Tweet
Remove your shoe and sock and feel for any deformity. Gently run your fingers up and down your toe. If your toe feels crooked or lumpy, it's more likely that it's broken than sprained.
- Wiggle your toe. Severe pain suggests the toe is broken.
- Listen to your toe while wiggling it. If you hear a grating or popping sound, a piece of bone may be rubbing against another piece of bone.
- Check for swelling. If your toe is double its size in puffiness and the skin is stretched, your toe may be broken.
- Compare your injured toe to the same toe on the other foot. If the injured toe looks shorter or deformed, chances are it may be broken.
- Check your temperature. Within two to three hours after a bone breaks, the body's natural defense mechanisms automatically raise your temperature. A fever above 99.6 degrees F suggests the toe is broken.
- Try to stand for a minute or so. If your toe is broken, it won't be able to support your weight. A broken toe will tend to buckle underneath you when you stand on it.
Once it has been determined if that the toe is broke, call your podiatrist immediately to make an appointment. This is very important because if left untreated, one can develop persistent foot pain and arthritis.
In the time prior to the appointment, rest the leg and foot and apply ice to reduce swelling. Ice packs work well but be sure to put a towel around the ice pack so that it doesn't come in contact with the skin. Leave the ice pack on for 20 minutes at a time. If it is necessary to be mobile, wear a shoe with a wider stiffer sole.
Have you ever had a broken toe? How did you know? What did you do? Please comment below!
Citation:
Image by
(2011). License Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Retrieved from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liquidcross/4552686533/
I broke my 2nd rights toe 2 month ago it swelled and bruished all over. I rushed to A&E and they performed an x-ray and found its was broken. As such Dr have it buddy tape. At this moment pain still occurred everytime I walked.
ReplyDeletei hurt my toe it started to swell and under my toe nail hs gone purple any ideas what this could be?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, it could be broken or bruised. The only way to properly diagnose is to make an appointment for a checkup. I did write a blog that may be of interest about black toenails: http://vittorifootankle.blogspot.com/2011/10/black-toenails.html
ReplyDeleteI highly suggest making an appointment.
I stubbed my toe yesterday. the toenail is purple and the whole toe is swollen and red. The first joint is purple all the way around my toe. I cant hold weight or walk! Its too swollen to see if there is deformities.
ReplyDeleteI'm worried it might be dislocated how do I tell the difference??
If you can't hold your weight on your foot because of the toe, I would suggest going to a Podiatrist to have an X-ray done to know for sure if it is broken. If you are in the Chicagoland area, call my office at 708.301.4443
ReplyDeleteOkay! I will go into a clinic today, I'm in MA, but thank you.
Deletei have pain in the toe next to my pinky toe... i have to walk with my foot to the side so that the pain isnt as bad. do you think it is broken?
ReplyDelete-D
I deffinitley have a broken toe because this was the only injury I cried from in like 2 years (except for a ping pong bat to the eye) and when i wiggle it it hurts really sharply. Is it broken? Mines the pinky toe as well and its sort of twisted in the middle
ReplyDeleteI was surfing the Internet for information and came across your blog. I am impressed by the information you have on this blog. It shows how well you understand this subject. custom yoga socks
ReplyDelete