What to Expect From Wearing Correct Toes
“When can I expect to see results?” This is a common question patients ask about Correct Toes, and it reflects patients’ desire to resolve existing foot problems, restore normal, healthy foot anatomy, and prevent future foot, ankle, and lower extremity ailments. We find that most people, most of the time, experience some immediate relief, with continued positive musculoskeletal health benefits occurring over many months and years. Of course, results may be different for different people, and the direct and indirect health benefits of Correct Toes depends on many factors, including your age, your tissue mobility, how frequently you use your Correct Toes toe spacers, your physical activity level, and how often you wear appropriate footwear, to name a few factors among many.
Most people can expect to feel and/or see the beneficial effects of Correct Toes within the first 30 minutes of use. However, for architectural changes to occur, both time and dedication to Correct Toes use is important. For example, in attempting to reverse a bunion, some movement of the big toe (which is lacking in many patients with this health problem) likely will be visible within a few months of regular Correct Toes use (especially in people who use Correct Toes during weight-bearing activities). Further favorable changes will continue over many months or years. Wearing Correct Toes is, ultimately, an investment in lifelong foot health. Think of it this way: It took a lifetime for your feet to conform to the narrow toe boxes of conventional footwear. Over many years, your foot shape changed, causing the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and soft tissues involved in standing, walking, and running to adapt to help slow this deformation. It is most certainly possible to undo these negative changes—we see it in our patients all the time—but sustained, long-term changes in foot form do not occur overnight.
You should anticipate using Correct Toes as a part of your foot care plan for many years. Positive changes in your foot symptoms, form, and function will occur much sooner than this, though only continued use of the Correct Toes toe-spacing appliance will ensure ongoing and lasting natural foot health in adults who have used conventional footwear since youth. To help illustrate the restorative effects of Correct Toes (and to give you a general sense of the timeline for significant toe realignment), let’s look at three unique groups: Children, athletes, and elderly individuals.
Children are the most adaptable of the three groups (i.e., a little bit of effort in restoring proper foot anatomy goes a long way with this group). In many cases, children’s feet respond quickly to corrective toe positioning, and the long-term use of toe spacers may not be necessary. Athletes are an interesting group because they can do considerable damage to their feet through the prolonged use of severely constricting footwear, yet they respond very well to Correct Toes when the toe spacers are adopted and used in appropriate footwear. Athletes, especially runners, subject their feet and toes to tremendous repetitive forces during weight-bearing activity. If the toes are properly aligned, however, these forces can accelerate the corrective effect of the toe spacers. Elderly individuals are often the least adaptable and the least likely to see lasting structural changes in their feet and toes (due to decreased tissue mobility). This is not to say, however, that elderly individuals will not experience lasting relief from their chronic foot and lower leg problems with the regular use of Correct Toes. In fact, many seniors report excellent results and improved quality of life (including a heightened sense of balance) with consistent Correct Toes use.
–Dr Ray McClanahan, DPM, Northwest Foot & Ankle
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