Posts Tagged foot

One of the most common injuries to the foot is a broken toe. You know, that bedpost or chair jumping out at you and smacking into a toe. The pinky toe is the one that gets it the most. Pain is immediate, followed by swelling and sometimes bruising.
So it happened… now what? Should you just leave it alone? After all, I am sure you have heard people say, “You can’t do anything about a broken toe.” I wonder who came up with that saying.
The fact is, you can do something about a broken toe, and should! first of all, you should have it examined by a Podiatrist and x-rays taken to see if it is broken. If so, the alignment of the toe and where it is broken is critical. A misaligned toe or break in the joint is not good. These can lead to long term pain and arthritis.
Broken toes can easily be treated if detected early. If you bang your toe and pain and swelling last for a few days, come in to get it checked. One of my patients waited too long and eventually needed an expensive bone stimulator and fracture shoe for eight weeks to heal the toe.
The bottom line with any foot injury is not waiting too long to have it examined. Unfortunately, even a broken toe can lay you up for a while if not detected and treated early. Most injuries can heal fast without you being inactive for a long time.