Slight toe pain or irritation can ruin an entire day. Have you ever thought about grabbing something soft to place in between your toes to reduce the persistent, painful feeling? Rather than a random soft or smooth object, there's an appropriate item specifically made to tend to your troublesome toes: toe tubes.
Not familiar with gel tube toe protectors yet? That's not a problem. This article will cover toe anatomy and an overview of how toe tubes help deal with broken or painful toes.
The Science of Toes: An Overview
Your toes are made up of multiple bones, tissues, tendons, nerves, and ligaments to function as a source of balance, posture, and body weight support. Toes have 14 bones, also known as phalanges, that serve as connections between the toes and the midfoot bones, or the metatarsals.
Each toe has 3 bones called the middle, proximal, and distal phalanx bones. However, the big toe (Hallux) is an exception as it only has 2 phalanx bones: distal and proximal. Additionally, it plays a more important role in absorbing shock than the rest of your toes.
When Toes Become “Incorrect”
The primary reasons for developing incorrect toes are the years of improperly fitting footwear, aging, or hereditary conditions. As a result, your toes can become bent, crooked, and can even lean on each other—causing pain and inconvenience when moving. Here are the most common toe problems that people experience:
- Bunions (Hallux Valgus) - A weak alignment of the joint, causing a huge bump on the big toe, pushing it towards adjacent toes.
- Bunionette - A bump that grows from the little toe, causing it to lean and curl against the adjacent toe. Like big toe bunions, it causes pain, irritation, and calluses.
- Hallux Limitus - A condition of the joint that connects your big toe and your foot, resulting from an exhausted joint, toe sprains, or an abnormal metatarsal joint.
- Hammertoe - A curled or bent toe forms from the lack of balance in your toe muscles, ligaments, and tendons. It's a painful condition that can lead to arthritis, corns, and calluses.
The Importance of Toe Care
Your body relies on your toes for support and balance. When you walk, they bear your body's weight and stay in firm contact with the ground. When you run, your toes increase the foot and stride length, allowing you to move at a faster pace. Additionally, the big toes are the ones that shoulder most of your body weight—one reason why it's important to keep them healthy.
To counter or minimize the threats of toe problems, learn how to take care of your feet well. First, ensure that it is getting proper hygiene: wash it thoroughly, including the areas between your toes. You should also stretch enough; try not to overuse your feet to avoid foot pain. Lastly, always wear proper footwear. Wear shoes that are neither too wide nor too tight for your size, and wear the right types of shoes for different occasions.
Tubes for Toes: An Overview
A toe tube has a soft and tube-shaped structure that protects and prevents your damaged toe from rubbing against its adjacent toes or your shoes. You can also call it a toe cap, toe sleeve, or a soft gel toe protector. They minimize the effects of corns, ingrown nails, calluses, hammertoes, blisters, and other toe problems.
What Makes Toe Tubes Effective?
A gel tube is designed to be used as a daily accessory. If your toe problem can heal without surgery or medication, this is an excellent option. We enumerated three important features that make toe tubes effective below.
Made of Pure and Safe Materials
Manufacturers make tubes from medical-grade and latex-free materials to ensure product safety—avoiding skin allergies and promoting soft skin. Some of these are made of thermoplastic elastomer, a soft class of environment-friendly polymers. Additionally, they are washable and reusable, so you don't have to keep buying packs all of the time.
Easy to Fit in Shoes
A gel tube has a slim structure that easily and comfortably slips in shoes. Let's say you want to sport socks with toe sleeves. Manufacturing brands create slim, undetectable, and plain toe caps so that they feel soft and comfortable while you're wearing closed footwear. Moreover, gel tubes are made non-slip, so they hold firmly during moderate to intense movements.
Some tubes are purely made of gel, while others come with a fabric sleeve for extra protection. This gives them a trim-to-fit feature: you can cut the tube's ends until you find the perfect size for your toe.
Accommodates Various Sizes and Colors
Gel tubes come in different sizes. While there are brands that produce universal ones, there are others with specifications too. In addition, toe caps are available in different colors; some people prefer a color that matches their skin tone, especially when wearing open shoes.
Conclusion
Using gel tubes for hammertoes, ingrown toenails, corns, blisters, calluses, and other related toe conditions helps reduce the pain and may even heal them at some point. However, note that they’re made more for daily comfort than medical treatment. Therefore, if your toe injury or pain becomes gradually unbearable, it is best to consult your doctor.
July 19, 2022
