How To Stop Little Toe Poking Out Of Sandals

A lot of people experience different challenges when wearing sandals; be it flats, wedge sandals, high-heeled, mid-heeled sandals, or slides. One of such challenges is the little toe poking out of sandals.

Different ways to stop little toe poking out of sandals (Explained)

Below are the various ways to stop your little toe from poking out of sandals

• Buying the right sandal size
• Use Halter Pads or Gel inserts
• Use Arch supports
• Use Band-aid or Athletic tape to strap the little toe to the next toe.
• Sew two of the sandal straps together
• Insert Mesh fabric between the straps of the sandal
  
• Use Hair Spray on the sandal insole
• Meeting A Cobbler to modify the sandals
• Using A Blow dryer to reshape or mold sandals into the right foot size and shape
• Using Thin Drawer liners
• Using Shoe bumps
• Using High heel insoles

Buying the right sandal size

The best way to avoid toe overhang is to buy the right sandal size. Getting A smaller or bigger size based on your feet requirement is an ideal way to avoid your little toe slipping out.

Getting a pair of Sandals just slightly smaller than your normal foot size will prevent your toes and particularly your little toe from slipping out, and getting a larger size to accommodate your giant feet is also recommended obviously because normal-sized sandals will still lead to that which you are avoiding.

So whatever size of sandals you’re getting, let it fit you perfectly and therefore balance is achieved.

Using Halter Pads or Gel inserts

Halter pads (like this one on Amazon) are shoe inserts that are placed under the ball of the foot. They help the foot stay in its proper position and also adds comfort.

Use Arch supports

These are also similar to halter pads. They are placed under the foot arch. It helps keep The foot back and adds support that prevents toes from slipping out.

Using Band-aid or Athletic tape to strap the little toe to the next toe

The use of a band-aid or Athletic tape in strapping the little toe to the next toe is a very practical and easy solution to the little toe poking out.

This point is self-explanatory and simple. You should go try it now.

Sewing two of the straps together

This technique can be used for sandals with Kriss-Kross straps. Here, you get the last two straps of the sandals where the little toe pokes out of and sew them together using needle and thread with color matching the sandals.

This blocks the little toe from poking out and this still has an aesthetic significance.

Insert Mesh fabric between the straps of the sandal

Little Mesh fabric is inserted between the straps where the little toe pokes out of and either super glue or sewing is employed to attach the mesh fabric properly to the straps.

Note that matching colors must still be used here to avoid spoiling your sandals.

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Use Hair Spray on the insole of the sandal

Spray hairspray (like this one on Amazon) either on your feet or on the insole of the sandals. Once it dries, the hairspray becomes slightly sticky and helps the feet stick, and prevents it from sliding forward.

Meet A Cobbler to modify the sandals

This is an obvious and more professional solution to this issue. The cobbler could make a number of modifications based on his professional knowledge or your own request as to what you want.

One of the things the cobbler could do is glue in a piece of leather that blocks the space through which your little toe pokes out.

Use a blow dryer to reshape or mold sandals into the right foot size and shape

This technique is sort of tricky and one has to be careful not to risk damaging their sandals.  The procedure is as follows :

• Buy new sandals and get a blow dryer (on low setting) and carefully warm the plastic of the insole until it is pliable or flexible ( be careful not to burn it by warming it too much).
• Then put on The sandals.
• Next, use cold water or ice packs to cool down The plastic and mold your foot to The sandals.
• Application of rapid cold to The warm insole causes The sandal to conform to The shape of your foot.

Use thin drawer liners

This is the same rubber matting that is used in preventing kitchen appliances (see here on Amazon) or utensils from sliding over the counter.

The exact same principle (non-slip) works well for keeping your feet from sliding forward in your sandals especially heels.

Here, you cut the fabric into the shape of the insole and trim them into a perfect fit.

Use high-heel insoles

The use of good high-heeled insoles such as Airpufs adds friction to your sandals and prevents your toes from overhanging not to mention that it is comfortable to your feet.

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Why does your little toe hang out of your sandals?

There are many reasons why the little toe hangs out of your sandals, among such reasons are:

• Long and Wide Feet.
• Long Toes
• When your feet sweat
• Heels are too high
• Wearing the wrong sandal size.
• Biomechanics

Long and Wide Feet

Having long and wide feet is one of the major causes of your little toe hanging out of the sandals. Because normal-size sandals and even large ones will not be able to accommodate or support extremely long and wide feet.

Hence, the feet slip forward and the toes are out of place in the sandals.

Long toes

Having long toes is also a disadvantage when wearing sandals seeing as the size of the sandals though may be able to accommodate your foot, may not be designed for your extra long toes.

Sweating of your feet

Sweating is also another cause of the little toe overhanging. When your feet become too hot in the sandals, you begin to sweat in them and your feet get wet, friction is greatly reduced and your entire feet begin to slip forward leading to all your toes especially the little toe also overlapping too.

Note that people that sweat more on their feet find wearing sandals, particularly high heels even more challenging because of this issue. Using oil-based lotion (e.g Vaseline) on your feet also causes sweating.

Heels are too high

Toe overhang occurs more frequently in high-heeled sandals. It also occurs in flip flops.

If your toes hang out in high heels, the heels are clearly too high for you and you need a larger size.

Wearing the wrong sandal size

This is the most common cause of the little toe hanging out. When you wear normal or small-sized sandals with large feet, your little toe will hang out.

When you wear a pair of small-sized sandals with normal-sized feet, your little toe will still hang out. So, in wearing sandals and avoiding your little toe hanging out.

The right fit or size must always be considered and not its beauty.

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Biomechanics

This simply has to do with the mechanics of the human body That is, Bodily posture and the way you walk.

Research shows that rolling the feet inwardly when you walk (Overpronation) is associated with toes overhanging.

What happens when your little toe hangs out of the sandals?

These include :

• Loss of aesthetic significance
• A Broken toe
• Stress or Hairline Fracture
• Dislocated toe
• A painful and swollen pinky toe

Loss of aesthetic significance

Wearing a pair of sandals with the little toe hanging out is never A good look. The aesthetic value of both the sandals and your feet greatly reduces when the little toe or your other toes hang over the footwear.

It is really an unattractive, weird, and rather disgusting look.

A broken toe

If while walking around with your toe hanging over, you accidentally stub or hit your pinky toe really hard or something heavy directly hit the exposed pinky toe, it could become broken.

A broken toe is also a fracture and an open fracture would also include An open wound.

Stress or Hairline Fracture

Stress fracture or Hairline fracture is just a little crack or little bruise that progresses within bone over time.

This occurs in the pinky toe when uncomfortable high-heel sandals are worn almost every time and there’s nothing done to avoid the pinky toe hanging over, the stress literally begins to break down the bone.

A painful and swollen pinky toe

This is just a result of the stress exerted on the pinky toe when it hangs over for a long time. The mechanical trauma on the toe causes inflammation of the toe which causes pain and swelling.

Inflammation could also be a result of a broken toe, fracture, or dislocation.

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Should toes hang over sandals?

Toes should not be allowed to hang over sandals because of diverse reasons which are mostly aesthetic and health-related.

Among such reasons include:

• Unattractiveness
• Sprained toe
• Misshapen toes
• Calluses
• Cracked toenails
• Blisters

Unattractiveness

As mentioned earlier, other toes hanging over sandals in general and not just the pinky toe is out rightly nasty and unattractive.

Sprained toe

This involves injury or damage to the ligament that attaches to your toe bones. The toe bones are not damaged.  A sprain occurs when exposed toes (due to hanging over) are bumped hard or are stretched beyond their usual range of movement.

Calluses

These are hardened areas of the skin particularly the feet which are a result of repeated friction.

When toes hang over the sandals, the wearer tries to keep the feet attached to the footwear by bending the toes inward. The friction caused by this action results in the formation of callus.

Cracked toenails

Here, exposed toes due to hanging out of sandals particularly high heels can have slight or serious toenail damage when hit with great force on A hard surface.

Therefore one has to be careful not to have toes hanging out when wearing high heel sandals or to be extremely careful when walking in high heels with toes hanging out.

Blisters

These are small reddish bubbles between the skin layers that contain bloody and watery fluid as A result of pressure and friction applied on the feet over time.

Toes hanging out of the sandals shows that the foot is not properly balanced and this improper balance leads to increased pressure and friction on the feet which leads to the formation of blisters.

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How should open-toe sandals fit?

• Open-toe sandals should fit comfortably.
• They should fit with no overhanging toes or heels.
• They should not be tight that is, feet should not be forced tightly into straps.
• Your feet should feel supported by the sole.

Open-toe sandals should fit comfortably

This means that you should not slip while walking and straps are not to cause injury to your ankles or your feet. You should be able to wear it for a long time without the footwear causing you any pain or discomfort.

It should fit comfortably at all times of the day particularly the mid-afternoon and evening time when your feet get bigger.

They should fit with no overhanging toes or heels

This makes you free from the risk of stumbling or causing injury to yourself while walking. And since overhanging toes or overhanging heels are a fashion blunder, open shoe sandals that fit perfectly without these blunders are the perfect footwear to be worn all the time because the aesthetic or beautifying purpose is achieved.

They should not be tight such that feet should not be forced tightly into straps

Sandals that are too tight cause pain and discomfort and injury to the feet. Tight sandals could either mean that the sandals are too small or they have tight straps which generally cause pain and discomfort to the feet.

Tight straps also cause irritation and soreness of the feet. Such sandals should be avoided and sandals with the right size and not so tight straps should be gotten instead.

Your feet should feel supported by the sole

The sandals should be worn around your feet firmly. Your feet should not move around in the sandals and there should be no loud squeaky or slappy sound when walking.

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Conclusion

The issue of the little toe hanging out of sandals has not been a new ordeal and it has always been a perplexing challenge to women everywhere.

There are different reasons as to why toes hang out of sandals among these are; gravity, long feet, long toes, sweating, extremely high heels, use of oil-based lotion like Vaseline, flat feet, wide feet, wrong sandal size e.t.c.

Thankfully, there are also different solutions to toes hanging out such as; getting the right sandal size, using halter pads, gel inserts, using hair spray, using powder, double-sided tape, high heel insoles, shoe /sandal bumps, inserting mesh into the sandals, using grips e.t.c.

The little toe should not hang out of sandals because of its negative consequences such as Loss of beauty or aesthetic significance, broken toe, fractured toe, dislocated toe, a painful and swollen pinky toe e.t.c.

Other toes should also not hang out of sandals because of the dangers posed to the toes such as; sprained toes, misshapen toes, calluses, blisters, cracked toenails e.t.c.

Open-toe sandals should fit comfortably, should fit with no overhanging toes or heels, should not be tight e.t.c

Hopefully, this article will be of great help to you and others that face this challenge.