Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Volga Bam Here. Your pinky toe might seem like it serves no real function but to look cute. But if you were to ever stub, fracture or otherwise injure it, you'd find out Otherwise you might be surprised at how much an injured fifth toe affects your everyday life. The pinky is part of a complex system within the foot. Every standard human foot is composed of thirty joints, twenty eight bones, and more than a
hundred tendons and ligaments. All these moving parts can make any foot injury extra unpleasant. For the article, this episode is based on How's to fork spoke by email with Dr Diti Gupta, jah lead physician at the online medical consulting platform just dot dot com. She said, any pain in that area is definitely high since it's mostly muscle and blood, leading to more inflammation and aches when swollen.
And while you can learn to live without this little piggy, it's easier to have one because it works in concert with the other toes and the rest of the foot to get us where we need to go, providing balance and helping with smooth forward propulsion. We normally shift our weight a little from the outside of the foot to the middle of the foot as we walk. This motion
helps us push off the ground. When the pinky is damaged in some way, the propulsion is limited, leading to an affected gait or even falls due to a lack of balance. Our reliance on the foot's tripod of balance, the heel, the pinky toe knuckle, and the big toe knuckle is pretty critical. Loss of any one of these elements can significantly inhibit a person's ability to walk or jump, run, skip, or anything else. And it doesn't have to be some kind of blunt trauma. Even the type of shoes you
wear can impact your little toe. How stuff Works also spoke by email with pediatrist Dr. Mark Pinkis. He noted that narrow toed shoes are pinky killers. Quote in fashion footwear. The pinky toe can rub against the inside of the shoe until a bursto, which is a fluid filled sack between the skin and bone, develops. This malady is known
as birsitis, and it really hurts. The potential pain doesn't end there, however, Pinkus said, pinky toes are famous for developing soft tissue lesions on the top tip or in between the toes. These lesions are called corns. Corns have been likened to having a constant rock in the shoe and sometimes require surgery to get rid of. But let's say you do severely stub or smash your toe and you fear that it's fractured. But what next. Don't try to tough it out, Visit a doctor and get an
X ray. A fracture that isn't properly treated it could subject to you to premature hearth brightness if the joint is impacted. Jah said. If the little toe is severely bruised or injured, it needs to be cared 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. Mostly a splint is applied, which is a bandage that is tied to the adjacent toe so that movement is restricted and healing can then occur. And in the event that you have to have your little toe amputated, pinkis said that most people can adjust to walking without it. However, he said losing a pinky can be psychologically distressing, and we often refer patients to a counselor before and after
the procedure. Patients also may use a special custom insul after the operation Site heals m. Today's episode is based on the article Surprise Your pinky Too Does Serve a Purpose on Housta works dot com, written by Aleio Hoyt. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio and partnership with how stuff works dot com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows