Webbed toes

How it works

In the embryo, hands and feet start as flat paddles. Around the sixth to eighth week, the cells between the future digits die off in a planned way and the fingers and toes separate¹. If that process does not finish between two toes, they stay joined². In the mildest form only the skin is joined, and each toe has its own full set of bones underneath. That is simple syndactyly, or webbed toes. In rarer forms the bones are joined too, or the web reaches the tips¹.

Webbing between the second and third toes is by far the most common pattern². It is often on both feet, and it often runs in families in a dominant pattern with variable expression, so a parent may show only a hint of it¹.

About 1 in 2,000 to 3,000 babies are born with webbed toes². The condition is more common in boys and in people of European descent¹. Most cases are isolated, meaning the child is otherwise typical. Syndactyly of the hands is more often part of a wider syndrome, so babies with joined fingers are usually examined more closely¹.

Joined toes do not affect walking, running, or balance. Because toes do not need to move separately in the way fingers do, surgery is usually unnecessary². Some people have the web released for cosmetic reasons. That involves a skin graft and careful healing, so many surgeons advise against it for toes when there is no functional problem¹.

History and culture

The actor Ashton Kutcher has webbed second and third toes and has shown them on television³. Webbed toes appear in stories as a mark of sea people and mermaids. In reality they give no advantage in the water.