Women Who Chop Off Their Toes to Look Cute in Shoes

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What do you do when you find a pair of shoes you love that don't fit or look funny? We usually ask to try on a larger size or a different style. But some women, like Audy, who was profiled by ABC News, would rather get her toes chopped down instead.

Paying up to $3,000 per procedure, more and more women are surgically transforming themselves into Cinderella from the ankle down. Helping women squeeze into high heels—and curing the damage they cause—s a $45 million a year business.

"All the girls are wearing cute high heels, open toes and they look pretty, and me—I have to wear always closed shoes because I feel like they're staring at my long toe," Audy, who asked to be identified by first name only, told ABC News. She was awaiting cosmetic surgery to make her second toe shorter than her big toe.

Podiatrist Ali Sadrieh in Beverly Hills, Calif., performs the toe shortening procedure, which involves actually dislocating the toe and sawing out a 2-millimeter chunk of bone. He then inserts a titanium rod to bring the shortened bone back together.

In the ABC story there are also tales of ball-of-foot plumping and shrinking the little toe. Oh, and they also talk about the term "toebesity." As if we don't already have enough to worry about.
· Plastic Surgery: Are Toes The New Nose? [ABC News]