numb fourth toe after inversion injury

Hi,

6 days ago i twisted my ankle in such a way that the ankle ligaments were mildly strained (very hard to sprain my ankle for some reason, rolled it numerous times, no swelling ever), but a large ball of edema surfaced over the lateral half of the dorsum of my foot. pain was isolated to around the cuboid, but the swelling spread all the way to my toes and behind my ankle. the swelling went down over the next two days, but some bruising and slight edema remains at the base of my toes. yesterday my 4th toe went white and numb to touch. i applied heat and the feeling was restored, but has now done the same thing three more times in the past 24 hours. should i be worried at all by this? is it just vascular compromise that will clear up once the edema has fully flushed, or is it cause for concern (ie fracture or some nerve compression). are there any effective treatments i can pursue at home?

[Yena H Do, DPM]

i would get an xray to rule out fractures. it sounds like you have a fracture.
increase swelling can impinge nerves and cause numbness.  if the foot looks very swollen, you may have a compartment syndrome, which causes numbness.  if this is the case, get medical help immediately to decompress the fascia.