my understanding of what is happening with my feet is that it's a result of nerve damage.it took awhile for it to show but is now pretty noticeable for any health professional with expertise in neuropathic pain.my right foot which has had nerve pain for longer than my left foot is more damaged. So the swelling is virtually permanent particularly under the front pad of my right foot. As that developed I lost control of my toes and they've all curled with some falling over as I already outlined.

Toe separators are soft gel inserts you can put between your toes to help the foot stay in shape, for example my smallest toe and the one next to it have both fallen over and it was very painful. With 1 toe pushing into the next and walking on them which was not the most comfortable. Toe separators have meant I can protect the worst affected from digging into each other. So I wear a large separator on both feet between my little toe and the next one. The shape of my foot was actually becoming distorted on the right. It's not a permanent solution but makes a big difference.

They're used for all sorts of foot problems. I just get them on the Net. Not too expensive. Hope this helps ( :