Is my big toe broken and what should I do?

Posted , 3 users are following.

Two weeks ago I tripped coming down some stairs and either landed on my left big toe or hit it on something. I think it might have bent down wards, like the way you normally curl it but with the force of me falling. There was some initial pain in the nail area. Like about as much as when you stub your two. I braced myself and removed my sock to look (I hate blood and nail injuries always freak me out). I expected blood and the nail to be damaged, but it was fine. On the other hand, the skin that attached to the nail bed was lifted up. It stung and the pain intensified after a few minutes. It hurt, but it wasn't a huge amount and the pain seemed localized around the area where the skin attached to the nail(cuticle?) so I figured that was the extent of the injury. I put a band-aid on it, put my sock back on and just kept my foot up for the rest of the day. I didn't give it a detailed examination or anything at the time or try to move it around because I didn't want to make the injury worse. At the time it looked pretty normal, wasn't at a weird angle or anything sticking/poking out. I didn't try moving it around too much because I didn't want the skin to detach even more.

The next day I removed the band-aid and there was a small drop of blood on it and some dried blood on the skin, the area around the nail and a little south of it was purple and bruised and the whole toe was swollen. It looked bad, but it looked a lot worse than it felt. The area around the injury was painful but not that much, not an alarming amount anyways. So I just rested the foot, and tried to keep off of it. I didn't have to go anywhere so other than getting up to go to the bathroom or kitchen, So I didn't move it much. The short distances where I had to move, I limped/hobbled a bit while tilting that foot a bit to keep weight off of that toe and on to the other side of the foot. The amount of swelling did alarm me and It didn't take long for me to do some panic research on the internet, to see if maybe it could have been broken or sprained or something like that. From what I saw the symptoms of a broken toe or sprain were pretty similar and hard to diagnose without an x-ray. I read several forums posts about people talking about broken toes they have had in the past and said they were no big deal and said to just rest it and give it time and even if you went to a doctor they didn't do anything for them, even for their big toe. The medical websites I read said that the big toe should be checked out because of it's important to walking, But like a dummy I decided to give it time, to wait and see.

Anyways, after the first couple of days I didn't even notice it. There was barely any pain outside of moving around. And even then I'd just classify it as uncomfortable. The majority of the swelling/bruising lasted for a week and afterwards I tried moving it and was able to wiggle it around, move it up and down and curl it without pain, it was a little difficult because it felt stiff. I was able to walk around on it and there wasn't pain so I figured maybe it wasn't broken after all. The next day it was sore so I figured it wasn't fully healed and i'd just take it easy on it and rest it some more.

Anyways, here we are, two whole weeks later. It's still a little swollen, and some slight bruising but the swelling is down enough for me to give it a good look and now i'm scared. Back when it was super swollen the first week, other than the obvious bruising and swelling it looked fine. But now the top part looks raised up a bit. I don't know if that is just swelling or if it's the bone sticking out. My toe looks like it's in a slightly curled position. I can't straighten it out as much as the other toe on the other foot. I'm able to walk around, I don't seem to feel any pain but walking feels a bit off. Like the full toe isn't touching the floor or something like the other foot does. The stiffness has lessened a bit after trying to move it around today instead of keeping it immobile like I have been these last couple of weeks. I checked to see if I can curl it which I can, it's just fully extending it straight which I can't seem to fully do. It's not that it's painful to do so, it feels like it is but it looks like it isn't. I really don't want to mess around with it more and potentially make it worse.

My anxiety is through the roof right now. I really wish I hadn't waited so long and got it checked out initially, but I felt silly rushing to the hospital for something that I thought was just stubbing my toe and a minor injury, or just being told that there is nothing to do but rest and ice it. Now I regret that. It's always better to be safe than sorry. What should I do? Is it too late to get it taken care of? It's been two weeks since the injury. Is there still something a doctor can do? If it is broken and not aligned properly is it still possible to set it in a correct place or is it already too far healed? Am I screwed? If I should still go see a doctor, should I go to the ER or an urgent care center? Or would it be better to go straight to a specialist like a Podiatrist or Orthopedist? Is it even possible it's not broken?

Here are pictures of my toe to help give a better look. I know pictures aren't the same as an actual examination but I'll happily take any advice or opinions.

How bad does it look?

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0 likes, 2 replies

2 Replies

  • Posted

    Gosh Fred it sounds like your anxiety is bothering you more than the toe. The toe doesn't look that bad to me (a total non professional). If you would feel better to get it checked than that is what you should do. I don't think a specialist is warranted at this time. Nor is rushing to the ER. Just make an appointment with your doctor (not a specialist) and have him/her take a look. I'm trying to remember when I stubbed my toe such a long time ago. The nail was lifted up and it bled a lot. Over time the new nail simply pushed the old nail out and all was well. Best of luck to you and relax.

  • Posted

    Go to your GP. An xray will confirm any injury then go from there.

    Let us know what happens?

    Melissa

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