• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

People Are Just Now Learning The Purpose Of The Pinky Toe

July 6, 2023 by Deborah Bloomfield

Human toes, no longer given the glamorous task of clinging to trees, are largely only paid attention to when you stub them or make the mistake of wearing sandals.

Losing the ability to grip branches with them may seem like a backward step, given how much cooler our commutes would be if we swung into work like Tarzan. However, the shorter, stubbier little piggies we are stuck with now give us several advantages, including helping us to run.

Advertisement

In one 2009 experiment, researchers tested the efficiency of various toe lengths in humans, finding that individuals with longer toes had to expend a lot more energy to run, suggesting an advantage for smaller toes for us bipeds. Another study found, however, that sprinters tend to have longer toes, getting a short burst of speed advantage in return for a lot more expended energy.

Even the little pinky, which looks like a contender for the most pointless appendage on the human body, does its job and does it well. Though all of the toes are used in keeping us balanced and moving forward, the toe sometimes refused to as the “little piggy” has a surprisingly important role.

“The purpose of the pinky toe is to provide balance and propulsion,” podiatrist Dr Bruce Pinker from Progressive Foot Care told How Stuff Works. “As one takes a step, the foot rolls from lateral to medial in normal foot biomechanics.”

The toe’s knuckle plays a more important role than several of its neighbors.

Advertisement

“We walk like a tripod fashion, where the big toe knuckle, the fifth toe knuckle and the heel, have a tripod walking ability,” Dr Wenjay Sung, attending physician at White Memorial Medical Group told PopSci. “If you remove one part of that tripod, you lose balance.”

People are, of course, born without pinky toes, or lose them later due to illness or accidents, and are able to adjust to walking without. However, it can lead to an altered gait, or even falls from imbalance. So show a little appreciation for the fingers of the feet.

All “explainer” articles are confirmed by fact checkers to be correct at time of publishing. Text, images, and links may be edited, removed, or added to at a later date to keep information current.  

The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.   

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Israeli minister says Iran giving militias drone training near Isfahan
  2. Fmr. supervisor accuses Chris Cuomo of harassment
  3. French watchdog chief calls for ban on ‘payment for order flow’ in EU stock market
  4. NASA’s $180 Million Plan For Destroying The ISS Revealed

Source Link: People Are Just Now Learning The Purpose Of The Pinky Toe

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Unexpected Nova Just Appeared In The Night Sky – And You Can See It With The Naked Eye
  • Watch As Maori Octopus Decides Eating A Ray Is A Good Idea
  • There Is Life Hiding In The Earth’s Deep Biosphere, But Not As You Know It
  • Two Sandhill Cranes Have Adopted A Canada Gosling, And It’s Ridiculously Adorable
  • Hybrid Pythons Are Taking Over The Florida Everglades With “Hybrid Vigor”
  • Mysterious, Powerful Radio Pulse Traced Back To NASA Satellite That’s Been Dead Since 1967
  • This Is The Best (And Worst) Sleep Position
  • Artificial Eclipse, Dancing Dinosaurs, And 50 Years Of “JAWS”
  • The Longest-Reigning Monarch In History Is Someone You’ve Never Heard Of
  • World’s First Microfiber Recycling Center Plans To Combat Ocean Pollution At Its Source – Our Homes
  • Dancing Dinosaurs May Have Used Site In Colorado As “Largest Lekking Arena In The World”
  • World’s Largest Digital Camera To Reveal Revolutionary First Images On Monday – And You Can Watch Live
  • Common Brain Parasite Infecting Up To 30 Percent Of Americans Disrupts Neuron Communication
  • First Clear Example Of A “Ghost” Mantle Plume Discovered Beneath Arabia
  • “Some People Took JAWS As A License To Kill”: 50 Years On, Can We Turn Fear To Fascination?
  • IFLScience The Big Questions: Would You Rather Go To Space Or The Bottom Of The Sea?
  • Cup Of Water On Tiangong Space Station Sparks Bizarre Conspiracy Theories
  • Simulations Of Early Solar Systems Find Up To 40 Percent Chance That Planet Nine Exists
  • The Last Time NASA’s Voyager “Looked Back” At Our Solar System, This Is What It Saw
  • What Are Those Tiny Dots On Apples?
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version