Does any one know what causes a painful paralysis in the toes?

I’ve had this weird thing since I was a teenager (and just found out that my mom did too), where my toes seize up painfully, becoming really tight, as if i was trying to stretch them as far as they could go. But this happens involuntarily, and hurts quite a lot. I would have to physically press them down with my hands in order to get them to stop (and to stop hurting).

Does any one else know what causes this, or have this happen to them?