Put it on. Open. Then grip.
About ten minutes per foot, sitting down, bare feet. It goes in one order: the toes are held open first, and then you close them against it. The first phase asks nothing of you. The second is the work.
Then the other foot. Every other day.
Before you start
- Bare feet, sitting down. Never in shoes or socks, and never standing or walking while wearing it.
- The right size. A pair that pinches or slips is the wrong size — check the size guide and we will exchange it. Wearing the wrong size can cause injury.
- Soft first, for the first few weeks, whoever you are. Move to Firm when Soft feels easy.
- Not in the hour before running, jumping or sport. After, or on a rest day.
- Not on an injured toe joint, and not if you have reduced sensation in your feet or a serious foot condition, without asking whoever manages it.
- If it hurts, take it out. Strange is expected. Pain is not.
Put it on
One foot at a time. It takes a minute the first few times and a few seconds once you are used to it.
Thread
Work each toe fully into its slot, big toe first — slide the foot in, or use your hands. The foam should sit at the base of the toes, not out at the tips. If a toe will not go in, do not force it. That is a sizing question, not a stretching one.
Open
The foam holds your toes apart — wider than you can spread them yourself. This phase asks nothing of you. Sit, let it work, then move the toes by hand. Expect it to feel strange rather than difficult.
Open
Sit with it in and let the foam do the work. No effort, no pushing. Read, watch something, soak your feet — this step works in water. This is the only passive part of the routine.
Circle
Still wearing it, hold the tips of the toes with your hand and rotate them in small, controlled circles — ten one way, ten the other. Gentle. You are moving the joints, not stretching them.
Why this phase is not the whole routine. In the trial that tested it, wearing a toe orthosis on its own for eight weeks changed nothing. Opening is the position the next phase works from — not the work itself. Why the toes are held apart →
Grip
Still wearing it. This is one repetition: lift the toes, press them down into the floor, squeeze them together against the foam, let go. The toes stay long the whole way through. Fifteen to twenty times.
Lift
Raise all five toes from the joints at their base, device and all, until there is daylight under them. Keep them straight — a lifted board, not a curl.
Press
Drive the toes straight down into the floor and squeeze them together against the foam as they go. Hold for a second. You should feel it under the arch, not in the calf.
Release
Let go. The foam springs the toes back apart and they rest. That is one. Rest a breath, then lift again.
The one cue that matters: if your toes curl under, you have switched to the calf. Stop, let them go long, and start the rep again. The work is in pressing down from lifted, straight toes — not in scrunching.
Why this phase is the work. In the same trial, the people who added the movement improved in every measure. This is the half that changed things. Why you close them against it →
Then the other foot
About ten minutes per foot, twenty for both. There is no shortcut we know of, and no benefit we have read of in going longer.
When, and how often
After activity
Shoes are already off and the day's work is done. After a run, a practice, a shift on your feet, a day in tight shoes.
On a rest day
Nothing to work around. In the evening, in the bath, in front of something.
In the hour before sport
The Open step is a long static hold, and long holds before explosive effort reduce force for a while afterwards. Do the routine after, not before.
Every other day is enough. Consistent for weeks matters more than long on any one day. Start on Soft for the first few weeks, whoever you are; move to Firm once Soft feels easy rather than merely bearable.
In water
Toe-Rx can be used in water. The Open and Circle steps work in a bath, a foot soak, or a cold tub — it is the easiest place to sit still for five minutes with your toes held apart.
The Grip step needs a floor to press into. Do it on the bathroom floor afterwards, or on the mat, or wherever you are sitting. Rinse and air-dry the foam; do not put it in a dryer.
Do and don't
- Bare feet, sitting down, every time.
- Check the fit the first time — the foam at the base of the toes, no pinching, no slipping.
- Start on Soft and stay there until it is easy.
- Stop if it hurts. Strange is fine; pain is a reason to take it out and check the size.
- Ask whoever manages your care before using it if you have a foot condition, reduced sensation, or an injured toe joint.
- Don't wear it in shoes or socks.
- Don't stand or walk in it. It is a seated tool.
- Don't use it before running, jumping or sport.
- Don't push through pain or force a toe into a slot that will not take it.
- Don't use it on a toe joint that has been injured until it has been cleared.
- Don't expect the passive part to do anything on its own. Wearing it is not the routine; the grip is.
The why, the fit, and the rest
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.