Toe spacers, separators, spreaders or stretchers provide great pain relief in the foot caused by bunions, hammer toes or plantar fasciitis. They are used to realign the toes back to their natural state and come in various shapes, sizes and prices to suit your preference.
You can get toe spacers that discreetly fit inside the shoe, individual spreader pads, over the toe or open top. These spacers can stretch the toes, improve balance and provide arch support and encourage muscle development in the feet.
You can still benefit from wearing spacers especially if you regularly wear tight shoes. Tight shoes constrict the foot and may lead to some form of deformation over time. Wearing toe spacers can help.
Dedicating a few minutes every day to stretching and strengthening your toes will prevent foot pain from becoming a serious foot problem. Stretching your toes regularly can improve balance, provide arch support, and generate muscle development in the feet to combat the problems of hammer toes or other toe ailments.
What are toe separators?
Toe spacer is a device made of gel or silicone that is fitted on or over your toes to prevent them from overlapping. They work to realign the toes and release pressure in the foot and thus reduce foot pain. You can wear them in the evening after work, especially if you wear heels, to relax your feet.
If you plan on making this a new habit, take baby steps, wear the spacers for short periods of time and then progress from there. With frequent usage, it is possible to wear them inside your shoe or while sleeping at night.
Why do you need toe separators?
Most modern footwear are widest at the ball of the foot and get narrow towards the toes. While the human foot is narrowest at the heel of the foot and gets wider as you approach the toes.
So when you jam your feet into a shoe like that into the narrow toe box your toes end up getting squished together and you get the lack of space between the human foot that is meant to be there.
It also causes the big to angle toward the rest of the toes causing bunions and pain. As the toes go out of alignment the tendons tighten and make it worse.
Womens high heels and mens dress shoes are the worst culprits. Toe spreaders get in there and realign the toes relieving pain. Having your big toe in good alignment improves the arch of your feet.
What Do Toe Separators Do?
Toe separators realign your big toe, reverse hammer toes, improve arch support by simply reclaiming the space between your toes caused by improper footwear.
Toe separators are made to release pressure and realign the toes to where they need to be. They’re often used to prevent or reduce the occurrence of bunions, claw toes, crooked toes, hammer toes, and perhaps most importantly, plantar fasciitis. Furthermore, they offer support – taking the pressure off your toes as you walk.
What Are The Types Of Toe Separators?
There’s a variety of styles of toe separators, made of different materials including gel, silicon, foam and cotton wraps. The choices include models that fit inside shoes, individual spreader pads, models that slide over the toes, or some that have an open top.
How To Use Toe Separators?
Toe separators are used to relieve foot pain caused by footwear that constrict the foot – eliminating the space that naturally forms between the toes. In order to correct this before it leads to the formation of bunions or plantar fasciitis follow these steps.
Step one: chose a toe separator
Choose a toe separator that best suits your needs. Most are OK. you can wear the ones made of silicon that can fit inside your boot and that allows freedom of movement. You can choose the ones that focus on the pinky toe or the ones that focus on the middle toes. It all depends on where your problem area lies.
Step two: Wearing time
In the beginning, if your feet are tightly constricted, wear the toe separator for half an hour. As you get comfortable wearing the toe separator, increase the length of time you keep it on. Continue to increase the length of time until you can sleep in it overnight.
Remember, most said that it is recommended you wear it for about half an hour but check with your medical professional first. You cannot follow a general blog online for a specific medical issue.
Step three: Maintenance
Wear the toe separator on a regular basis because, as was said before, modern boots are not designed to be foot friendly therefore you have to do all that you can do to protect your foot heath.
What Are The Benefits Of Toe Separators?
Toe spacers are a simple device that comes with a plethora of benefits, from reducing pain friction and irritation caused by improper shoes to improving arch support and plantar fasciitis.
Toe spacers realign the big toe and get rid of pain caused by that misalignment as a result you will regain proper arch support.
How Long Should You Wear Toe Separators?
After years of wearing improper shoes and constricting your feet it is recommended that you do not exceed one hour initially. As you continue to wear the toe spacers over time you can increase it to 3 plus hours. The more consistently you wear the toe separators the more the space between your toes would stretch. Over time you would be able to sleep whilst still wearing your toe separator.
Other common questions about toe separators
- Do Toe Separators Help Bunions?
- Do Toe Separators Hurt?
- Can you sleep With Toe Separators?
- DIY Toe Separators
- The best Toe separators for walking
- The best Toe separators for running
- The best Toe separators for overlapping toes
- Is it bad to sleep with toe separators?
Conclusion
Besides relieving pain, stretching your toes can improve balance, provide arch support, and generate muscle development in the feet. Wear only for an hour of so in the beginning until you develop a tolerance for wearing them. At that time, you can extend the time with time on.
There are a few toe spacers that we like. You can check out our favorite toe spreaders on Amazon and find a model suitable for your specific foot problem. Thanks for visiting bootwalker.com.
