Middle Toe

On 8/2/2011, I banged my middle toe (left foot) to a chair and it broke.
My husband took me to the ER and all they did was xray and tape the toe to its neighbor. A week ago I went to see an orthopedist, he did another xray and told me the toe was healing and well aligned.

I kept it taped to the other toe, and wore open toe shoes as mush as possible. A couple days ago I was busy running errands more than usual, and wore a closed shoe: well ever since, my toe is swollen and needling is being felt underneath it.

I am worried .. I cant tell what went wrong inside , but if anyone can give me indications/advice on what to do about this now. I thought it was healing and now it gotten worse.

Thanks!

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

It normally takes 4-6 weeks for a fracture to heal and may be around 6-8 weeks before one can start putting stress on it; though without an evaluation it would be inappropriate to comment on the etiology of your symptoms. I would suggest a re-evaluation by your doctor for possible secondary causes like a re-fracture with malalignment, inflammation, ligament/ tendon injuries etc; and appropriate management. Meanwhile you may try some ice-packs for the swelling and some OTC NSAIDS if the pain is severe. In future if you need to wear a closed shoe, make sure it has adequate front space, the toe is adequately padded for protection and one may also need to avoid wearing heals to avoid stress.
Hope this helps.

Take care!

[chefsalad]

Just  an opinon here, but I think once we break a bone, or injory ourselves it's never the same. Then you have the aging factor on top of it. I dropped a glass container of rice on my foot and broke 3 toes. They all turned black & blue. I choose not to go to the hospital because I know generally they tape the "buddy taping" (one toe to the other) as you had done. Maybe I should have went anyway in hindsight, but so far so good. How long ago dod this happen? I metion this because sometimes we think we all healed up and good to go, but we're not quite yet.Myself, I would go back to the open toe shoes just for now tto see what happens. Hope it was just an irratation and nothing major

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

It normally takes 4-6 weeks for a fracture to heal and may be around 6-8 weeks before one can start putting stress on it; though without an evaluation it would be inappropriate to comment on the etiology of your symptoms. I would suggest a re-evaluation by your doctor for possible secondary causes like a re-fracture with malalignment, inflammation, ligament/ tendon injuries etc; and appropriate management. Meanwhile you may try some ice-packs for the swelling and some OTC NSAIDS if the pain is severe. In future if you need to wear a closed shoe, make sure it has adequate front space, the toe is adequately padded for protection and one may also need to avoid wearing heals to avoid stress.
Hope this helps.

Take care!

[LCA70]

Thanks Dr. Kaul!  

Your insight was helpful and eased up my worries.
I went back to the orthopedist, and xray shows that the toe is healing fine.
I am now able to wear closed shoes sometimes, but still need to be careful.