Little toe sensation slowly driving me mad. How do I stop this?

October 23, 2024 7:56 AM

My little toe on my right foot constantly feels like it is rubbing or touching in against my other toe/socks/itself in a way that's almost impossible to ignore and is causing me to become distracted and annoyed anytime I think about it. Is there anything you've tried to deal with this sort of thing that resolved it? Some extra details below.

I do have ADHD, which I know is a thing that can make you more prone to annoyances about bodily sensations. To be clear, the sensation is not pain, it's annoying in a way that's very hard to tune out.

I almost always wear red wing iron rangers as my footwear because they have a very large toe box, but this does not seem to help. I also wear quality wool socks that breath because I'm prone to sweaty feet. It's always been somewhat prone to a rubbing sensation but lately it's gotten much more pronounced which causes me to try and flex/stretch/move it in a way that relieves that sensation but doing that constantly is causing other foot pain.

posted by Ferreous to Health & Fitness (17 answers total)

Vaseline between the toes?
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:12 AM on October 23, 2024

Try a silicone toe protector. Might help, might make the problem worse.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:13 AM on October 23, 2024 [2 favorites]

Maybe give these toe socks a try. I sleep in them because I don't like the sensation of my toes touching each other while I sleep (quirky, but true).
posted by SageTrail at 8:31 AM on October 23, 2024

A Band-Aid or liquid bandage might reduce the sensation enough.
posted by metasarah at 8:34 AM on October 23, 2024 [1 favorite]

Is one foot larger than the other?
posted by lookoutbelow at 8:51 AM on October 23, 2024

Have you tried a lidocaine spray? It’ll numb your toe — this could be helpful, or a brand new kind of infuriating, so maybe test it on the weekend.

Warning: probably not great for long-term usage, I am suggesting it more as a short-term intervention or “circuit breaker” type of thing.
posted by aramaic at 9:03 AM on October 23, 2024

Moleskin? You can cut to useful size. Will still be a sensation but maybe less annoying.
posted by Glinn at 9:07 AM on October 23, 2024

Does the sensation change for the better or worse depending on the temperature?

For a long time I would get a weird toe sensation where it felt like two of my toes were sticking together, and eventually I figured out it happened when my toes got too cold. Wearing warmer shoes in the winter resolved the issue.

If you're already wearing wool socks, though, you might have "warm feet" covered already.
posted by mekily at 9:10 AM on October 23, 2024 [1 favorite]

Any chance you've developed a fungus??
posted by Ftsqg at 11:10 AM on October 23, 2024 [3 favorites]

Can you troubleshoot to identify whether it is a shoe or sock related issue?

Eg: do you get the sensation when barefoot? can you spend a week wearing flip flops and check in with yourself to see if that changes things? (weather permitting) can you change your socks? Can you try a pair of even-wider-toe-box shoes, such as barefoot-style shoes?
posted by samthemander at 11:13 AM on October 23, 2024 [1 favorite]

Looking at those boots I don't think the toe box looks like anything special. If you need a lot of space to splay, those aren't the footwear I would recommend. Maybe grab a cheap Whitin pair on Amazon and see if it resolves your issue.
posted by potrzebie at 11:52 AM on October 23, 2024 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I still get the sensation barefoot, but less than in socks and shoes. For what it's worth I have fairly narrow feet so the toe box on the iron rangers is more than ample.

Trying moleskin right now, not sure if it's helping
posted by Ferreous at 5:48 PM on October 23, 2024

In addition to the width of your shoes, pay attention to the length. Both my husband and I as we have gotten older have had to go up a half size in length, and also he has had to go to a wider size.

(Also, fingers crossed this not the beginnings of peripheral neuropathy.)
posted by gudrun at 6:58 PM on October 23, 2024 [3 favorites]

I'm also sensitive to bodily sensations (none of my clothes have labels in any more), and my first port of call would be a Compeed blister plaster, one of the small ones specifically for toes. Unlike normal plasters, I find I don't feel them against my skin, and they do a very good job of blocking pressure from shoes or socks, so I'd expect them to substantially reduce any other sensation too.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 1:50 AM on October 24, 2024

I get this some times when my toenails are too long- it can be an ADHD thing to leave the trimming until it's very obvious it's needing done.
posted by freethefeet at 2:37 AM on October 24, 2024 [1 favorite]

I haven't seen anyone else say this, so, do you have any back problems? I have a pinky toe that is partially numb because of a pinched nerve in my lower back. Docs have said sometimes pinched nerves can cause weird sensations that aren't necessarily painful. The fact that your toe feels weird even barefoot has me wondering.
posted by shmurley at 9:23 AM on October 24, 2024 [1 favorite]

I would ask a doctor, to rule out any nerve issues. My mom has strange sensations in her toes from messed up nerves after years of wearing too-tight shoes.
posted by Mournful Bagel Song at 1:22 AM on October 26, 2024