pressure, which is very low

Tendonitis in both feet

Current symptoms:

Pain at the outer rim of the heel

Neuropathic (burning or nerve-type) pain in both feet

I can walk a few steps, with pain, but cannot stand for even one minute

No orthotics or insoles have helped; I get slight relief wearing Crocs sliders at home

I can't sleep without a pillow under my calves to keep my heels off the bed

I cannot put my feet down on the ground

What I don't have:

No pain with the first steps in the morning

No pain in the centre of the heel

Other: Stretching my calves eases the nerve pain and metatarsalgia but makes the Achilles area more painful.feel like committing sucide..I miss my old self..I want to go trips with my husband and my dog..I want to walk with my dog .....my life is ruined...if I don't get any better I may end this painful journey where I can't even walk or stand....I can't cook , can't do house hold chores..can't do groceries vegetables..I need my life back.....

I recently did something to my right foot in a ballet class. I’m 79 and fit. I walk and do yoga regularly.
Went to a walk in clinic got X-rays. They said it was due to arthritis in my toe joints and gave me metatarsal pads.
Well it’s not getting better and the pain is in my arch when I walk not in metatarsal area. Do I need to get an MRI or second opinion ? Any advice?

For context. I broke and dislocated my right ankle 3 years ago and my guess is that i no longer have the same biomechanics when i walk. Certain shoes cause that area of my right foot (4th metatarsal cuboid area) to feel painful when walking. Any idea on what i can do? There’s no swelling. Just pain

How can I fix the pain in my right foot? Lately I bought some new Nike shoes and lately the pain in my foot has been excruciating. What can I do to fix this? I am thinking it's from maybe my shoe being too tight or from driving too much.

Doc said x-rays came back fine. I have no reason to doubt that- nothing looks weird to my non doctor eyes- but I cannot walk and my MRI was denied. Any ideas? Anything missed?

EDIT: A few people have asked for more info so I'm going to do my best to provide it.

Main symptom is pain when putting pressure on foot (standing up, taking a step), and some lesser pain when flexing it. No pain when moving my toes, and no real pain when touched- but there used to be.

I work a physical job with a fair bit of walking. I also commonly work 6 8hr shifts on a row. It was on one of these 8hr shifts that my foot started to hurt nearly in the middle of my foot. But I ignored it and kept walking on it until I couldn't. I called out the last 2 days of those 6.

When I first saw the doctor for foot pain, it was pain below my 3rd toe, and continued in almost a straight line from where it connects up to my ankle. Bit of pain generally across my foot, but the worst pain was the spot where my toe connected to my foot. Hurt to touch, every step hurt bad.

I got put in a walking boot (Breg genesis short version) and celebrex 200mg once a day. The boot helped a lot at first- after two weeks I was cleared to remove it. At this point I had no pain when walking short distances, and my doc told me to keep up the celebrex and try not to wear the boot.

Well 1.5 days after being cleared I once again could not really walk. Every step hurt bad, my entire foot this time- so I got back into my boot. Texted my doc and he said keep up the boot and celebrex for 2 weeks.

It was around this point that the pain shifted. Closer to my ankle and almost a dull burning pain, worse than the previous sharp pain. Dr suggested MRI but insurance denied it, we're trying to fight it but so far no news.

I am just so tired and sore. The boot does not stop the pain it only reduces it. I basically cannot get around without the boot.