7 Possible Culprits Behind Your Toe Pain

Toe pain—sounds small, right? But it can mess with your whole day. Your toes do a lot more than we give them credit for. They’re responsible for about a third of your foot’s support, packed with bones, muscles, tendons, nerves, and blood vessels. And pain can pop up from any of them.

Ignore it, though, and that little pain can spread, affecting your whole foot and even leading to treatments you don’t want—like surgery. Chronic toe pain isn’t just annoying; it can make moving around tough, mess with your sleep, and even bring you down mentally.

The sooner you address it, the better. Read on to learn more about some of the most prevalent toe pain culprits and ways they can be addressed.

1. Your gender

Did you know your gender might have something to do with toe pain? Yep. Women, for example, are more likely to deal with certain foot issues, especially thanks to hormonal shifts. Take menopause, for instance—during this time, relaxin makes your joints more flexible, estrogen drops and bone density takes a hit. All of that can make toe pain even worse. Women also tend to deal with things like rheumatoid arthritis, which causes inflammation in the joints, including those tiny toes.

But men aren’t off the hook either. They have their own set of risks, like gout, which brings intense pain and swelling to the big toe. Plus, men are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, which can lead to diabetic neuropathy—nerve damage that can make your feet and toes feel numb, tingly, or painful.

2. Bunionettes

Bunionettes are like bunions, but they show up on your pinky toe instead. These bone deformities can cause pain, and swelling, and make it a real struggle to find shoes that don’t feel like torture. They don’t happen overnight—they build up over time. If they start bothering you consistently, you might need to see a doctor to get them checked out and find a solution.

3. Arthritis

Since arthritis impacts the joints, all its types, like osteoarthritis, inflammatory (like rheumatoid and psoriatic), and gout, can trigger pain, swelling, and deformity in your toes. While these health conditions can be painful on their own, they can also raise your risk of toe pain by changing the way you walk and making it harder to find shoes that fit properly.

4. Hammertoes

Hammertoes happen when the middle joint of your toe bends downward. It’s usually caused by an imbalance in the soft tissues—basically, the tissue underneath gets too tight, and the top part stretches out. It mostly affects the three middle toes and can get pretty uncomfortable, especially when you try to wear shoes.

5. Neuromas

The nerves going to your toes can get scarred or thickened over time, especially if they are injured or are affected in the same spot repeatedly. For example, wearing tight soccer cleats while repeatedly kicking the ball with the same spot on your inner foot. This results in pain, burning, and numbness at the focal spot where the nerve is compressed.

6. Fractures

Toe fractures are more common than you'd think. Your toes take a beating every day, so they’re prime candidates for stress fractures or straight-up breaks. The tricky part? Sometimes, you won’t even notice right away. You might walk around with a broken toe for days—or even weeks—before it clicks. If your toe hurts after an injury, don’t wait it out. Get it checked by a doctor so you can get the right treatment.

7. Corns, plantar warts, and calluses

Any type of benign growth can lead to mild to severe foot and toe pain. These include plantar warts, calluses, and corns. It might feel annoying, like walking with a pebble in your shoe, or it can be so painful that the growth must be removed by a doctor.