Have you ever had a broken toe?

Pity the poor toe. The abuse these toes take. They’re made to kick things, they’re squished into shoes that are too tight, and the often get smashed into door jambs, table legs, or goodness knows what else.

When my now-20-year-old daughter was three months old, I broke the small toe on my right foot. My husband and I were going out for dinner for the first time since her birth and being home with her and my then-2-year old was driving me nuts. So, we found a trusted sitter and we were going to go out.

While we were waiting for her to come, I was playing with my son and chasing him in circles around the kitchen and living room. I smashed my foot against his toy stove and broke my little toe. Hard. The problem was – I still wanted to go out! I knew that they don’t do much for broken small toes and I needed this night out really badly. So, we went out anyway.

Our original plan was to have the buffet, but I couldn’t stand or walk very far, so I stayed put. I remember that my foot was hurting but I wasn’t going to let that interfere. Thinking back, I really must have been desperate for that night out. After the dinner, we got home, paid the sitter, saw her home safely and then decided what to do. We figured that I’d go to the emergency in the morning after I’d nursed my daughter and that’s what I did. I was right. They didn’t do anything for my toe other than tape it up. And, because I was breastfeeding, there wasn’t a whole heck of a lot I could do about the pain.

So, should you see a doctor if you thing you broke your toe? It is always best to be safe than sorry. MedicineNet.com recommends that you see a doctor if you have a compound fracture (bone breaking through the skin), you lose feeling in your toe or it gets cold, if the pain gets worse instead of better over time, or if there’s bleeding or drainage from the toe.

Going to the doctor in my case wasn’t necessary, but sometimes you just don’t know what to do. On the MedicineNet site, they say that if you don’t need to see a doctor because you don’t have any of the issues mentioned above, you can likely treat your toe yourself by resting it, elevating it, and using ice packs to reduce the swelling.

Taping may be done, which means taping the broken toe to the neighbor toe to provide some support. This should be done carefully though because if you put the tape too tight, you can cut off the circulation to both toes. Be sure to put a bit of gauze or cotton between the two toes to prevent rubbing and blistering.

Wearing shoes is going to be hard. The temptation is to wear open toe shoes, but this can expose your toe to more trauma if you hit it or if someone steps on it. Try to wear a sturdy shoe that can protect your toe.

Sometimes, toe fractures are more serious and need reduction, or movement to put the bone back into place. This is usually painful and the doctor may give you some local anesthetic to help reduce the pain. If reduction is done, often you’ll get a splint.

Casts are very rarely needed. They may be used if there are more fractures than just the toe or if there are other problems that require the stability of a cast.

We don’t think about our toes much – until they hurt. And then they have a great way of reminding us that they’re still part of us!

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Images: iStock.com

Tags: pain blog, broken toes, taping toes