Purpose of study A common reason for painful forefoot is plantar shift of metatarsal heads. Progression of this condition creates painful keratoses. The aim of our study was to evaluate the results after Wolf osteotomy of metatarsals and after Helal telescopic metatarsal osteotomy in comparable groups of patients. MATERIAL Wolf osteotomy was performed in 62 patients (75 feet) in the period of 2002 through 2005. The average follow-up was 31 months. There were 55 females (88.7 %) and 7 males (11.3 %) in the group. The mean age was 53.6 years (27–82 years). Forty- one patients (51 feet) appeared for follow-up examination. Helal osteotomy was performed in 98 patients (112 feet) in the period of 2001 through 2003. The average follow-up was 34 months. There were 87 females (88.8 %) and 10 males (11.2 %). The mean age was 52.8 years (35–76 years). Seventyone patients (76 feet) appeared for follow-up examination. METHODS We performed Wolf osteotomy with small Luer pliers in the region just proximal from the heads of the second, third, and fourth metatarsals. We removed a small part of the dorsal cortex and created a V-shaped notch based dorsally, leaving the plantar cortex intact. The plantar cortex was then fractured by closing the osteotomy with fingers and turning the metatarsal head upwards. We performed Helal osteotomy using an oscillating saw on the border between the distal and the middle thirds of the metatarsal bone. The direction of the osteotomy was 45° obliquely distad and towards the planta. Then we gently shifted the distal fragment proximally and dorsally. We resected the overlapping part of the dorsal cortex of the distal fragment. We performed the same procedure on the second, third, and fourth metatarsals. The Gainor scoring system was used for the evaluation of our results.