Well, I dropped a heavy glass pyrex container on my foot last night and almost certainty broke one of my toes. Swollen, red/purple in patches, hurts like hell to put pressure on but no longer hurts when resting. Though it took some hours after the supposed break to stop always hurting. I'm going to call 'broken or may as well be.' Coolio. Doctor not an option I want to take unless imperative, and I'm under the impression they couldn't do much anyway. Mom once just sort of lived through a broken toe, so I think you can rest it off. Anyone have advice on handling it? Am I totally working on a misconception and it won't heal on its own? Is there something I should be doing to aid the process or ensure full recovery? How long can I expect recovery to take? It will make life a little harder, but my main job is online, and I'm not scheduled for in person work for... at least a week. Is that enough time to be on my feet again? As the only able bodied person of my household, I necessarily have to be on my feet at times, but that's to walk (limp) around the apartment, get food, the like. I know I won't be leaving the house for a few days, that's for sure.
Which toe is it? Anyway, if you really don't want to go to a doctor my advice would be to tape the broken toe to the toe next to it for a fortnight and wear a really sturdy shoe. Walking/standing/acitivity etc according to painlevels. One week should be enough for it to stop hurting quite a lot when you walk. This advice is with the caveat that I would greatly prefer you to get an xray to see if there's a fracture and how the fracture lines are, but this is most likely what you would be told in a Dutch ER. Should probably be healed in a week or three. Good luck!
this site seems to have pretty solid advice (id also advise going to a doctor, but if you cant get there with a broken toe, and noone can take you, that seems pretty unlikely)
Okay, so, funny story. I sprained an ankle when I was a kid. Didn't bother with doctor. That ankle sometimes just suddenly fails. A while back, we had it x-rayed. Turns out there's a bone chip that's now basically impossible to do anything about, and it'll just always suck. Could probably have been fixed if we'd done it at the time. So basically: If you think you've got a broken bone, I sort of recommend a doctor if at all possible, just in case there's something seriously-fucked-up that needs care. There's a big difference between "clean fracture" and "splinters".
Second smallest, left foot. That's way more time than I hoped for. Any sage wisdom on how to go about home taping this sucker? Thanks for the advice, it's nice to have an outsider perspective. Mrrrgh. I have no clue when or how I would get to a doctor. The only car I have even kind of easy access to belongs to my now-ex and I'm kind of loathe to ask her for favors right now. I don't know how I would even start making this visit happen, and as the toe is not out of alignment, the skin is not broken, and there's no discoloration aside from localized bruising... ugh. I'm just so wary of spending the money and the time on a visit that might be pointless and might not even be possible to attend. Again, thanks for replying, this is all giving me a better picture of how this should be handled. "More seriously than I want to," to summarize.
In this post, Mouse looks on the bright side. I feel like the scum of the earth for begging the woman I broke up with for help, but her unemployed boyfriend is fond of me and willing to help, so I'm thankful for people who care and have kind hearts and are willing to help, whether I think I deserve that or not. Replace with gratitude, goddammit. That's very kind of him and I'm thankful. This is probably a minor injury, so that's nice. I have not fucked up my body irreparably. I am honestly thankful for that, because any number of other kitchen injuries could have had life-long consequences. Solid. I'll be losing some of the few work gigs I'll have before moving, probably, but it should be healed by the time of the move! Awesome. It could have come at a worse time. And my main job is online, so I won't be losing my regular pay. Neato! That's awesome. I didn't break the container I dropped on my foot. I'm not down valuable kitchenware. SICK. I know how I'm paying for this doctor visit. My parents, also, are too good to me. I can enjoy a bit of that before I ruin the family by being openly engaged to a woman. RADICAL. I STILL HAVE EASTER CANDY, and my moirail is willing to bring that to the couch for me. That's honestly my favorite thing right now. Mad diamonds. Replace self pity with gratitude. Replace self pity with gratitude. REPLACE SELF PITY WITH MOTHERFUCKING GRATITUDE.
honestly going to the doctor for a broken baby toe might be a waste of time - my mom broke the same toe a few years ago when she slammed a door on it, and the doctor basically went "welp, here's some painkillers" and taped the toe to the one next to it. there's really not much you can do with that afaik (tho if you have the means to get to a dr office by all means do it, having Broken Toe Confirmation from a Professional will likely make things seem more certain and also they can give you tips or something probably....! i hope things work out :"0 )
Yeah, that's what I've been made to see-- though you're probably right, and I'm probably right that it's just a fracture that may as well be let to heal on its own, there is that chance that there's a chip, or some other complication that does need to be looked at and which I can't discern with my very non-doctory eyes. I have been convinced to make sure I won't be kicking my own ass for not getting this taken care of ten years down the road, basically. Even though getting outside help when I am the Help Friend is grinding my fucking parsnips.
Hey, thanks @Emma @Imoyram @seebs for each encouraging me to see a doctor. I had a very discouraging night in terms of 'oh no I think this is worse than I assumed in my hubris' and am thankful I bit the bullet to arrange things today. I have a pretty solid history of being an underreporter and not taking my health seriously but with your help NOT THIS DAY
Also @Pyrex I now admire your glass dishware for its durability, strength, and shocking effectiveness as a disabling weapon
Look, nine times out of ten, broken toes have uncomplicated fractures that are treated exactly the way I outlined. The nine-and-a-halfth time the toe needs repositioning at the very least, and the tenth time you need surgery. Better to be sure you're not the nine-and-a-halfth or the tenth time ;) Good luck with getting to a doctor, you deserve to go to one :)
Glad you'll get it seen to! I've broken two toes, and had a parent break one at some time. Thankfully we all had clean breaks that needed little intervention, but the possibility of fucking up toes seriously was enough for me to go get an X-ray despite having seen 5+ broken toes overall at the time that healed fine. Seconding the advice of how to take care yourself. When working on your computer, you must definitely elevate your foot, minimum above your hip level of you can. I used a wheelie office chair and a kitchen chair to get comfortable at my desk, with a pillow under my foot. Ideally one elevates above heart level to ensure that the extra blood drains away to reduce inflammation, but working like that is not... Easy. I hope you've been icing your foot! If it's swollen and painful still, use an ice pack (Never put the ice pack directly to skin, use cloth in between to protect yourself!) for 20 minutes. You can on and off repeat this every hour or so, but I've seen recommendations that ice pack use be minimized to every two hours. If you don't have a handy gel ice pack I usually stuff ice cubes into a ziplock bag. If you can, hop to get around to avoid putting weight on the toe. Since its small it is very easy to aggravate the injury. Try not to wear shoes when not walking since sometimes that puts uncomfortable pressure, and sorry to harp, but keep elevated! If you tape your toe, tape it to the middle toe, not the small one, as generally the middle toes are longer and straighter and thus provide better support for your broken toe. Sometimes, wheeled devices are useful for getting around: my mom borrowed my scooter to go to her classes when she was getting her masters and couldn't miss them and we didn't have a car. Crutches would be ideal for full protection while moving about. Basically it is safer to make a big deal about it because you ensure the best possible care! On and the walking with sturdy shoes is so that if you knock your foot against a corner or table leg as tends to happen the sturdy shoe protects the broken toe. That's all I can think of. If I remember anything else I'll let you know. And the doc knows more than me!
update, in case anyone is invested in this as a story: Went to a clinic, got x-rayed, and the doctor said 'you know, I don't see breaks, I think this is a contusion.' 'Fantastic!' said I. 'It will heal quickly, and I'll be able to pick up catering gigs again. How splendid. Thank you for taking a weight off my shoulders.' Home I went, feeling a little sheepish for making a fuss. I spent the next two days wrapping my contusion but easing myself back into walking on it/doing things around the house. Nothing hurt incredibly much, though I took care not to stress it. This morning, the doctor's office called my moirail, who is out of the house (seeing doctors ouo) and then me. 'Well boy howdy I hope you haven't been easing yourself back into walking on your foot/doing things around the house, because the radiologist found a hairline fracture your doctor didn't see. It's broke! Make sure to never put any weight on it. want to see a sports doctor about it?' 'While I really love the implication that cooking is my sport,' said I, 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.' Good thing I heard that before I decided to suck it up and do laundry/take out the trash today. The filth will continue until further notice.
Yeah, that sometimes happens when the X-rays get reviewed with the help of a radiologist. Hope you recover quickly!
Me too. It's good to know that it's there, it's serious, and I do have to treat it like serious business. Otherwise swear on my life I would be trying to clean the apartment right now
