Muscle · Foot

Adductor hallucis

Musculus adductor hallucis

A deep muscle of the sole with two heads running in completely different directions. The oblique head runs forward from the bases of the middle metatarsals; the transverse head runs ACROSS the foot, from the ligaments at the base of the outer three toes. Both converge on the outer side of the big toe's first bone. The oblique head pulls the big toe toward the others; the transverse head is one of the few structures that actively binds the front of the foot together from side to side, holding the heads of the metatarsals in their arch rather than letting them splay apart under load.