Diseases in the direction of Hallux valgus deformity of the first toe

Lumps, formations and other growths on the toes can appear at any time. If in winter and in the off-season they are practically invisible, then in summer the situation is different. In hot weather, this problem also becomes cosmetic. What could be growths on the toes, and how to get rid of them?

The growths can be a skin problem, or they can also appear as a result of diseases of the musculoskeletal system or other diseases, most often associated with metabolism. It is very important to diagnose formations correctly and timely. Only a specialist can do this correctly.

The same causes can have different types (this, for example, can be said about warts). And even more so, you should not prescribe medications or perform procedures that are not prescribed by a doctor, especially when it comes to a child.

Hallux valgus

In fact, it’s not even a growth, but a protrusion of the big toe, or a violation of the anatomy of the foot. In other words, this is an acquired skeletal deformity. For what reasons does this disease appear? It could be:

• Tight, uncomfortable shoes. When the foot remains in an uncomfortable position for a long time, the bones begin to shift so that they take on shapes similar in shape to a pair of shoes.
• Increased load. Most often we are talking about athletes. The risk group includes people who professionally lift weights (bodybuilding, weightlifting) or who have prolonged activity on their feet (dancers, football players). Increased load on the forefoot is also present in those women who prefer to walk in high heels. A pair of shoes leads to such consequences if the heel is over 5 cm.

To correct the situation, you first need to eliminate the source, the cause of this condition. Of course, few people will decide to give up professional training, but you can temporarily limit the load. If it's all about the shoes, then you need to replace them with anatomically correct ones. By the way, it is absolutely not necessary to buy shoes in specialized stores, because they cost a lot of money there.

It is enough to purchase special correctors. They can be made of plastic or silicone and are inserted into shoes from the inside. Such correctors fix the finger in the correct position and evenly distribute the load. They should be worn for a long time, several months.

Over time, the arch of the foot will acquire its previous correct shape. Most likely, the patient will be prescribed a course of anti-inflammatory or painkillers, since hallux valgus is usually combined with other diseases (bursitis, arthrosis, etc.).

Lumps in the area of ​​the first metatarsophalangeal joint, formed by osteophytes.

Hallux valgus

This is the most common cause of a lump. It is accompanied by drooping of the arches of the feet. A bunion with hallux valgus has the following features:

• hard, immobile, increases in size slowly;
• a rapid increase in the size of the bone is associated with the development of bursitis;
• located at the base of the first finger;
• the first finger is deviated outward;
• Calluses (corns) may form on the sole of the foot;
• Deformation of the 2nd finger is often observed.

Arthrosis of the first metatarsophalangeal joint

Bone growths form along the perimeter of the articular surfaces of the first metatarsal bone and the base of the proximal phalanx of the first finger.

• the “bone” is formed mostly in the area of ​​the head of the first metatarsal bone on the back of the foot, but osteophytes can be along the entire perimeter of the joint;
• The first metatarsophalangeal joint is mainly deformed in isolation.
• first of all, movements in the joint are limited, and in the future they may be completely absent;
• patients feel severe pain, which becomes constant over time.

Dermatofibroma

This formation, unlike the previous one, has a solid structure. It often appears on the top of the fingers, on the back side. To diagnose it yourself, just try to collect a patch of skin in this place. If a dermatofibroma is present, the skin will pull inward into a fold.

Normally, this area of ​​skin has a darker reddish tint. If the dermatofibroma grows to a large size, then in the center you can clearly see a tubercle, more solid in structure than the entire formation.

Causes of dermatofibroma:

• insect bite;
• untimely opened boils;
• penetration of foreign objects into the thickness of the skin.

Its main danger is that it has the ability to degenerate into dermatofibrosarcoma, and this is an oncological diagnosis with all that it implies. And, of course, it causes a lot of inconvenience to a person, preventing him from leading a normal active life. It is almost impossible to treat dermatofibrosarcoma at home.

The thing is that this formation lies deep under the thickness of the skin layers. It is most reliable to remove it using the traditional surgical method.

Bumps on 2-4 toes

Bunions on the 2nd to 4th toes are the result of hammertoes, claw toes, and mallet toes. Distinctive features:

• it is always formed by the head of the proximal or distal phalanx of the finger and bone growths. Sometimes the volume of the “bone” increases due to inflammation of the soft tissues;
• it is always located on the dorsum of the finger in the area of ​​the proximal or distal interphalangeal joints;

Warts

These benign formations appear on the toes quite often, but mainly in those individuals who have weakened immune systems. They look like calluses, but they are hard inside. And also on the top of warts you can see dark dots, these are dead blood vessels. Warts are not as harmless as they seem. This is not a simple cosmetic defect that prevents a person from wearing open shoes.

Warts cause severe pain when walking if there is friction between the skin and shoes. In the area of ​​the fingers this happens extremely often. This can be observed especially often if the formation is located under the thumb or second finger. A person’s gait changes, and he intuitively tries to shift some of the load to other parts of the foot.

Sweating and elevated temperature only aggravate the situation and help in activating the human papillomavirus, which became the source of such formation on the toes. Pain and discomfort while walking lead to a change in a person’s gait, and this is a serious reason to immediately consult a doctor.

In addition, constant friction against this growth leads to microtraumas of the skin, and the epidermis becomes wounded and more permeable to many pathogens from the external environment. In addition to warts, a person may soon encounter fungi and streptoderma. If a wart appears near the nail, in the area of ​​its base, then it can affect the size and shape of the nail and affect the rate of its growth.

Warts are treated in a specialized cosmetology office. You can choose the cryodestruction method, wave technique or laser. In some cases, if the location of the wart allows, it is removed surgically. The difficulty is that you need to completely remove the growth particles from the skin. Otherwise, after some time the wart will grow back.

There are also traditional methods of removing warts, which are no less effective. The most popular method is to periodically smear this area with fresh celandine juice. The juice should dry on its own. After two weeks of this therapy, the wart will dry out and begin to fall off. You can also use vinegar. Both regular and apple cider vinegar are suitable for these purposes.

You need to soak a cotton swab in vinegar and wipe the wart with it. You cannot pour vinegar directly onto the formation! This may cause skin burns. To prevent the growth of warts, it would be useful to take a course of antiviral drugs, but only a therapist should prescribe them. It is not always possible to cure warts completely. It is important to monitor your immunity, because this is the only way to prevent the activation of the virus.

Why do growths form on the toes?

The definition of “growth” is not a specialized term, so this concept hides a variety of diseases and the causes of their occurrence.

Inflammatory formations can affect the feet and phalanges of the fingers in the following ways:

• Insufficient disinfection in baths, swimming pools, and public showers causes growths of the viral type.
• Microcracks and wounds on the legs and arms through which bacteria, for example, the human papillomavirus, enter.
• Neglect of body hygiene standards leads to the breeding of bacteria and increases the chance of infection.

Damage to bone and cartilage tissue occurs due to the following factors:

• Small shoes and too high a heel lead to deformation of the metatarsal bone.
• Flat feet contribute to the development of bunions.
• Obesity or later pregnancy increases the stress on the legs and feet.
• With age, both the immune system and the human skeleton weaken, which gives a higher percentage of neoplasms.
• Sometimes the problem of growths in a person is hereditary.

Flat feet

Calluses

On the foot, they most often appear in the area of ​​the heel and toes, that is, exactly where the skin rubs when walking. The appearance of calluses in the toes most often indicates increased stress on the forefoot. It can be assumed that the patient likes to wear high heels.

Wet calluses cause a lot of problems. The skin in this place stings and aches. Walking normally and even standing is very painful. It is especially dangerous if the contents of a wet callus are revealed. Where a sufficient layer of new skin has not yet formed, increased tissue permeability is observed. Pathogens from the external environment can enter the bloodstream.

Treatment of calluses involves applying an antiseptic patch. It is advisable to periodically remove the patch to allow the callus to dry out. If calluses appear periodically, from time to time, then most likely the problem is the wrong shoes, and they need to be replaced.

Soft tissue lumps in the area of ​​the first metatarsophalangeal joint

Characteristic features: soft, mobile, painful, warm to the touch, can quickly increase in size.

Bursitis of the mucous membrane of the metatarsophalangeal joint

Most often, this disease appears when there are bone growths in the area of ​​the first metatarsophalangeal joint. Sometimes it can develop independently, for example, when, when wearing tight shoes, the mucous membrane is chronically injured and rubs against the shoes.

• a swelling appears on the inside of the foot at the base of the first toe;
• appears suddenly, quickly increases in size;
• there is redness of the skin in the area of ​​the bump, it is often hot to the touch, painful, soft;
• sometimes the liquid in it is detected;
• Conservative treatment is effective and quickly gives good results.

Arthritis of the first metatarsophalangeal joint

In arthritis, a “bump” is formed due to inflamed soft tissues, swelling, and an increase in the amount of synovial fluid. The most common causes of arthritis are gout, infectious diseases (reactive arthritis), and systemic diseases (rheumatoid arthritis). Characteristic symptoms of a “bump” in arthritis:

• the skin at the base of the first finger is red, swelling is located along the entire perimeter of the joint, often very painful;
• it is soft, hot to the touch, and can be very painful;
• in some cases, general body temperature increases;
• conservative treatment methods are effective and quickly give positive results;
• The choice of treatment method depends on the causes of arthritis.

Corns

Most often they appear on the big and index toes - on the side, below or between the toes, since this is the area on which a person usually leans when walking. Corns can be described as a collection of dead skin, in this case the fingertips. Removing corns at home in one go is quite difficult.

To properly get rid of several layers of skin, use the following methods and recipes:

• Gels, creams and ointments. They can contain various components, most often natural acids, which help soften rough layers of skin. After several such applications, all that remains is to remove the soft cells. Such creams may also contain antiseptic components.
• Special patches. The simplest ones are based on salicylic acid. It must be applied strictly to keratinized skin. When applied to normal areas of the skin, the patch can lead to softening and, as a result, disruption of the integrity of the skin.

There are also homemade ways to soften dead skin in order to subsequently remove it:

• Lemon. You need to cut off a slice of lemon and apply it over the corns overnight. In a few hours, the keratinized skin will soften. The number of treatments that may be required depends on the thickness of the corn. On average, up to 5 such procedures may be required.
• Vodka compress. It is necessary to moisten a piece of cotton wool with vodka, apply it to the corn, fix it, cover it with film, put on a woolen sock and leave it in this state for several hours. During this time, the skin will soften, and it will be easy to remove with ordinary pumice.

Circulatory disorders

If blood circulation in the feet is impaired, as well as with hyperactivity of the nerve endings of the legs, the following symptoms can be noticed: pain in the toes, burning in the feet, loss of sensitivity. There are two diseases with a similar set of symptoms: atherosclerosis of the arteries of the legs and obliterating endarteritis. With these ailments, blood circulation in the arteries of the legs is disrupted, and an insufficient amount of oxygen reaches the tissues. As a result, pain appears in the big toe, the remaining fingers, foot, and lower leg hurt, the skin becomes pale and dry, the growth of nails is disrupted (they become brittle and unhealthy), hair falls out on the legs, and the lower extremities are often cold.

Keratomas

Keratoma is a benign neoplasm on the skin; it appears as a result of an imbalance in the constant renewal of skin epithelial cells. For some reason, the epidermis cannot independently get rid of old dead cells, but new ones have already been formed. Because it is made up of keratinocyte cells (the normal cells that make up skin), it is considered benign.

Such pathological processes are observed most often on the extremities, and therefore they can often be found on the toes. In approximately 8–20% of all cases, keratomas turn into cancer. How to diagnose keratoma yourself? At the initial stage, it looks like a slightly protruding spot of coffee or gray color.

If you touch it, you will notice that it is rough. Gradually, the elevation above the rest of the skin begins to increase, and now the growth is already visible to the naked eye. If the keratome rises too much, there is a danger of injury, which will lead to bleeding and pain.

Experts believe that keratomas on the fingers can be considered safe if they are in a stable condition. If a person notices their increase, darkening of color or bleeding for no reason, then an urgent need to consult a doctor. Removal of keratomas is carried out in different ways: radio waves, laser, liquid nitrogen, acids, electrocoagulation or the standard scalpel.

If there is a suspicion that an oncological process is occurring inside the keratoma, it can be removed only by radio waves, laser or traditional surgery. The remaining methods are considered weaker, gentler, and therefore, after using them, a person may subsequently experience rapid growth of cancer cells in this area. That is, the therapy itself will provoke the development of cancer.

Treatment with traditional methods

There are traditional medicine methods to cure growths based on the use of natural remedies:

• Baths. Soak your feet daily in a bath of hot water combined with a tablespoon of salt and 10 drops of iodine solution. Such baths will help remove and remove unwanted colonies of microorganisms and fungi on the feet.
• Apple vinegar. Wipe the growth with undiluted liquid 2 times a day.
• Celandine. Freshly squeezed celandine juice is applied to a bump or wart 2 or 3 times a day, which allows you to get rid of warts.
• Vegetable oil. Oil will help heal the tumor site. Wipe the area with dampened cotton wool until complete recovery.
• Butter and watercress. A paste of watercress juice and butter is applied to the growth several times a day.

Salt foot baths

Hygroma

Hygroma is a lump that often appears on the phalanges of the toes, especially the big and little fingers. Inside the finger, with this benign formation, a capsule is formed with liquid contents inside (fibro-mucosal or fibro-serous fluid). Most often, the growth does not stand out much above the rest of the finger. It is stable, that is, it does not move, since it is closely connected to the tendon apparatus.

Such small hygromas may not cause problems to a person, and therefore many simply do not notice them. As the size increases, painful sensations appear, because the formation affects neighboring areas with nerve endings. If such symptoms are ignored, a person may experience limited mobility of the toe joints.

The most effective method of treating hygroma is puncturing it, that is, puncturing the area where the fluid is localized. This is usually combined with physiotherapeutic methods that restore blood microcirculation and improve local immune processes. In some cases, when a capsule with liquid has just formed, it may be reabsorbed on its own when the load on the foot is reduced.

Taylor (tailor) deformation

Taylor deformity is characterized by varus deviation of the fifth toe and valgus deviation of the fifth metatarsal bone.

Characteristic signs of a “bump” on the foot:

• located at the base of the little finger;
• the fifth finger is deflected inwards, in some cases also upwards;

• The “bump” sharply increases in size and becomes painful when bursitis of the mucous bursa of the fifth metatarsophalangeal joint develops.

Malignant growths

These reasons are extremely rare, but they should not be ruled out at all. Malignant tumors can form from any structure - bones, blood vessels, muscles, cartilage, ligaments. In the first stages, the growth of malignant tumors is very slow.

Then some provoking factor appears, and the tumor begins to progress rapidly. A growth on one toe quickly spreads to the entire phalanx, and this is far from the limit. Consultation, diagnosis and treatment of such patients should be carried out only together with an oncologist.

How to get rid of growths on your toes?

Each type of formation requires its own treatment.

Warts and calluses:

• If there is bloody discharge from callous formations and severe pain, you should consult a dermatologist and oncologist to rule out skin cancer.
• If the source of infection is too deep, laser removal or other cryodestruction should be used.
• If the warts are periungual , cutting off the growths yourself is prohibited: this can permanently change the correct growth of the nail.
• Simple visible warts can be removed independently using pharmaceutical products.
• Hard and soft fibroids. Dermatofibromas are quite hard, making home treatment difficult. Most often, such growths are removed surgically. Soft fibroids are removed more easily, but also with the help of medical intervention, for example, with a laser.
• Corns. With such growths, first of all, they get rid of the cause of their appearance: excess weight or uncomfortable shoes. The corns themselves, depending on their complexity, can be removed using special patches or surgically.

Malignant growths on the legs are a dangerous type of growth; such growths can only be treated as prescribed by an oncologist after consultation and tests.

Treatment of other types of growths:

• Nevus. Treatment is prescribed by the treating dermatologist or oncologist, taking into account the strength of development. Treatment at home is dangerous due to possible malignant formations.
• Ganglion and hygroma. It can also be removed surgically using a simple operation.
• Interdigital erosion. You can eliminate the development with the help of ointments with an antifungal effect, special powder for shoes, as well as by adjusting your diet and losing weight.
• Keratosis. Thanks to superficial formations, seborrheic keratosis is removed using a laser. Actinic is more dangerous and can be removed by cryodestruction.
• A bone on the finger. At the first stages, the orthopedist will prescribe correction using special shoes, but neglected hallux valgus can only be removed through an expensive, complex operation.
• Tophi. First of all, gout is treated, and a decrease in uric acid in the body helps eliminate tophi.

Malignant growths on the legs are a dangerous type of growth; such growths can only be treated as prescribed by an oncologist after consultation and tests.

Surgical intervention

Treatment with surgery is prescribed for flat feet of 2 and 3 degrees in the absence of results of treatment by other methods.

Operations to eliminate cones are divided into:

• penetration into soft tissues;
• surgery on bone spurs;
• a combination of the first two types.

Most often, operations are performed on the bones, which either remove the lump or significantly reduce its size. Combined methods involving the removal of both bone growths and changes in the ligamentous apparatus are also common.

The operations themselves are performed under general anesthesia, with rare exceptions. the patient recovers within a week; in rare cases, rehabilitation lasts up to two months. After surgery, you must follow your doctor's recommendations and wear orthopedic bandages for a year.

Tophi

A growth on the toe called a tophi is caused by gout. It is formed from crystals of uric acid salts. These nodules are bounded by connective tissue. Color – from white to light yellow. The skin over them differs from neighboring areas; it is rough because it is very poorly supplied with nutrients. The very appearance of tophi indicates a severe stage of the disease, as well as the duration of its course. This area hurts, not only when walking, but also at rest.

The appearance of growths on the toes should alert a person, because any external change is a reflection of internal processes. In most cases, formations should be removed because they interfere with a comfortable life, but only a doctor can make this decision.

Diagnostics

Orthopedic traumatologists are involved in identifying the causes of pain in the fingers. The diagnosis is made based on a conversation with the patient, external examination data, and additional studies. The diagnostic program includes:

• Survey
  . The doctor finds out when and under what circumstances the pain syndrome and other symptoms first appeared, determines the dynamics of the development of the disease, the factors that provoke improvement or deterioration of the patient’s condition. Study life history, family history.
• Physical examination
  . The specialist evaluates the appearance of the fingers, identifies deformations, inflammation, cracks, dry skin, temperature and color disturbances, swelling, and other manifestations of pathology. Examines sensitivity, range of motion, pulsation in peripheral arteries.
• Radiography.
  It is performed in two projections, covering the affected fingers or the entire hand. Confirms the presence of fractures, dislocations, tumors, inflammatory and degenerative processes, areas of destruction of solid structures in deep forms of panaritium.
• Electrophysiological studies.
  Performed for pain of neurological origin to clarify the level of nerve damage, assess the condition of the muscles, and nerve conduction.
• Lab tests
  . They are produced to determine inflammation, assess the general condition of the body, and detect specific markers for collagenosis.

According to indications, patients are referred for consultation to an endocrinologist, neurologist, vascular surgeon, and other specialists. They prescribe MRI and other instrumental techniques. A biopsy of hard and soft structures is performed for cytological or histological examination.

Clarification of complaints and examination of fingers is the first stage of diagnosis