Go on then random people I don't know, medical advice please!

[DuggeesWooOOooggle]

I stubbed my little toe quite badly 2 weeks ago - it's still really sore and swollen. I have a child free day today (but I also do on Monday and Tuesday next week). Do I use this morning to go and sit in A&E/minor injuries for hours and get it seen to/x-rayed as I think it might be broken? Or do I not bother as they won't do anything about it and I have lots of other things I could be doing today. Woman on phone at drs said GP no good as I would need an x-ray so this is my only option. I can walk/drive etc but it's sore and swollen and not getting any better.

Have you done the ice, elevation, painkillers and taping the toe to the one next to it?
That is all they would do in hospital anyway.
I have suffered several broken toes. I never went anywhere to get treatment as I couldn't walk had small dc and no help. The toes all healed with the above management.

2 weeks is a long time not to see any improvement. I'd either go I think, or give it til Monday but talk sternly to it and rest in the interim.

Yes, not really taped as it's sort of squidged next to my other toes so doesn't really move anyway. It's not at a weird angle. I am not convinced it's a good use of mine or NHS time but DH reckons I should find out in case I have chipped the bone and it doesn't heal properly. But then he is s bit of a hypochondriac...

If you can drive and walk I wouldn't bother.
Even if it is broken they won't do anything about it - speak from experience.
Don't add to the crowds wasting the A&E staff's time.

Is there any sign of an infection? (Heat , redness, tracking up the leg, feverish, etc?). If so, get urgent medical attention.

I broke my toe, taped it up. Unless it was a big toe or visibly out of place I’d do the same. It hurt though and took weeks to walk on! Hard soled boots helped, though it healed fine

www.nhs.uk/conditions/broken-toe/

They wont do anything about a toe , even if you have chipped a bone . I badly sprained my ankle months ago and have several bits of bone floating around ....and they arent concerend at all about that

Any blood under the nail? That can be quite painful and a minor injuries unit can sort that out. A&E won’t do anything for a broken small toe

My uncle stubbed his toe and broke it... I would go

I broke my little toe on Christmas morning one year, cooking christmas lunch was interesting! I didn't go to A&E as I knew they don't do anything for those breaks so long as they're not displaced fractures. It healed fine although with some epic bruising and I've had no further problems.

bones, even tiny ones, take 6 weeks to heal.

A/A, tape it up, take painkillers, rest it.

I broke mine and have to say it's bloody sore, and I've had kidney stones and three kids. Didn't go to A+E cos, what would they do other than the above?

Thanks, you are all saying what I'm thinking! I will give it a couple more weeks. I would just feel so ridiculous going to A&E with my little toe FFS. But here it's our only option really. NHS online basically says they won't do much but to get it looked at if it continues to hurt but it sounds like these things can take ages to heal.

I did it while walking round the bed to cop a feel of DH with his top off

Dropped a chopping board on my big toe on the other foot a couple of months ago - fully black nail, unbelievably painful. Went to A& E a couple of days later and she said I should have gone sooner so they could drain the blood easier. So you can't win!

This one, there's hardly any nail left as I stubbed it a while ago and the nail went black then came off. That bloody bed frame, it's lethal, especially when getting out to see to DS in the middle of the night!

Unless it was sticking out at a weird angle I wouldn’t bother. Tape and painkillers. Good luck 💐

An A&E nurse friend told me to get an x-ray when something similar happened to me as sometimes it can actually be a bone in the foot that's broken. The triage nurse put me very low down the list indeed (which was fine with me at the time as I was desperate for a quiet sit down with a book!) and they did x-ray it. Turned out just to be the toe so strapping and home, but they would have plastered my foot if the foot had been broken apparently.

But surely I wouldn't be able to walk properly and it would hurt further down?

I had quite a lot of bruising round the base of the toe, and underneath the toe but not below the joint with the foot. I think I clonked it on the knuckle as I got a hard lump there which has since gone down a bit.

Your GP should be able to assess it and complete an x Ray form so you can go straight into get it done without having to sit and wait in A&E.....

Photo of swollen toe and non swollen toe for comparison!

Interesting about the GP referral, that's what I had thought but the woman on reception was very adamant there was no point getting an appointment.

I broke my toe in 2 places and it was sticking up to the ceiling at right angles . I had gas and air whilst they pulled it back into alignment but even then they only buddy strapped it and said to take pain killers. They did give me loads and loads of fresh strapping though. I couldn't walk in normal shoes, only fit-flops for some reason. It didn't feel less painful for weeks and weeks and still doesn't bend with the rest of my toes and its about 10 years on!

I then broke another toe, which was swollen but not out of alignment, so I didn't bother going to A&E and just strapped it up again. It healed after about 4 weeks I would say.

Ouch BigusBumus (great username btw), that sounds so painful! Must be something very unnerving about seeing one of your limbs/appendages sticking out at the wrong angle!

I wouldn’t bother. I think I broke my little toe when I slipped on a wet floor and stubbed it on a door frame. It was swollen and painful for a very long time, but always getting (very slowly) better. If it gets worse - more swollen/redder/more painful - then get it checked out, but it does take a long time for bones to heal, and the area will stay a bit swollen while that happens.

It didn’t help when I did exactly the same thing a few months later 😬

I almost didn’t go to the Dr with a broken toe a few years ago because it was ‘only a toe’ and knowing all they’d do is strap it up (was nursing at the time too!) and tell me to manage the best I can. Anyway, after the bruising spread halfway up my foot, I went to walk in centre, who sent me to A&E. Because it was my second fracture in a few months (had previously fallen and broken my elbow) I had to have a load of tests for osteoporosis - thankfully all came back ok - and have been put on calcium and vitamin D3 supplements for life because they don’t want to risk my bones losing density!!