Toe separators for use by a
diabetic patient to maintain the toes separated, even when wearing shoes, to prevent the development of sores on the toes resulting from abrasion, and to promote healing are disclosed. In a preferred embodiment, there is provided a generally flat sole insert for protecting the user's
heel, wherein the insert is further provided with a plurality of upwardly projecting
toe dividers for keeping the toes separated. The dividers effectively separate the user's toes to prevent
rubbing while allowing the user to walk wearing shoes. In various alternate embodiments, there are disclosed individual soft
toe caps that may be individually placed over one or more individual toes to protect and separate the toes. In still another alternate embodiment, the individual
toe separators may be fabricated as double-wall caps formed by inner and outer
layers of a soft, FDA approved
silicon material, and adapted to be filled with water or other suitable liquid or a gel. According to another aspect, the present invention provides a
foot protector to be worn on the foot of a patient. The
foot protector preferably incorporates one or more water-filled toe protectors for separating the toes as generally described above. Each of the embodiments may define a plurality of ventilation holes formed by
welding of inner and outer portions. Any of the embodiments disclosed herein may further include medicated powders to reduce friction and aid in healing ulcerations. The filled embodiments may further be cooled or heated to provide therapeutic cooling or warmth to the foot and toes.