Ligament · Foot

Deep transverse metatarsal ligament

Ligamentum metatarsale transversum profundum

A series of short flat bands lying across the ball of the foot, each joining the fibrous plate beneath one toe joint to the plate beneath the next. It links all five, and that is the detail worth knowing, because the corresponding ligament in the hand deliberately leaves the thumb out: the hand's thumb has to be able to leave the plane of the palm, while the foot's big toe must stay in line with the rest. The nerves and vessels running out to the toes pass beneath this ligament and the tendons of the small muscles between the bones pass above it.