The bizarre $30 wellness tool that’s surging in popularity — and transforming people’s lives

To be the pinnacle of health from head to toe, try the latest fitness fad: toe spacers.

Wearing too-tight shoes or high heels can crowd your piggies, and, over time, lead to pain, balance issues and deformities, such as bunions and hammer toes.

To counteract such problems, toe spacers — which separate the individual toes to stretch them — have emerged as a hot solution.

Footwear brand Naboso, based in Phoenix, Arizona, reported a 40% growth of toe spreaders from 2022 to 2023, while Australia-based brand Foot Collective saw a 175% jump in sales of toe spacers from 2021 to 2023, per the Wall Street Journal.

Toe spacers are available in colorful silicone, foam and fabric as socks, and while they aren’t exactly glamorous, you’ll be among good company: Model Ashley Graham sports them.

“If you experience pain in your feet when walking or standing, it may be an indication that toe spreaders could help improve your symptoms,” podiatrist Dr. Gregory Alvarez, of Ankle and Foot Centers of America, told Bustle.

The foot and its digits act as a sort of tripod for the body, explained NYU Langone Health sports medicine specialist Dr. Dennis Cardone. When toes are over-crowded, then, it can impact a person’s ability to balance, which some studies have shown could make older individuals a fall risk.

“Some people just end up with funny-looking feet,” he told the Journal. “Others can experience discomfort and pain.”

Foam separators used during pedicures to keep the polish from smudging are perhaps the most familiar version of spacers, but spacers intended for foot health can “gently separate the toes and hold them in a comfortable position, allowing the tendons and ligaments that control toe movement to stretch out,” explained Alvarez.

While wearing any form of toe spacers can help with balance and alleviate foot pain, they won’t cure the cause of the pain, like bunions. But compared to the alternative — surgery — spacers are relatively low-cost, ringing in at less than $30 at some online vendors.

52-year-old Susie Rinehart, of Boulder, Colorado, recalled receiving a pair of toe spacers from her personal trainer during the holidays.

“I immediately looked down at my feet and thought, she’s giving me a message that they’re ugly,” the college essay coach, who has nerve damage in her feet, told the Journal. “It felt like someone giving you a breath mint or deodorant.”

Her trainer explained that the nifty tool was supposed to help Rinehart with foot strength. While her feet haven’t gotten any “prettier” from wearing them, she admitted, “they are stronger and my balance has improved.”

Meanwhile, Skylar Lickle, of Maui, Hawaii, experienced a knee injury last year and received a pair of toe spacers in December to help with toe strength, as weak feet could lead to more injuries due to imbalance and movement impairment.

The pro surfer had never paid much attention to her toes until then. In surfing, she explained, “we use our toes a lot.” To get back on her board, she needed to focus on her feet, she told the Journal.

Experts recommend wearing the spacers daily for up to 30 minutes — an easy task to complete while lounging in front of the TV or cooking dinner at home — although you can start at 5 minutes and work your way up if wearing the spacers is painful.

Of course, like anything, this treatment takes time to yield results. For Lickle, who also did foot exercises, it took three months to see improvement on both land and sea.

“You’re not going to undo 10 hours in narrow shoes by sitting on the couch and wearing toe spreaders,” Courtney Conley, the founder of foot health education platform Gait Happens, told the Journal.