What Are Claw/Hammer Toes?
The toes are vital to walking and stability. Toe deformities are commonly caused by a muscle imbalance in the foot as a result of flat feet, traumatic injury, or disease of the toe joints. There are at least six sets of muscles that control each toe. Two tendons (the extensor digitorum longus and the extensor digitorum brevis) join on the dorsal aspect (top) of the toes and insert into the middle and distal phalanges (bones) of each toe. On the bottom (plantar aspect) of the toes, there are two muscles that, instead of joining like the extensors, remain separate. Each muscle stabilizes one of the bones in the toe. The flexor digitorum longus muscle attaches to the bone at the end of the toe (distal phalanx) and the flexor digitorum brevis attaches to the middle bone (middle phalanx). The lumbrical and interossei muscles stabilize the inner toe bone (proximal phalanx). If there is an imbalance in the foot, the smaller muscles can be overpowered by the larger flexor and extensor muscles.
