How does chronic synovitis lead to plantar plate injury?

I was recently on a second opinion web cam call with a runner who had a plantar plate injury.  One of the things we were talking about as was managing the inflammation in the joint next to the sprained plantar plate ligament.

The plantar plate ligament is basically a thickened plate of collagen that helps hold the toe down against the ground and reinforces the bottom of that joint capsule.

Inflammation in the joint which doctors call "synovitis" can damage the plantar plate.

The chronic inflammatory fluid surrounding the plantar plate ligament is going to slowly degrade the collagen in the plantar plate ligament and make it more prone to stretching out, or worse, getting little plantar plate ruptures.

How does chronic synovitis lead to plantar plate injury? 

Well, that is what we're talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.