Why Does My Pinky Toe Hurt: The 5 Major Causes

The pinky toe is also famous as the fifth toe or little toe. It is found on the outer edge of your foot far away from the big toe. Despite its miniature size and presumably negligible appearance, the pinky toe is very important for maintaining balance and dependability when you are walking, running, or standing posture. Surprising Reasons: Why does my pinky toe hurt?

The pinky toe includes bone, muscle, small ligaments, and tiny nerves which function together to become a support system of the whole foot structure. The pinky toe is not capable of handling too much weight so the other toes and big toe contributes to distributing the weight and offers strength during physical activities which include moving off the ground like taking a walk or running on the streets.

Despite this fact, the pinky toe contributes as a functional object. It is also one of the most exposed to injuries. Pinky toe because of its location on the outer side of the feet. It is more prone to stubbing or bumping, which causes harmful bruises, fractures, or other uncomfortableness.

There is an interesting fact of the individual has a little shorter pinky toe also unknown as Moton’s toe and Greek foot. This kind of feature can often change the distribution of the excess weight on the foot and can cause foot-associated health issues.

Lastly despite its tiny size the sprained pinky toe delivers importance to the foot mechanic and plays a vital role in the maintenance of balance and reliability which makes it a valuable part of the physical body’s intricate structure.

1. Why Does My Pinky Toe Hurt? 

Pinky toe experiences severe pains for many reasons and there are a few causes which involve are:

1.1. Injuries 

Pinky toe is relatively susceptible and is easily banged or stubbed toe which leads to wounds like bruises or hairline fractures. Even a little injury can lead to slight uncomfortableness and a lot of foot pain in your broken toe.

1.2. Ingrown Nails

When the corner of the toenail grows around the skin it can lead to bad irritation, inflammation, and a lot of pain. Ingrown nails¹ can also affect painful pinky toes.

1.3. Blisters or Calluses 

Not fitted footwear or too much friction from some of the activities can lead to blisters or calluses on the pinky toe which gives severe pain and discomfort.

1.4. Bunion 

A tailor’s bunion is a skinny bump which created at the front of the big toe but also leads to a lot of pain and affects the situation of the other toe bones which includes the other toes.

1.5. Corn 

Corn is the hardest, place of the skin which develops edges or the tip of the broken pinky toe due to excess pressure or friction. They are painful when given pressure or squeezed.

1.6. Foot Situation

Some of the foot problems like hammer toe (this a deformity where the toe curls up can be thunder pressure on the pinky toe and cause a lot of suffering.

1.7. Gout

It is a kind of arthritis that is called because of the building up of uric acid in crystal form in leg joints. It can trouble any joint including the pinky toe leading to hurting, redness near the toe area, and swelling up.

1.8. Nerve Constriction 

Too much pressure on the nerves of the pinky toe leads to excessive pain, tingling, or numbness. This can happen because of light footwear or some specific food posture.

1.9. Infection

Infection on the pinky toe skin or nail gives pain, swelling, and redness. So better take precautions if you are hurt.

If you have been experiencing constant or troubling pain around your pinky toe it is important to seek help to consider the underlying issues and get the right treatment. Wearing proper shoes, taking care of your diet, and breaks during physical activities can help in the prevention of pinky toe pain sufferings.

2. Causes of Pinky Toe Hurt 

There are many reasons which lead to pinky toe hurt are:

2.1. Stress Fracture

Pinky toe fracture is a particular type of injury that happens when the pinky toe is subjected to continuous stresses or excessive use of it while performing intense exercises or physical activity. These fractures are small cracks found in the bones which give discomfort and pain. The following are some of the major reasons why pinky toe fracture happens while doing intensive exercises.

Wearing not-so-comfortable footwear ²contributes to uncomfortable pressures and influences the pinky toes. Footwear that is tight or loses proper support increases the high risk of a stress fracture.

Participating in intense impactful exercises like running on the streets, jumping, or playing your favorite sports such as basketball or lawn tennis can give a lot of pressure on your feet and pinky toes possibly leading to stress fractures in the pinky toe.

Excessive training involving yourself in stressful and continuous exercises without permitting enough time for resting and recovering the strains on the toe bones makes the more prone to a stress fracture.

2.2. Transformation in Training Schedule  

An immediate increase in the intensity, period, or frequency of physical exercise without proper guidance situation can burden your toe bones near your feet which includes the pinky toe.

People with specific foot shapes or biomechanics problems like flat feet or high arches can be very much prone to a build-up of stress fractures in their pinky toes. Bad flexibility in your foot or ankle can lead to irregular loading stand during periods of intense exercise, and more risks of a stress fracture.

Some of the physical exercise movements such as pivoting or lateral movement can position more stress on the pinky toes especially when done instantly and extremely.

There are various symptoms of the stress factors which include excess pain, swelling, feeble and potential bruises rise around the pinky toes. The pain gets worse while doing intense physical exercise or weight-bearing activity. If it is left untreated stress fracture leads to severe wounds and it is very vital to ask for medical aid immediately if you find a stress fracture around your pinky toe.

2.3. Nerve Issues

Nerve issues cause a range of symptoms which includes severe pain numb toes and prickly sensation. These symptoms sometimes happen due to issues with peripheral nerves found outside the brain and your spinal cord. Here are a few common nerve issues which lead to these features.

Peripheral neuropathy is a medical condition where the peripheral nerves are deteriorated or malfunctioned. It results from many because which includes diabetes, painful infections, autoimmune disorder, and vitamin deficiency. Stabbing pain, numb toes, and tingling usually start in your hands and feet and spreads to other parts of the body over a period.

Sciatica is also a medical issue that happens when the sciatic nerve which is one of the longest nerves of your body gets compressed. It sometimes leads to sharp pain which develops from the lower back and downward of your legs. Apathy and tingling also occur along the sciatica path.

Carpal tunnel syndrome results from the suppression of the middle nerve as it goes through the carpal tunnel found in the wrist. It causes numbness and pain in the hands and finger area.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disorder that affects the whole nervous system. Multiple Sclerosis leads to severe pains due to issues in the nerve’s protective covering called myelin. Shingles (Herpes Zoster) is a viral infection problem that is caused because of varicella-zoster virus which also contributes to chickenpox.

Radial Nerve Palsy happens when the radical nerve which handles the movements in the forearm and body hand is marred. It causes insensitivity and weakness around the wrist and fingers.

A healthcare expert is the one who evaluates and does the examination and does the nerve conduction study (NCS) or performs the imaging possess to consider the underlying consequence and suggests proper treatment. Early diagnosis and medication lead to better results for nerve issues.

2.4. Gout

Gout is one of inflammatory arthritis³ which is caused by the building up of excess uric acid crystal in the leg joints which leads to immediate severe pain, redness, and bump. There are various symptoms of gout in the pinky toe.

Gout usually gives extreme pain in the affected area of joints. The pain does not allow an individual to walk properly. Redness The affected area looks red or inflamed. Swelling gives a slight swelling near the joint which makes it tough to move from one place to another.

2.5. Warmth

The affected areas’ skin feels warm when touched because of the inflammation. In most cases chronic got requires long-term administration with medication aid to avoid future eruption and reduces the dangers of complications like joint damage and tophi (lump of uric acid under your skin.

If you experience any kind of gout symptom reach out to your health specialist for an appropriate diagnosis and a proper treatment plan for effective controlling of the condition and avoiding future issues related to it.

Suggested Reading: What Not to Do When You Have Shingles

3. Final Words 

Lastly, pain around your pinky toe can be caused because of many reasons which can be ranged from minor to major condition. Despite its very small size pinky toe plays important in maintaining balance and dependability when walking and ruining around.

The various common causes involve injuries such as a bruise, sprains and stress fractures and nerve-related issues contribute a greater role in giving severe pain to the individual. It is better to reach out to health professionals on time before it gets too severe and complicated. Take care and stay healthy.

1. Haneke, Eckart. “Controversies in the treatment of ingrown nails.” Dermatology research and practice 2012 (2012). ↩︎
2. Masayavanij, P. (2007). An investigation into how consumer perceive domestic brands and global brands: Thai footwear (trainer) industry. University of Nottingham. ↩︎
3. McGonagle, Dennis, Wayne Gibbon, and Paul Emery. “Classification of inflammatory arthritis by enthesitis.” The Lancet 352.9134 (1998): 1137-1140. ↩︎

Last Updated on August 17, 2024 by Sathi