What are the signs of a broken toe. How can you differentiate between a sprain and a fracture. What first aid measures should you take for a stubbed toe. When should you seek medical attention for toe injuries. How long does it take for a broken toe to heal. What are the best ways to manage toe pain at home.

Understanding Toe Injuries: From Stubbed Toes to Fractures

Toe injuries are common occurrences that can range from minor inconveniences to more serious conditions requiring medical attention. While stubbing a toe may seem trivial, it can lead to various complications, including breaks, sprains, broken nails, and infections.

The initial pain from a stubbed toe typically subsides within minutes. However, if the impact was severe enough to break the toe or toenail, the pain may intensify over time. In most cases, these injuries can be treated at home, with pain medication providing relief. However, it’s crucial to recognize when professional medical care is necessary.

Common Causes of Toe Injuries

• Accidentally kicking a wall or doorframe
• Tripping over objects on the floor
• Catching the toe on furniture or other obstacles

Initial Symptoms of a Stubbed Toe

• Intense, sharp, or dull pain
• Pain radiating to other parts of the foot or ankle
• Discomfort when bearing weight on the affected area

Why do stubbed toes hurt so much? The toe area contains numerous nerve endings and minimal fat padding, making injuries in this region particularly painful and increasing the risk of more severe injuries like bone bruises and fractures.

Identifying Different Types of Toe Injuries

Distinguishing between various toe injuries can be challenging, as strains, sprains, bone contusions, and fractures often present similar symptoms. If the pain and discomfort persist beyond a few minutes, it may indicate a more serious injury, such as a broken toe.

Broken or Fractured Toe

A broken toe involves a fracture in one of the 14 toe bones. This injury can cause significant pain and difficulty walking. While many fractures heal on their own, severe cases may require surgical intervention.

How can you identify a broken toe? Look for these symptoms:

• Swelling around the toe, sometimes extending into the foot
• Discoloration or bruising around the toe
• Changes in toe shape, indicating a displaced bone
• Difficulty moving the toe
• Significant pain when walking or bearing weight
• Pain that worsens over several hours
• Loss of sensation in the toe or foot
• Visible bone protruding through the skin (in severe cases)

Sprains and Strains

Sprains affect the ligaments connecting toe bones, while strains involve injuries to muscles or tendons. These injuries can range from mild stretching to severe tearing of the affected tissues.

Bone Bruise

A bone bruise occurs when blood vessels in or around the bone are damaged. Though intensely painful, these injuries typically heal within a couple of months. Unlike fractures, bone bruises don’t appear on X-rays.

Toenail Injuries: A Painful Consequence of Stubbed Toes

Toenail injuries can be particularly painful, especially when the nail breaks deep in the nail plate. Severe injuries may cause bleeding and make walking difficult for several weeks.

Types of Toenail Injuries

• Cracked or broken nails
• Bleeding along the nail edge or underneath
• Swelling or pain under the toenail
• Accumulation of pus or fluid under the nail

Subungual Hematoma

A subungual hematoma is a blood spot under the toenail, often resulting from trauma. Severe hematomas can create large blood spots and intense, painful pressure. Regardless of size, hematomas frequently lead to the toenail falling off.

How long does it take for a subungual hematoma to heal? Typically, it takes 6-9 months for a subungual hematoma to completely disappear.

Toe Infections: A Potential Complication of Stubbed Toes

When stubbing a toe causes broken skin or nails, bacteria can enter and cause infections. People with diabetes or weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to toe and foot infections.

Signs of an Infected Toe

• Redness and swelling
• Tenderness or pain
• Fluid or pus accumulation under the skin around the nail
• Nail discoloration or thickening
• Persistent pain or itching around the toenail, even months after the injury

What is paronychia? Paronychia is a skin infection that occurs along the nail, often as a result of injury or prolonged exposure to moisture.

First Aid Measures for Stubbed Toes

Immediate action can help alleviate pain and prevent further complications when you stub your toe. Here are some first aid measures to consider:

1. Massage or shake the foot to distract from pain and increase blood flow
2. Apply ice to reduce swelling and numb the area
3. Elevate the foot to minimize swelling
4. Take over-the-counter pain relievers if necessary
5. Gently clean any cuts or abrasions to prevent infection

For more serious injuries, such as suspected fractures, consider the following:

• Gently tape the injured toe to an adjacent toe for support
• Avoid putting weight on the affected foot
• Wear comfortable, wide shoes to reduce pressure on the toe

When to Seek Medical Attention for Toe Injuries

While many toe injuries can be managed at home, certain situations warrant professional medical care. Seek medical attention if:

• Pain is severe or persists for more than a few days
• You suspect a broken bone
• There are signs of infection, such as increased redness, warmth, or pus
• You have diabetes or a compromised immune system
• You experience numbness or tingling in the toe
• The toe appears deformed or misaligned

How do doctors diagnose toe injuries? Physicians typically use a combination of physical examination and imaging tests, such as X-rays, to diagnose toe injuries accurately.

Treatment Options for Toe Injuries

The appropriate treatment for a toe injury depends on its severity and type. Here are some common treatment approaches:

For Minor Injuries

• Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation (RICE) method
• Over-the-counter pain medications
• Gentle exercises to maintain flexibility

For Fractures

• Buddy taping (taping the injured toe to an adjacent toe)
• Wearing a special shoe or boot to protect the toe
• In severe cases, surgery may be necessary

For Nail Injuries

• Draining subungual hematomas (performed by a healthcare professional)
• Removing damaged portions of the nail
• Applying antibiotic ointment to prevent infection

How long does it take for a broken toe to heal? Most broken toes heal within 4-6 weeks, but complete recovery can take several months, especially for more severe fractures.

Preventing Toe Injuries: Tips for Foot Safety

While accidents happen, there are steps you can take to reduce the risk of toe injuries:

• Wear properly fitting shoes that protect your toes
• Keep floors clear of clutter and obstacles
• Use adequate lighting in your home, especially at night
• Be cautious when walking on uneven surfaces
• Trim toenails regularly to prevent ingrown nails
• Strengthen foot muscles through exercises

Can wearing toe protectors help prevent injuries? Toe protectors or reinforced shoes can provide additional protection, especially for individuals at higher risk of toe injuries, such as athletes or those working in hazardous environments.

Understanding the various types of toe injuries, their symptoms, and appropriate treatment options is crucial for proper care and recovery. While many toe injuries can be managed at home with simple first aid measures, it’s essential to recognize when professional medical attention is necessary. By taking preventive measures and responding promptly to injuries, you can ensure the health and well-being of your toes and feet.

When is it serious, and what are the treatments?

A stubbed toe may seem to be a minor injury. However, stubbing a toe can cause breaks, sprains, broken nails, and infections.

The pain of a stubbed toe usually subsides after a few minutes. In some cases, however, the impact could break the toe or the toenail, causing intense pain that may get worse over hours or days.

In most cases, people can treat the injury at home and medication can help with the pain.

This article looks at the symptoms of a stubbed toe, how to tell if a toe is broken or sprained, some treatments, and a range of home remedies.

Share on PinterestThe impact of stubbing a toe might break the toe or toenail.

A stubbed toe is the name for any injury that happens when a person suddenly hits or jams their toe.

Some common causes include accidentally kicking the toe into a wall or doorframe, tripping over a toy on the floor, or catching the toe on a gate or other object.

The symptoms of a stubbed toe are similar at first, regardless of whether the injury is serious or minor. They include:

• intense pain that can be either dull or sharp
• pain that radiates elsewhere in the foot or ankle
• pain when putting weight on the injured area

Stubbed toes can hurt a lot, even when the injury is not serious. This is because there are many nerves in the toe, including two nerves on either side.

There is little fat to cushion the toes, which can intensify the pain and increase the risk of injuries such as bone bruises and fractures.

It can be difficult to self-diagnose a stubbed toe. Strains, sprains, bone contusions, and broken toes can all feel very similar.

If symptoms do not improve after a few minutes, it may mean that the toe is broken.

Stubbing the toe can result in several different injuries:

Broken or fractured toe

A broken toe or a toe fracture is a break in one of the 14 toe bones. It can be very painful and make it difficult to walk.

Although many fractures heal on their own, a doctor may need to surgically repair a severe fracture.

Symptoms of a broken toe include:

• swelling around the toe and sometimes into the foot
• discoloration, such as black or blue bruising, around the toe
• a change in the shape of the toe, if a bone is out of place
• trouble moving the toe
• significant pain when walking or putting weight on the toe
• pain that gets worse over several hours
• a loss of feeling in the toe or foot
• a visible bone poking into the skin, which can occur after trauma, such as closing the toe in a heavy door

The symptoms of a bone bruise, strain, and sprain are similar to those of a broken toe.

Sprains and strains

A sprain is an injury to the ligaments that connect the bones of the toe. A strain is an injury to a muscle or tendon.

Mild strains and sprains may just stretch a ligament, muscle, or tendon. However, more severe injuries can tear the tissue.

Learn more about the differences between sprains and strains here.

Bone bruise

A bone bruise is a deep bruise that injures blood vessels in or around the bone.

They can be intensely painful, but they will usually heal within a couple of months. A bone bruise does not show up on an X-ray.

Toenail injuries

Share on PinterestA person with a toenail injury may find it difficult to walk for several weeks.

Injuries to the toenails can be very painful, especially if the toenail breaks deep in the nail plate. If the injury is serious enough to bleed, it may be painful to walk for several weeks.

Sometimes the toenail falls off, either right after stubbing the toe or weeks later.

People may notice the following injuries after stubbing their toe:

• a cracked or broken nail
• bleeding along the edge of, or underneath, the toenail
• swelling or pain under the toenail
• pus or fluid under the toenail

Subungual hematoma

A subungual hematoma is a spot of blood under the toenail.

Severe hematomas can cause large blood spots and intense, painful pressure. Hematomas, regardless of size, often cause the toenail to fall off.

It can take 6–9 months for a subungual hematoma to disappear.

Toe infections

If the impact from stubbing a toe causes broken skin or nails, bacteria can enter the skin to cause an infection.

If the skin is broken, it is important to keep the toe clean and covered and to see a doctor for symptoms of an infection. People with diabetes or a weakened immune system are more vulnerable to toe and foot infections.

Skin infections along the nail are called paronychia.

Symptoms of an infected toe include:

• redness and swelling
• tenderness or pain
• fluid or pus collecting under the skin around the nail
• discoloration or thickening of the nail
• pain or itching around the toenail, even many months after the injury

After stubbing the toe, massaging or shaking the foot can distract from the pain and increase blood flow.

If the injury is more serious, a number of strategies can help with the pain:

• Try gently taping a broken toe to a nearby toe.
• Take an over-the-counter pain reliever. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs help reduce pain and inflammation.
• Try rest, ice, compression, and elevation (the RICE method). Avoid putting weight on the injury and apply an ice pack for 10–20 minutes at a time. Wrap or bandage the area to reduce swelling and elevate the foot above the heart when lying or sitting.
• Soak an injured toenail in warm water or Epsom salts.
• Apply a numbing cream or spray to an injured toenail.

If the injury is severe, a doctor might recommend surgery or physical therapy.

Share on PinterestIf the toe is very swollen or the pain is severe, a person should seek medical advice.

See a doctor if:

• the toe is very swollen
• the pain is severe and does not go away after several hours
• it is difficult to walk or to put weight on the foot
• the toenail falls off or the area around it is very swollen
• there are signs of infection around the toenail, such as itching, redness, and pus

Go to the emergency room if:

• the bone is visible
• the toe looks crooked or misshapen
• a broken toenail does not stop bleeding after several minutes
• the pain is unbearable
• the toe is numb, as this may indicate a nerve injury

A stubbed toe can be extremely painful. Massaging or shaking the area sometimes helps. When the pain does not go away, it may mean that there is a more serious injury.

Although many toe injuries heal on their own, prompt medical care can speed healing and help with the pain.

Broken Toe | HealthLink BC

Topic Contents

• Condition Basics
• Related Information
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Condition Basics

What causes a broken toe?

You may break (fracture) one of your toes by stubbing it, dropping something on it, or bending it. A hairline crack (stress fracture) may occur after a sudden increase in activity, such as increased running or walking.

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms of a broken toe may include:

• A snap or pop at the time of the injury.
• Pain that is worse when the toe is moved or touched.
• Swelling and bruising.
• Possible deformity (not just swelling), such as a toe pointing in the wrong direction or that is twisted out of normal position. A dislocated toe can also look deformed.
• Decreased movement or movement that causes pain.

How is it diagnosed?

A broken toe is diagnosed through a physical examination. Your health professional will look for swelling, purple or black and blue spots, and tenderness. An X-ray may be needed to determine whether the toe is broken or dislocated.

How is a broken toe treated?

Home care after breaking a toe includes applying ice, elevating the foot, and rest. Medical treatment for a broken toe depends on which toe is broken, where in the toe the break is, and the severity of the break. If you do not have diabetes or peripheral arterial disease, your toe can be “buddy-taped” to your uninjured toe next to it. Protect the skin by putting some soft padding, such as felt or foam, between your toes before you tape them together. Your injured toe may need to be buddy-taped for 2 to 4 weeks to heal. If your injured toe hurts more after buddy taping it, remove the tape.

In rare cases, other treatment may be needed, including:

• Protecting the toe from additional injury. This may include using splints to stabilize the toe, a short leg cast, or a brace.
• Surgery, if the break is severe.

Medical treatment is needed more often for a broken big toe than for the other toes. An untreated fracture may cause long-term pain, limited movement, and deformity.

How can you care for your broken toe?

• Be safe with medicines. Take pain medicines exactly as directed.
  • If the doctor gave you a prescription medicine for pain, take it as prescribed.
  • If you are not taking a prescription pain medicine, ask your doctor if you can take an over-the-counter medicine.
• If your toe is taped to the toe next to it, your doctor has shown you how to change the tape. Protect the skin by putting something soft, such as felt or foam, between your toes before you tape them together. Never tape the toes together skin-to-skin. Your broken toe may need to be buddy-taped for 2 to 4 weeks to heal.
• Rest and protect your toe. Do not walk on it until you can do so without too much pain. If the doctor has told you to use crutches, use them as instructed.
• Put ice or a cold pack on your toe for 10 to 20 minutes at a time. Try to do this every 1 to 2 hours for the next 3 days (when you are awake) or until the swelling goes down. Put a thin cloth between the ice and your skin.
• Prop up your foot on a pillow when you ice it or anytime you sit or lie down. Try to keep it above the level of your heart. This will help reduce swelling.
• Make sure you go to your follow-up appointments. Your doctor will need to check that your toe is healing right.

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How to relieve the pain of a broken toe and how long does it take to heal a broken toe?

August 22, 2022 from Nana

Sommer

Some accidents are quite painful for the feet, especially the toes. Sometimes it can be much more serious when a toe is broken, which will affect the entire body. Indeed, the toes are those that serve as a support for body weight, for balance, and also as an aid in movement. So, how to diagnose a broken toe and how to treat it? Here’s what you need to know.

What causes a broken toe?

A toe injury is most often caused by a hard blow, often by a heavy object being dropped on one of the toes. In less common cases, a finger may be broken when it suddenly hits an object (for example, while running). The big toe is most at risk for fracture and is the most commonly diagnosed.

Pain in the toes can be caused by trauma (collision, dislocation, sprain, falling from a heavy object), deformity, inflammation and infection.

(Picture of a bandage on a broken toe. Image taken from the Internet)

How to recognize a broken toe?

Several cases are possible:

fracture of the toe

The big toe is most susceptible to fractures, which are most often the result of a blow to the toe or a heavy object falling on it. The big toe bone is fractured and the patient experiences sharp pain in the big toe, swelling, bruising, and even soreness and tingling. Athletes (especially runners) are most at risk for a big toe fracture.

sprained toe

Occurs in some sports disciplines where the big toe plays an important role (eg football, judo, field hockey, basketball). This sprain affects, in particular, the big toe at the level of the metatarsophalangeal joint after hyperextension. Pain in the entire toe, swelling or bruising are some of the symptoms of this injury.

Hallux valgus (often referred to as bunion)

This is a genetically related condition that is manifested by deformity of the bones in the forefoot. The thumb gradually deviates from its axis and moves towards the second finger, and then is no longer parallel to the others, which changes the fulcrum and causes the remaining fingers to twist. Bursitis is more common in women (especially after menopause) and in people with neuromuscular or rheumatic diseases. A bulge on the outside of the big toe can be especially painful. In some cases, there is also redness and development of calluses and calluses. This can be corrected by avoiding shoes that can cause this deformity (such as those that are too tight, pointy, or high heels).

Methods to help relieve and heal

To reduce pain, you can apply ice packs to your toe for about 10-15 minutes to reduce swelling (repeat often throughout the day). Analgesics can also relieve pain.

Otherwise, the most common method of repairing a broken toe is “tying”, in which the broken toe is attached to the nearest toe using “strap”. This criss-crossing of bands by a specialist (orthopedist or healthcare professional) will prevent the injured joint, muscle, or tendon from replicating the movement that injured it, and thus speed up the healing of certain injuries. In general, the toe will be aligned in at least 6 weeks.

If necessary, the doctor will drain the blood that has accumulated under the broken nail.

Categories NEWS, Management

How are fractures treated today? (Interview with Prof. A.V. Korolev on the [email protected] portal)

September 29, 2016

Andrey Korolev

Surgeon, Traumatologist-orthopedist, MD, Professor

Head physician, medical director of ECSTO (European Clinic for Sports Traumatology and Orthopedics), orthopedic traumatologist, doctor of medical sciences, professor Andrey Vadimovich Korolev told Zdorovye Mail.Ru about new methods of treating fractures and the state of modern orthopedics.

Andrey Vadimovich, what categories of the population (except athletes) most often come to your clinic?

Patients of different ages come to us – from children who accidentally and always unexpectedly fall, to patients of older age groups. We are very proud to be ready to help patients of any age, and we have specialists who deal with children (including babies) and those who operate on the elderly, so “our” age is from zero to one hundred years. We have very experienced doctors, for example, Professor Andrey Kardanov, Candidates of Medical Sciences Musa Maisigov, Alexei Afanasiev, Dmitry Ilyin.

If we take statistics, then most often middle-aged people (from 20 to 50 years old) come to us – this is the most active group of the population. They go in for sports, lead an active lifestyle, move a lot, so they often get injured.

What is the most exotic injury you have had to treat in your life?

I am very proud that it was in our clinic that the first patient in the world was treated who received an iPad injury – a broken toe (smiles). It was one famous TV presenter who just dropped the first iPad on her foot. We successfully cured her.

Seriously speaking, quite a lot of patients involved in exotic sports come to us. Recently, more and more people are coming to us who are fond of kite surfing – flying kites (kites) over the water. Quite often they have injuries associated with incorrect determination of the depth of water. For example, one of the patients, thinking that he was splashing down, in fact, sank into hard shallow water, and received a fracture of all the bones of the foot. It was in Vietnam. He was quickly transported to us (he is a Muscovite of a very active age). We were able to reconstruct the entire foot with a very good result.

There is a group of skydiving patients who have interesting injuries that mostly occur during training in a wind tunnel.

In general, we have many patients involved in interesting and rare sports. This is a very pleasant contingent, because they are all motivated, active, cheerful people who want to enjoy life, want to recover quickly and are ready to provide all kinds of assistance to surgeons in their work.

What help do you mean? Compliance with recommendations?

A lot depends on the patient in orthopedic surgery. There is a proverb that we also try to use in our daily practice: smart surgeries can only be performed on smart patients. You can perform a virtuoso operation, but if a person is not able to follow your recommendations very clearly, then the result of the operation will be bad. You will be upset, the patient will eventually be upset, and those who come into contact with him will also be upset. Your name will suffer for nothing.
The doctor must know for sure: if, after discharge, the patient is prescribed crutches, then he will use them for exactly as many days as needed, and not for a week less, because he is tired of them, and so on.

What is the most advanced technology that only your clinic owns in Russia?

There are no such technologies, this does not happen now. Imagine, you come and say – tell us what an outstanding computer you have, but nowadays everyone has computers. It’s the same with medical technology.

How, for example, do new methods of conducting operations spread around the world? The surgeon decided to sew something differently than everyone used to sew, but in a different way, and he liked it. He goes to the podium at the congress and says: “I operated on ten people, and sewed up not from right to left, but from left to right. It seems to me that I got good results, and sewing up is very convenient.” A thousand surgeons sitting in the hall think: really, it’s better that way. They return home, and the very next day everyone starts doing operations using the new technology. Therefore, it is not worth expecting that somewhere something exists in one single copy. Most likely, it will be a technology that has not found wide application in the world.

Therefore, every time I am very worried if there is a technique in medicine that is used by only one clinic in the world – most likely, this is a dead end, non-working technology, and it is not necessary to follow this path. Any good medical technology spreads instantly.

Have you had any complicated injuries?

No, thank you, I didn’t (smiles). I can remember that at the age of 5 I stuck my finger between the huge wooden swinging door of the subway and the wall. Everything went well. Everything is overgrown, all fingers are functioning.

What is the biggest problem, in your opinion, of traumatology as a science today?

This is the standardization of approaches and results. Medicine in general is a very subjective science. One does and everything works out for him, the second does the same – the results are bad, and the third looks at them and says – what you are doing is just a nightmare. In this case, only standardization can judge everyone. So that people who use certain methods of treatment, to evaluate the results, take the same scales, the same methods of calculation. This time.

Second, the public health system should also be guided by these achievements and the analysis of standardized results in order to develop the right treatment tactics that are optimal for the population. I’ll give you an example. For many years in our country it was considered absolutely normal to put a person in a so-called traction when a femur is fractured. That is, the patient had to spend nine months in bed in a special device. Can you imagine such a life? This is a nightmare, this is a terrible moral trauma and there are no guarantees that the thigh will heal in the right direction. Gradually, new methods of operations were introduced in the world, but until recently, including in our country (and this is not due to poverty, this is due to the position of the doctor), there were doctors who said – no, you don’t need to operate anything, let it lie 9months, everything will grow together.

It is no longer customary to immobilize patients for long periods of time. Imagine the grief of parents whose child has fallen off a swing, broken an arm or leg, cannot move it, everything hurts a lot. His parents bring him to our clinic. An hour after treatment, the child is already fully examined, three hours later he is operated on, and after 6-7 hours he is already moving his broken arm, fastened with special devices (osteosynthesis). The rehabilitation process begins almost immediately after the operation.

So if the surgical community decides in their congress that the right thing to treat, for example, a femoral neck fracture should be with a blocked titanium pin, then it is perfectly logical that public health should say to all doctors in the country: “My friends, from now on we pay for treatment only in such a modern way, which allows us to return citizens of our country to active life as quickly as possible. We are not ready to pay for all your grandfather’s methods that were previously used. Then health care is constantly improving itself.

Therefore, the biggest problem of modern traumatological and orthopedic science is the standardization of treatment methods and, most importantly, the standardization and systematization of the evaluation of its results.

You mentioned osteosynthesis. Tell me, please, what is it?

Osteosynthesis – a technique for the surgical treatment of fractures. The broken bone is fixed with the help of special devices – titanium plates, screws, knitting needles, wire – this is called primary stable osteosynthesis (this is the name of this operation in full). It allows the broken limb to start functioning when the fracture has not healed yet. For example, a person has a broken arm. It will take weeks, maybe months, for the bones to heal. The ability to stabilize this arm with plates makes it possible to move the injured arm the very next day after the operation. In this case, the muscles do not atrophy, the joints do not freeze, and the fracture slowly heals as it should.

Andrei Vadimovich, give our readers some simple first aid advice. What to do if a person is injured in front of you?

First of all, do not try to fix something on the spot. Even if you have a complete feeling that the victim has a dislocation, do not try to set it.

The first thing to do is to immobilize the victim. If any kind of injury is suspected, it is necessary to either put or put the patient down, if possible, call an ambulance. If a limb is injured, then you need to immobilize it – use improvised means to attach a stick to the leg or arm, which will immobilize it.