Transcript:
Hallux limitus consist of a jamming of the big toe joint. Basically what happens is as we was take a normal stride, typically we are walking off the tip of our big toe and that is what body was designed to to do. To be able to do that the big toe has to be able to move dorsally or upwards about 30-40° and with hallux limitus there is actually a jamming that occurs right when the toe starts to move upwards and it starts to jam against what's called the metatarsal bone . Or the bone that makes up the proximal portion of the metatarsal phalangeal join. And that jamming overtime start to make the toe become stiff and painful . And that is the term we use: hallux limitus.
This is an example of a patient who presented with hallux limitus on her right foot she barely had any motion whatsoever when we tried to move her big toe up she had moderate to significant pain and then on the contralateral foot or the other foot it had normal range of motion, as you can see here. Her x-rays were also indicative of hallux limitus and you can see the bone spurring on the top of the bone and some joint space narrowing. So basically what's happening is we are getting a jamming of the joint and this causing pain and stiffness. This is progress, so it continues to get worse with time.
What or some of the things that you can do to try to help this. Well, one of the big things is a stiff soled shoe. Stiff soled shoes limit the amount of motion that you can have at the big toe joint. And by limiting the motion, it can help calm it down. Sometimes inserts can help. A little icing can help, but unfortunately, this typically is a surgical problem and what we do most of the time for early stages of hallux limitus is what is called a chielectomy, which is a remoldeling of the joint; simply taking off some of the excess bone that has formed and then making some shoe gear recommendations. And generally, the recovery time is pretty quick from that but this certainly is one of the things where surgical management is indicated.