Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Volga Bam Here. Your pinky toe
Speaker 1: might seem like it serves no real function but to
Speaker 1: look cute. But if you were to ever stub, fracture
Speaker 1: or otherwise injure it, you'd find out Otherwise you might
Speaker 1: be surprised at how much an injured fifth toe affects
Speaker 1: your everyday life. The pinky is part of a complex
Speaker 1: system within the foot. Every standard human foot is composed
Speaker 1: of thirty joints, twenty eight bones, and more than a
Speaker 1: hundred tendons and ligaments. All these moving parts can make
Speaker 1: any foot injury extra unpleasant. For the article, this episode
Speaker 1: is based on How's to fork spoke by email with
Speaker 1: Dr Diti Gupta, jah lead physician at the online medical
Speaker 1: consulting platform just dot dot com. She said, any pain
Speaker 1: in that area is definitely high since it's mostly muscle
Speaker 1: and blood, leading to more inflammation and aches when swollen.
Speaker 1: And while you can learn to live without this little piggy,
Speaker 1: it's easier to have one because it works in concert
Speaker 1: with the other toes and the rest of the foot
Speaker 1: to get us where we need to go, providing balance
Speaker 1: and helping with smooth forward propulsion. We normally shift our
Speaker 1: weight a little from the outside of the foot to
Speaker 1: the middle of the foot as we walk. This motion
Speaker 1: helps us push off the ground. When the pinky is
Speaker 1: damaged in some way, the propulsion is limited, leading to
Speaker 1: an affected gait or even falls due to a lack
Speaker 1: of balance. Our reliance on the foot's tripod of balance,
Speaker 1: the heel, the pinky toe knuckle, and the big toe
Speaker 1: knuckle is pretty critical. Loss of any one of these
Speaker 1: elements can significantly inhibit a person's ability to walk or jump, run, skip,
Speaker 1: or anything else. And it doesn't have to be some
Speaker 1: kind of blunt trauma. Even the type of shoes you
Speaker 1: wear can impact your little toe. How stuff Works also
Speaker 1: spoke by email with pediatrist Dr. Mark Pinkis. He noted
Speaker 1: that narrow toed shoes are pinky killers. Quote in fashion footwear.
Speaker 1: The pinky toe can rub against the inside of the
Speaker 1: shoe until a bursto, which is a fluid filled sack
Speaker 1: between the skin and bone, develops. This malady is known
Speaker 1: as birsitis, and it really hurts. The potential pain doesn't
Speaker 1: end there, however, Pinkus said, pinky toes are famous for
Speaker 1: developing soft tissue lesions on the top tip or in
Speaker 1: between the toes. These lesions are called corns. Corns have
Speaker 1: been likened to having a constant rock in the shoe
Speaker 1: and sometimes require surgery to get rid of. But let's
Speaker 1: say you do severely stub or smash your toe and
Speaker 1: you fear that it's fractured. But what next. Don't try
Speaker 1: to tough it out, Visit a doctor and get an
Speaker 1: X ray. A fracture that isn't properly treated it could
Speaker 1: subject to you to premature hearth brightness if the joint
Speaker 1: is impacted. Jah said. If the little toe is severely
Speaker 1: bruised or injured, it needs to be cared for based
Speaker 1: on the kind of injury. If it's only superficial skin,
Speaker 1: it repairs itself over time with good hygiene and antibiotic ointments.
Speaker 1: If the muscle or bone is, however, injured, conservative management
Speaker 1: is advised to try and preserve the defected part. Mostly
Speaker 1: a splint is applied, which is a bandage that is
Speaker 1: tied to the adjacent toe so that movement is restricted
Speaker 1: and healing can then occur. And in the event that
Speaker 1: you have to have your little toe amputated, pinkis said
Speaker 1: that most people can adjust to walking without it. However,
Speaker 1: he said losing a pinky can be psychologically distressing, and
Speaker 1: we often refer patients to a counselor before and after
Speaker 1: the procedure. Patients also may use a special custom insul
Speaker 1: after the operation Site heals m. Today's episode is based
Speaker 1: on the article Surprise Your pinky Too Does Serve a
Speaker 1: Purpose on Housta works dot com, written by Aleio Hoyt.
Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio and partnership
Speaker 1: with how stuff works dot com, and it's produced by
Speaker 1: Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit
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