Stretching a toe box upwards?

Widerfit shoes have deeper toe boxes and removable insoles to fit orthotics if needed.

I had a hammer toe straightened by the NHS years ago, it had caused me a lot of problems for years.

shysal - thank you, I'll investigate these! You're right, it IS a pain. I've never worn "inappropriate" shoes in my life, always "sensible" ones - I'm not even paying back a life in wild child stilettoes!!

vintage1950 - thank you. I saw her last week. Her advice was to wear shoes with a deep toe box. I didn't say "duh", well, only inwardly. It'd be nice to view find deep toe box And fashionable!

Blossoming - thank you, good thought. I've always ignored ads for these because they don't actually cure the problem but yes, the toe straightens slightly, so it might be worth seeing if it could be made to lie a bit straighter just for the occasional, given shoe.

I have some of this type of shoe stretcher. I have the same problem with my second toe next to a bunion. I have stretched the top of a shoe by attaching either the 'bumps' supplied or a more bulky item such as a torch battery! Damping the shoe first helps. It is a pain isn't it? Good luck!
Shoe stretchers

Could you ask a chiropodist for advice?

Can you straighten the hammer toe or is it rigid? A toe straightener on your foot might be more helpful than trying to alter the shape of the shoes. There are some shoe stretchers on Amazon that claim to be multi directional but I don’t know if they work.