17. Disorders of the Toes

Painful conditions of the toes are significant because of their frequency and the common failure of practitioners to recognise their part in the overall context of a foot disorder. It is easy to miss the fact that more serious problems underlie an apparently simple toe disorder. Inconvenience, pain and troublesome infection bring the patient to the doctor, but treatment is likely to be ineffectual if directed only at the site of the symptom rather than the basic source of the disease.