Painful toes
Toes can become painful for lots of reasons. Badly fitting shoes with consequent redness and blisters is probably the leading cause. Most people realise that this is the case, modify their shoes appropriately and never need to seek advice. Some toes however become painful because they change shape and rub on shoes no matter what is worn. Toe clawing describes an excessively curled shape. This itself can be caused by wearing shoes which are too short, thereby forcing the longest toes into a curled-up posture all day. The toes might however be clawed because of another underlying condition. Painfully clawed toes tend to have a sore corn on the top where they rub on the roof of the shoe and sometimes at the tip of the toe below the nail where they press down hard against the ground.
There might also be pain with further callosities under the ball of the foot where the metatarsal heads press on the ground. Inflammatory arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis or one of the connective tissue diseases can produce toe clawing or can simply lead to a sore swollen toe without any overall change in shape (dactylitis). If there is nothing to actually see in the foot but the pain tends to go in to the toes, perhaps originating in the webspace, the cause might be a Morton's neuroma. This pain has a tingly, nerve quality to it and is much worse if constrictive shoes are worn. Most people with Morton's neuroma pain love to kick their shoes off at the end of the day whereas those with sore bones or joints prefer the support of a shoe.