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If You Think Your Toe Is Broken, What Should You Do About It

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how to know if toe is broken

In this blog, we will discuss broken toes, how to know if you have a broken toe, and why treatment may be important. Most of us encounter chair legs, or some other semi-immovable objects when we are walking barefoot. Immediately, if your toe has been impacted by such objects, you will pause for a second. Then the pain hits you, which can be very excruciating. Stubbing your toe is never fun!

This is a common occurrence, and we will share symptoms that may indicate that you have a broken toe and what can be done about it.

How Do I Know If My Toe Is Broken Or Just Bruised?

  1. I won’t be able to walk on my foot if the toe is broken right? WRONG! This is an adage that is simply not true. Many people can still walk even if their toes are broken.
  2. Swelling – the more swelling you have, the more likelihood that your toe is broken but this is not always the case.
  3. Level of pain – do not assume that this is an accurate predictor of a broken toe. If one of the joints of the toe is sprained, this can be the main cause of your pain and swelling and a fracture may not be present.

I’m not going to go to the doctor, there’s nothing they can do anyway! WRONG!
The message is simple: There is no way to absolutely know for sure unless an X-ray has been taken.

If you visit your foot specialist, he will first listen to your history about how the injury occurred and then X-rays will be taken. X-rays are very reliable but in rare instances an MRI may also be recommended.

Causes Of Broken Toes

  • Trauma – stubbing the toe is probably the most common cause of a broken toe.
  • Stress fractures – they seldom happen in toes but can happen in many other areas in your foot and ankle. Because toes do not bear the bulk of your entire body weight, the occurrence is rare.

Symptoms to help identify a broken toe

Symptoms of a broken toe or injured toe may include the following:

  • Discoloration – The toe may change in color and become purplish. This could be from broken blood vessels in the toe and could also be swollen and painful to touch.
  • Nerve pain – when you stub a toe, the toe may jam upwards or downwards. In doing so, the nerves that are traveling from the foot to the toes may become stretched and damaged.
  • Deviation of the toe – if the fracture is more significant, you may notice that the toe is not in its normal alignment.

What Can You Do To Avoid Broken Toes?

Selection of shoe gear – if you are going to be in an area where you are likely to stub your toes, it is very important to consider closed shoes rather than sandals. Your working environment, especially if you’re around heavy objects, may necessitate using steel-toed shoes.

Walking at night –  many broken toes occur in the middle of the night, possibly walking to the bathroom. It is important to take extra precautions whenever you walk barefoot outside or inside in the dark.

Treatment

Before you talk about seeing the doctor, what can you do initially?

  1. To reduce the toe pain and reduce swelling, consider icing the area for 20 minutes at a time.
  2. Consider anti-inflammatory pain medication to help deal with the pain and swelling. Make sure you reduce your daily activities, and to protect your toe you may consider buddy taping your toe to an adjacent toe.

Great Toe Pain

If an injury occurs to your great toe, it is even more important to get x-rays taken and have a professional opinion. The reason for this is that for normal ambulation compared to the smaller toe, a big toe fracture is more critical to evaluate to allow for normal ambulation.

How to Know if Your Pinky Toe Is Broken?

The pinky toe, or fifth toe, is particularly vulnerable to fractures due to its small size and location on the outer edge of the foot. Because of this, many people ignore pinky-toe injuries, assuming they are minor. However, a broken pinky toe can cause significant discomfort and even long-term issues if not properly treated. Here are some signs that may indicate your pinky toe is broken:

  • Severe Pain – While minor toe injuries can be painful, a broken pinky toe often causes sharp, intense pain, especially when pressure is applied.
  • Swelling and Redness – If your pinky toe becomes swollen and red shortly after injury, it may indicate a fracture.
  • Bruising or Discoloration – A broken pinky toe may turn purple, blue, or black due to bruising and internal bleeding.
  • Difficulty Walking – While some people can still walk with a broken pinky toe, you may experience discomfort or find yourself limping.
  • Visible Deformity – If your pinky toe looks crooked, bent at an odd angle, or misaligned, it is a strong sign that a fracture has occurred.
  • Numbness or Tingling – Damage to the nerves in your toe may result in a tingling sensation or numbness.

What Is The Doctor Going To Do When You See Him For Your Toe?

If it is determined that your toe was fractured, buddy-taping your toe to an adjacent toe is often the treatment of choice. The doctor may also recommend that you be placed in a special shoe called a surgical shoe to protect the area. Buddy taping may be recommended for about 3-4 weeks to allow the bone to heal properly.

Toe Sprains

If your toe hurts a lot but there is no fracture, it may be that you injured the ligaments around the small joints in the toe and this is called a toe sprain. Buddy taping may also be suggested for this but may not need to be done for as long.

It is important to understand that the consequences of having an undiagnosed toe fracture improperly treated can result in toe surgery. If you have an undiagnosed displaced fracture, it may cause pain later on. In this case, the bone heals in a misaligned position and often times this can cause pain and arthritis in the adjacent joints of the toe. Because of the extra bone accumulation in the toe to mend the fracture, you may now have a painful knuckle that rubs your shoes or adjacent toes. There are instances where surgeries have to be performed because of the lack of appropriate care. If you suspect a fracture, it is important to seek medical attention to avoid these consequences.

If you think you have a broken toe? Get it checked by our specialists in Fort Collins or Broomfield.

Call us today at our Fort Collins location (970) 484-4620, Broomfield location (720) 259-5053

Or use our online scheduling system to book your appointment.

Understanding Stress Fractures in the Foot: Symptoms, Causes, and Prevention

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stress fracture in foot

Stress fractures are one of the common athletic injuries in the foot and ankle. It has been said that they may comprise 20% of these injuries. A stress fracture is caused by putting too much stress through a bone that does not have time to recover. At first, it may be considered a bone bruise but with repetitive stress, a break may develop in the bone. By definition, a stress fracture is not typically from one traumatic episode. The challenge of a stress fracture in the foot is that the diagnosis could be missed, and treatment could be delayed. The message of this blog is that the earlier a stress fracture is detected, the faster you’ll receive treatment. Thus providing you with the opportunity to get back to regular activity faster.

Symptoms of a Stress Fracture: How do you know if you have a fracture in your foot?

Generally, no matter where a stress fracture is occurring there tends to be swelling around the injured bone. Typically there will be a high amount of pinpoint pain directly in that area. Usually pressing directly on the bone will cause pain. The pain associated with the stress fracture may make walking difficult!

Just because you can walk on your foot does not mean you don’t have a fracture.

The most common location for stress fractures in the foot tends to be the metatarsal bones. These are the long bones that start in the mid-foot area and extend down to the toes. Ending with the weight-bearing bones of the ball of your foot.

Risk Factors: How Does a Stress Fracture Occur?

High Impact Activities

High-impact activities are common causes of stress fractures. These could include sports such as track and field, running, or other high-impact sports such as tennis, basketball, and football. All of these are repetitive activities that put added stress on the foot and ankle which can lead to a stress fracture.

Improper training can lead to stress fractures. Doing too much too soon or not having rest days between the high-impact activities will not allow your body time to repair. It is important to have rest days for the body to rest or you may develop stress fractures.

Foot Types

Some foot types are more prone to stress fractures. Some people are born with a shorter 1st metatarsal, and this is the bone that makes up the great toe joint. If this bone is excessively short, this will cause more weight bearing on the 2nd and 3rd metatarsal bones.

Bone Insufficiency

Fractures are more common with the following:

Hyperparathyroidism

If the parathyroid gland is hyperactive, the parathyroid hormone will take calcium from the bone and put it in the bloodstream thereby creating weakness in the bones.

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis appears more frequently in women than in men and it could be related to eating disorders or menstrual dysfunction.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D deficiency can also cause weakness of bone and can be more common in winter months when sun exposure is more limited.

Diagnosing a Stress Fracture

When you see a foot specialist, they will examine your foot and look for swelling and pain. The clinical exam itself is important and will lead the podiatrist to suspect a fracture.

X-rays

X-rays are taken but stress fractures may not be seen if taken soon after the symptoms have started. Oftentimes, the fracture is so small that it is not seen on X-rays. Ten days after the fracture starts, new bone will form that is visible on x-ray and this is called a bone callus. That is why X-rays may show no signs of a stress fracture but if the x-ray is repeated ten days later, the bone callus will be seen, and the diagnosis can be made.

MRI – Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRI

This can be considered the gold standard and is highly recommended especially if x-rays are negative for a stress fracture, but the symptoms correlate to a stress fracture.

Bone Scan

A bone scan can also be performed which will more accurately detect a stress fracture than x-rays.

Treatment

With very few exceptions, the use of a CAM walker is recommended. For many people, they can continue weight bearing in a CAM walker. The use of a CAM walker can last from 3 to 6 weeks depending on the severity of the stress fracture. In the rare instance that the bone is displaced at the fracture site, this may necessitate the need for non-weight bearing before going to weight bearing in the CAM boot. The reason for this is to prevent further displacement of the bone.

cam walker foot stress fracture in foot

Location of Stress Fractures in the Foot

There are many types of stress fractures.

Metatarsal bones

These are the most common bones to have stress fractures especially the 2nd and 3rd metatarsals and to a lesser degree the 4th and 5th metatarsals.

Heel Bone: Calcaneus

This is an uncommon stress fracture. When a stress fracture occurs in the heel, it is usually quick to heal because it has a very good supply.

Tarsal bones

There are many cube-shaped bones in the midfoot area where stress fractures may also occur but again are not as frequent as the metatarsal bones.

Sesamoid bones

Two small bones underneath the big toe joint function much like the patella in the knee joint. These occasionally can fracture and can be caused by trauma to the big toe area but less frequently, can be caused by overuse.

In summary, early detection of a stress fracture is vital. So, it is important not to ignore your symptoms, especially if they’re located in the region of the metatarsal bones as early detection is important. It can reduce the time to heal the stress fracture if early treatment is administered.

Call us today at our Fort Collins location (970) 484-4620, Broomfield location (720) 259-5053 or use our online scheduling system to book your appointment.

How to Avoid an Ankle Fusion or Ankle Replacement

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One of the most debilitating problems is arthritis in the ankle joint. This can be caused from overuse or just getting older (wear and tear). It can also be caused by previous injuries including an old ankle fracture or repetitive ankle sprains. In both situations the cartilage that lines the joint may become damaged to the point of almost having bone rubbing bone in your joint. Ouch!

“But doctors don’t understand!”

I hear that a lot from my patients. They come in frustrated as they have been told to exercise more. Maybe they are overweight, maybe they need to better control their diabetes. And they are motivated! But, the pain is stopping them. It’s a vicious circle.

More exercise=More pain.

Many feel they are not being listened to. And yes some think that your feet and ankles are supposed to hurt, that’s just what happens. They may have been dumbed down by all the drug marketing to the point they assume that if something below the knee hurts and a drug doesn’t help, then there may be nothing that can be done. Sound crazy? Well, sadly, it’s becoming a more common mind set.

Major surgery or living with it are the only options patients are getting!How to avoid ankle fusion or replacemet

Regarding ankle arthritis: the common approach in severe cases are the options of replacing the joint, just like replacing a hip or knee joint, or fusion of the joint. Both are major surgeries.
On the one hand, ankle joint replacements may not be as successful as replacing a hip or knee. On the other hand, ankle fusion leaves one with a stiff ankle that no longer moves, and a much altered walk.

Stop- consider a simpler, less painful solution.

Before you take the last step to replace or fuse a joint with all the potential risk consider deinervation of the joint. Simply stated this means getting rid of the nerve or nerves that send messages to the brain telling it the joint hurts. The area where the nerve or nerves are removed is just above the ankle.

We have been doing this surgery for 2 years, and our success rate is very high! Patients are able to walk immediately, or within just a few days.  I must stress, we don’t remove nerves that would make the joint weaker, but simply remove branches that give the joint sensation. We have seen very rewarding results, and if it fails there is still the option to have the ankle replaced or fused. Patients who had given up are now being active with very significant reduction of pain, and now with no more drugs!

Don’t let the thought of a major surgery stop you from getting better! Just remember, before you fuse or replace consider this simple, proven procedure and simply deinvervate.