Muscle · Foot

Flexor digitorum brevis

Musculus flexor digitorum brevis

The muscle lying immediately under the thick band of tissue in the sole — so close to it that the two work almost as one. It runs from the heel to the four small toes and curls them at the middle knuckle, pressing the pads of the toes into the ground as you take weight. Alongside the plantar fascia, it is what keeps the arch from flattening in the middle of a step. It shares its heel attachment with the plantar fascia, and the deep aching sole that people describe with heel pain is often as much this muscle as the fascia itself.