Saving Your Toes With the Right Toebox

When trying on shoes, the toebox is one of the most important parts of your shoe. Those little (or large) toes at the end of your feet need room. The toebox is the front part of the shoe that covers the toes. That means we are talking about both height and width. The right toebox can save your toes. The wrong toebox can cost you your toenails.
     In shoes with the right toe box, your toes will feel comfortable and have room to wiggle and breath. Shoes with the wrong toebox will squeeze your toes—giving them no room to wiggle and breath. This squeezing may happen from the sides and/or the top. The side squeeze will push your toes together and maybe even underneath each other. A squeeze from the top down will put pressure on your toenails. When going downhill, this pressure often results in subungual hematomas or black toenails. If your nails are not trimmed properly and are too long, the jamming of the toes into the front of the shoe will put additional pressure on the nails and cause nailbed problems.
     One rule of thumb is that when standing in your shoes, you need a thumb’s width of space between the end of your longest toe and the front inside of the shoe. Generally this works. You may want more space when you are going to be involved in a muti-day race, hike or event. In that case, consider buying shoes a size of two larger than normal.
     You’ll note I said “space between the end of your longest toe.” For the majority of us, that means your big toe. But for about 15% of the population, it means the toe next to the big toe. This is a condition called Morton’s Foot or Morton’s Toe. This condition, usually hereditary, requires shoes to be fit to that toe.
     When trying on shoes, first, be sure to wear your own socks. Sock thickness can also affect the space in your toe box. Secondly, have someone check for good spacing in front of your toes. Third, wiggle your toes around and make sure you have space sideways and up and down. Fourth, don’t go solely by what the salesperson says. You must be the judge of how your shoes fit. After all, they are your feet, and you want to keep them happy.