My 2 year old son has been consistently complaining of toe pain for the last few months. We can't seem to pinpoint the cause of the pain - he has a pair of shoes that seem to fit well, there are no visible sores or blisters, the complaints are sporadic (he might complain while he's playing, when he's going to bed, when he's in his car seat, etc. - very unpredictable). We spoke to the pediatrician who indicated that if we could touch his toes without disturbing his sleep (which we can), it was likely a psychological issue. Has anyone else experienced this? It's very frustrating for the little guy and we just can't seem to figure out what's causing his pain. Thanks so much.
Hi Michelle:
I would take him to a podiatrist. A podiatrist is a doctor who studies feet and while they do not go through medical school they are trained at a school for podiatry. They tend to know more about foot issues than a regular doctor.
My experience has been that when the medical dr. says it may be psychological it means "I don't know, but those are three words that I don't like to say". With my son it was leg pain from an impact and he was crawling again at almost 1 1/2. I took him to the chiropracter a day later and he was back on his feet in a few hours. Nothing wrong with his psyche! So I would keep looking. I bet you'll find it and then you can feel so proud of yourself for accomplishing what your doctor couldn't.
I would buy him new shoes with extra space in the toes and/or are more flexible. Some of us have more sensitive toes.
I also agree with the responder who talked about toe nails. I have that issue myself and have to be very careful when I trim my big toenails that I get the corners the right length or they dig into the skin and it is painful.
Another thing that I have, and my young daughter has had, is muscle cramps in our feet and toes. This can happen to us after a busy day of playing or extra exercise. They are painful and rubbing the foot and toes until the cramp goes away usually helps.
I was also thinking gout as the previous poster stated. I would check into that too, it is a simple blood test.
Are his toe nails digging into the side of his toe (my husband has this issue) and it makes them very tender, but if you look at his toes you wouldn't know.
Idea: Trace his foot on a piece of cardboard, and stick it in his shoe see if he is getting a pressure point somewhere.
(Is it only when his shoes are on???)
Another idea:
Ask him if he wants a band-aid. Get him a special box of band-aids, let him pick out the box. (pick out two and let him point to the one he wants for his toe)
Toe pain band-aids!
Put one on and see if it helps.
If it does...maybe it is in his head, and the band-aid "cured" it.
Maybe he just wants some extra attention.
Hi M.!
I know this may sound very strange but the first thing I thought of was gout! Is it his big toe? He may have too much uric acid in his blood. Just a thought, Children can get gout. They can have pain in their knees, feet and ankles.I doubt it may be psychological. Hope you find out what it is. Keep pressing the issue!
Tracey
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I like the suggestions you were given so far. I can only add that if none of those work out, and it does seem like it's a psychological issue... tell him it must mean he is growing up and it's kind of like his toe is telling him that he's getting to be a big boy ;)
Good luck in this... I know it can be so frustrating.
M.,
My 3 y.o. twins always complain that their feet "hurt." I checked out the size of their shoes, if anything was in their socks, etc. It also happens at any given time (although they have not woken from pain). My cure, and they are pleased with it, is lotion. I finally figured out that when they say "my feet hurt," it really means that they itch...and try scratching a toddler's foot, right!?! Maybe your little one just doesn't know how to tell you that the foot actually itches!
Good luck!
J. L.
I had the same issue with my youngest and he would take his shoes off as much as he could get by with and go barefoot or sockfooted. What the issue was the sock seam was pressing against his shoe & toes and it was intermintent so it took us quite awhile to figure it out. I ended up getting a 1/2 size bigger in his shoes and it seemed to end the issue of toe pain. Also remember that kids grow so fast that shoes that fit one day might not the next. Also make sure that the toe nails are cut correctly and are not overly long or too short. Too short nails would cause pain in the toe area because of the tender skin at the top of the foot. My son is 16 now and we still have to be careful on the size of shoe that he buys otherwise they still do hurt his toe area. We end up having the toe area be at least 1/2 to 1 inch from the tip of his toes. Hope this helps.
