A&E or not?

[hopefulgal]

5 hours ago I tripped out of my back door and hurt my foot. I still can't really walk on it without it being very painful. There is no swelling just very slight bruising. Shall I brave A&E or not bother? I don't want to go unless it's really necessary.

Can you weight bear on it? Walk four steps?

Have you iced it? Do that and give it til morning if you can.

Is there a minor injuries unit near you?

I'd see how it is in the morning. Hospitals can be dismal through the night.

I can walk four steps but am in absolute agony doing so. I've iced and elevated it most of the evening. I've taken paracetamol and brufen which hasn't eased the pain. Am alone with 4 dcs tomorrow as dh is working all day eek.

No a&e. Rest it, if it's not better in a couple of days then possibly.

No minor injuries unit near me.

No to A&E - emergency doctors appt tomorrow.

Don't put ice on it! Try deep heat, it should be a bit better in the morning - try to get up slowly in morning and. do not jump out of bed in the morning! I broke my toe a while ago and forgot about it when I woke up next morning so got up as normal cue lots of pain.

so if you don't go tonight when's your next chance? And how old are the dcs?

You need to rest, ice, compress & elevate for longer.

You don't need to go to the doctors. It's not swollen so most likely no damage. It will just be a bit tender for a few days, take it easy - plan a film day with kids tomorrow.

Please don't listen to the person that said deep heat. Total rubbish.

I'm a qualified nurse - the treatment you need is R.I.C.E as Iv outlined above.

Why not ice? ice advised for a new injury, reduces pain and swelling. Plus rest (ha!) comfy support and elevation. Agree take it carefully though!

Purple absolutely it's ice - not deep heat .

MIU told me no ibuprofen for the first 48 hours with possible broken foot. Not quite sure why though. Paracetamol only.

Ice made my toe more sore, I used deep heat on it and it worked better for me.

Ice ice baby

I'm going to try and get some sleep instead of A&E. Really don't want to waste their time. I will go tomorrow evening if I still can't walk properly. Can't take dcs during the day as ds has SN and won't cope. Thanks for the advice :)

Buggers, how did you forget, even momentarily, about a broken toe?! Mine made me tearful for about 10 days at least
I remember after I did it, limping my way up to pick dc2 up from school, it took me an hour to get there when it would have normally taken 10 minutes - luckily I left enough time and my friend ended up walking her half way back to meet me! The throbbing stayed with me for so long

RICE it and see how it is in the morning. I definitely wouldn't be going to A&E during the night unless I had an obvious broken bone or was properly ill, it's grim during the night. That being said, I once fell down a spiral staircase, getting my foot caught in the banister on the way down. Then went shopping with a friend, walking around on it all day despite it being extremely painful. Went to the GP the next day, was sent for an x-ray, had broken several bones in my foot. No bruising, no swelling. But I'd definitely try RICEing it first and see how you get on from there.

i've done that before, chances are you've probably pulled/torn some of the ligaments in your foot.

Follow the RICE advice, if you have any issues moving your toes or any swelling appears, go to the A&E and get it checked over.

Definitely RICE and prepare for it to have seized up and be harder to weight bear in the morning. I actually think if it's very painful you should get an X-ray at A&E as we've had a few of these at home, mine wasn't broken though Dr thought it was but ligaments took ages to improve but teenage daughter's A&E Dr thought wasn't broken was!

Don't automatically assume lack of swelling means you didn't break it.

I had a misstep and heard a crack. It hurt, but I could still walk on it. It didn't swell, so I pushed myself and carried on with regular activities.

The rest of the story includes a complex fracture, 2 years and 4 operations to try and correct it, and a foot that will never be the same.

If I had gone to have it checked immediately, I don't know if the outcome would have been different, but I can say without doubt that while most fractures and soft tissue tears swell, not all of them so.

I hope you can get it looked at soon, but A&E at night might not be your best bet - do you have any family/friends who could stay with your DCs if you get an emergency appointment in the morning?