Toe ailments cause pain and can be disabling. With the proper surgical procedure, your doctor can correct the condition and relieve symptoms. Toe surgery may involve removing or smoothing bones, repositioning ligaments and tendons, removing nerve tissue, or reducing pressure on a compressed nerve.

Reasons for toe surgery

Toe surgery is usually performed to correct a deformity or treat a compressed nerve between the toes. Typically, surgery is only considered if the condition is debilitating or other treatments have been unable to provide sufficient relief of symptoms such as pain and inflammation. Some deformities that can be corrected through toe surgery include: 

• Bone spurs (overgrowth of bone). 
• Bunions (enlarged bone and tissue near the big toe joint). 
• Claw toes (abnormal positions of all three toe joints). 
• Hammertoes (toes bend at the middle joint).
• Mallet toes (toes bend at the joint near the tip of the toe). 
• Neuromas (swelling of the nerve between toes).

How toe surgery is performed

There are several different surgical procedures that can be performed depending on the toe disorder that needs to be treated. Surgery to treat a bunion may involve removing excess bone while surgery for a bone spur may involve smoothing the bone. Surgery to correct toe joints that are bent in abnormal positions may involve removing bone, fusing bones together, repositioning tendons and ligaments, or a combination of these. Surgery performed to treat a neuroma, or swollen nerve, may involve either reducing pressure on the affected nerve or removing the nerve tissue.

Depending on the procedure, recovery may take a few weeks or several months.

If you are suffering with toe pain, be sure to visit your doctor for proper treatment.