Do Our Pinky Toes Serve a Purpose?

Your pinky toes are actually powerhouses of locomotion. Learn how they help us move -- and what can go wrong if they get injured -- in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/parts/surprise-pinky-toe-does-serve-purpose.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff,
Lauren Vogelbomb Here. Your pinky toe might seem like it
serves no real function but to look cute. But if
you've ever stubbed, fractured, or otherwise injured it, you find
out otherwise. You're probably surprised at how much an injured

(00:24):
fifth toe affects your everyday life. The pinky is part
of an extremely complex system within the foot. Think about
how much strength, flexibility, and fine motor control is packed
into that relatively small structure. Every floor standard foot is
composed of about thirty three joints, twenty six bones, twenty

(00:45):
ish muscles, more than one hundred tendons and ligaments, bercy
to keep the tendons lubricated, and a whole bunch of
blood vessels to keep all of that equipment working. All
of these parts can make any foot injury extra unpleasant.
For the article, this episode is based on How Stuff Works.
Spoke by email with doctor Aditi Gupta Ja, a consultant physician.

(01:08):
She said, any pain in that area is definitely high
since it is mostly muscle and blood, leading to more
inflammation and aches when swollen. Should something happen. You can
learn to live without this little piggy, but it's easier
to have one, as it works in concert with the
other toes and the rest of the foot to get

(01:28):
humans who walk where they need to go. How stuff works.
Also spoke with podiatrist doctor Bruce Pinker. He explained the
purpose of the pinky toe is to provide balance and propulsion.
As one takes a step, the foot rolls from lateral
to medial In normal foot biomechanics, this motion helps us

(01:48):
push off to the next step. When the pinky is
damaged in some way or has to be amputated, that
propulsion is limited, leading to an affected gait. It can
also cause from imbalance. It turns out that our reliance
on the foot's tripod of balance that is the heel,
the pinky toe knuckle, and the big toe knuckle is

(02:11):
pretty crucial. Loss of any one of those elements can
significantly inhibit a person's ability to walk or run, or
skip or tango. Because it helps control balance and push,
the pinky is also important in sports like swimming. Competitive
swimmers have to push off of diving boards and the

(02:31):
sides of pools during turns, so losing pinky functionality could
put a crimp in their livelihood. All of your toes
can suffer fractures, dislocations, or sprains from heavy blows or
high impact activities, but being located at the outside of
the foot means that your little toe is extra vulnerable
to impacts like stubs and shout out to anyone else

(02:54):
who frequently tries to move through furniture instead of around it.
The pinky is so particularly at risk from ill fitting
footwear and especially from shoes with narrow toes. Due to
constriction and friction, the bursi that helped cushion and lubricate
the other equipment in your feet can become swollen and irritated.

(03:16):
A painful condition called bursitis hammer toe can develop, which
is when the toe abnormally bends in the middle. It
is more common in the second, third, and fourth toes
at the middle joint, but can occur in pinkies too.
A narrow or pointed toe box can also cause a
bunyonette to develop, which is a painful bump on the

(03:36):
outside base of pinky toe caused by inflammation at the joint,
and pinkies are infamous among podiatrists anyway, for developing corns,
which are lesions made up of layers of hardened skin
that can build up when a shoe repeatedly presses and
rubs against a certain spot. Corns can be tender and annoying,

(03:57):
like having a rock in your shoe that you can't
get of, but can also cut off a nerve or
bursa and cause deeper damage. For some of these ailments,
simply switching to a shoe with a wider toe box
and using soft padding to prevent further irritation can resolve
the issue. But let's say you severely stubb or snash

(04:18):
your toe and fear that it's fractured. What next? Don't
try to tough it out, Visit the medical professional and
get an X ray. A fracture that isn't properly treated
could subject to you to premature arthritis if the joint
is impacted. Doctor gup Deja said, if the little toe
is severely bruised or injured, it needs to be cared

(04:39):
for based on the kind of injury. If it's only
superficial skin, it repairs itself over time with good hygiene
and antibiotic ointments. If the muscle or bone is however, injured.
Conservative management is advised to try and preserve the defected part,
and mostly a sprint is applied, which is a bandage
that's tied to the adjacent toe so that movement is

(05:01):
restricted and healing can then occur. And in the event
that you have to get your little toe amputated, there
are plenty of options for getting you back on your feet,
including physical therapy and shoe inserts. How Stuffworks also spoke
via email with pediatrist doctor Mark Hinkus. He said losing

(05:22):
a pinky can be psychologically distressing and we often refer
patients to a counselor before and after the procedure. They
also may use a special custom insul after the operation
site heals. Again, it's always better to be on the
safe side. So if you experience swelling, in pain, a
burning or numbness in your pinky toe, have a hard

(05:44):
time putting weight on your foot, and notice crookedness or bruising,
and if you heard a popping sound when an injury occurred,
hobble on in to see a medical professional. They'll be
able to test for damage to the bones and surrounding
nerves and blood vessels and help you figure out how
to reduce discomfort while you heal. Heal pun intended after

(06:06):
the fact. Today's episode is based on the article Surprise
your Pinky Too Does Serve a Purpose on HowStuffWorks dot Com,
written by Aleiah Hoyt. Brain Stuff is a production of
iHeartRadio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com and is produced
by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from my heart Radio,

(06:26):
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
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