What Type of Joint Is in the Toe?

Types of Joints

• There are five basic types of joints in terms of movement. These are hinge joints, ball-and-socket joints, ellipsoid joints, saddle joints and pivot joints. Hinge joints, like the hinges on a door, allow movement in two directions -- forward and backward. Ball-and-socket joints allow circular motion, almost 360 degrees. Ellipsoid joints are ball-and-socket joints that are slightly oval-shaped. Saddle joints consist of two saddle-shaped bones that run perpendicular to each other. Pivot joints allow semicircular, 180-degree motion.

Joints in the Toes

• The joints in all 10 of your toes are hinge joints. They allow your toes to move only forward (flexion) and backward (extension). The hinge joint is also called a ginglymus joint. Each of your four small toes (which are called phalanges) have three bones. The big toe (called the hallux) has two bones. The hinge joints are present at the areas where these bones meet. The joints in the toes connect the bones with fibrous tissues, called ligaments and tendons.

How Toes Move

• Toes move when muscles pull on the bones inside of them. For example, the big toe moves when the flexor hallucis longus muscle, which runs along the length of your leg below the knee, pulls on the ligaments that connect to the bones in that toe. Each toe has two collateral ligaments (one on both sides of the bone) and one plantar ligament (on the bottom of each toe). Other muscles, flexor hallucis brevis, abductor hallucis, adductor hallucis, flexor digitorum brevis and many more also act to move the toes. The longer ligaments in the big toe and second toe allow them a greater range of movement than the three smaller toes.

Sprained Toe

• One very common toe injury is a sprained or stubbed toe. This painful injury occurs when some force causes the joint in the toe to move to the wrong direction or to become compressed. You normally do not need to go to the hospital for a sprained toe. However, if the ligaments are torn or the bones are broken and the pain lasts for a week or more, then you should see a podiatrist for help.