Does a crooked toe mean plantar plate surgery in a runner?

A great question I got from someone recently who had a plantar plate injury and the toe was a little bit crooked.

His question was,

"Do I really need to have surgery if my toe is crooked? Is that a good indicator of whether or not I need plantar plate surgery just because the toe is sitting out of position a little bit?"

I thought it might be helpful to explain when it might actually be necessary to have surgery and when it might not be necessary to have surgery.

Does a crooked toe mean you have to have surgery for a plantar plate injury?

That's what we're talking about today on the Doc On The Run podcast.