What would happen if you didn't have toes? My brother says you would fall over. Is this true?

satguru

I know losing just the big toe means a complete relearning of balance as my neighbour had to after an operation. The toes regulate the angle you leave the ground when walking and also absorb it when you land. Therefore you would lose all these abilities without them. You could still walk but you'd have a lot less control over any gradients or steps so bound to fall over more. Nov 24 07, 9:55 AM

Baloo55th

That applies to bare feet and flexible soled shoes. Wearers of clogs would have less trouble walking as there is no flexing of the sole. There is a curvature of the sole (in mine and my friends' at least) that gives the necessary change of angle when walking. (I wouldn't fancy walking in totally flat soled clogs.) There would probably need to be some packing inside the clog to take up the space vacated by the missing toes. Nov 24 07, 12:01 PM

Arpeggionist

Witness the single hoofed animals, who manage to walk and even run at great speeds without toes - of course they're not bipedal. Possibly ducks and penguins might provide a better example to what walking would be like to people without toes. Nov 24 07, 6:20 PM

McGruff

Not that it has anything to do with the question, but ducks and penguins do have toes. "Along with the bill, a duck's feet are its most characteristic symbol. The webbing between their toes is a form of subaqua turbocharger which makes high speed swimming a doddle but is also ideal for paddling around in water. Although their feet look soft, be careful when handing your duck, as they have small nails on the end of their toes." http://www.omlet.co.uk/guide/guide.php?view=Ducks&cat=About%20Ducks&sub=anatomy "Most birds have four toes, three that face forward and one rearward. Birds that have two toes facing forward and two toes facing rearward usually hang onto the sides of trees." http://www.all-birds.com/Anatomy.htm Good picture of a penguin showing its toes: http://www.billybear4kids.com/animal/whose-toes/toes24a.html I believe their "waddle" is more due to the knee joint being hinged opposite of that of the human knee. Toes help us to balance and are generally the means of propulsion in walking or running, but people who have lost toes simply learn to compensate for the lack of them. "We have several patients who have had all toes amputated and they walk fine," Lee says. "You lose some balance, strength and ability to propulse in gait, but they walk fine as long as they are in appropriate shoes with customized inserts and toe fillers." http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=no-big-toe-no-go The hoof of a horse is basically a toe covered by a thick nail. http://www.infovisual.info/02/073_en.html Nov 24 07, 10:38 PM

Arpeggionist

The webbing helps them swim, but doesn't exactly facilitate walking for penguins and ducks. Birds that don't have webbing between their toes make for faster runners. Nov 24 07, 11:12 PM