To think I should go to hospital?

[Soreashell]

I stumbled down the last few stairs 9 days ago and injured my foot. I went A & E and was x-rayed and told it was bruised and was I given crutches and told to take pain killers.
Bruising has come out but it is still killing me, a bad ache like toothache and enough to keep me awake at night. Also by late afternoon it is swollen again and hot. It hurts from my big toe running to my ankle and underneath the foot on that side.

Is this usual with a bruising injury and will it just take a bit longer or do I need to go back do you think?

And OP please DO NOT follow any advice to buy medical strapping from the internet. As PP said, wearing these without medical guidance can cause blood clots, particularly when you are non-weight bearing. This is the reason that patients who will be non-weight bearing for a longer period of time are given prophylaxis DVT injections and managed closely.

Either ring Nhs 111 or complete the online form 111.nhs.uk/

From the symptoms you’ve described the online form says that you need to be seen within 4 hours.

If i wre you i'd be off to A&E now before the evening drunks turn up they will have much better facilities than the GP. I think a further x-ray is called for here, thats my gut feeling !.

And its hot a good sign of poissible infection.

Sorry i said 101 but obvs should've been 111

Sometimes breaks are missed. Go back if you feel you need too.

I think if your that worried then go back and wait at A and E. Take a few books and papers and hopefully you wont have to wait a really long time.
If it is a sprain you do know that they can take ages to heal and often hurt more than breaks? I've sprained my ankle and it took a year before it stopped hurting and I could walk a few miles again.I've broken my leg as well and arm and nothing was as bad as that sprain.

Back to A&E with you.

It sounds as if in the UK initially a nurse reads the X-Rays and makes a diagnoses. I'm in the US and it's always a radiologist, who is a physician, who reads images - X-Rays and scans.

Soft tissue injuries can take months to heal

It might be a reporting radiographer or a radiologist doing the report, certainly not a nurse, in the UK.

A nurse practitioner might look at it if they've requested it, though; however, the radiographer might have 'red dotted' it if they were suspicious of a fracture.

The original images will have been cross checked by now.

They won't do anything else at A&E or minor injuries beyond this anyway.

Untrue. They don’t send you away with a fracture and a boot and do nothing else.

It sounds as if in the UK initially a nurse reads the X-Rays and makes a diagnoses. I'm in the US and it's always a radiologist, who is a physician, who reads images - X-Rays and scans.

The radiologist reads the scans/xrays and so will the consultant. It isn’t left to nurses.

It was a nurse that reviewed my X-ray when I dropped something on my foot. She took me to X-ray and back round to the examination room and reviewed it right in front of me. I'm certain she was a nurse not a radiologist because I work there!

I think the X-rays are reviewed afterward by a doctor but not before I was allowed to leave

Please see someone because that's too much pain to be in if it's waking you up at night. I've broken my foot and ankle and even with surgery after 9-10 days it wasn't waking me up in pain because my pain was managed correctly.

Go back! I will tell the story of DHs broken foot. He broke his foot - he had it xrayed - no brake. The bruising was immense, he couldn't walk - he went back. Re xrayed at a different hospital - no visible break but all agreed it wasn't right so referred to fracture clinic for consultant to see it the next day. Consultant reviewed in clinic - definitely broken - it looks broken, it's behaving like it broken - opinion - it's broken somewhere the X-ray just can't see it. DH was put in a boot for 6 weeks.

My husband had a similar thing - X-ray came back clear but the MRI he had showed a fracture 🤷🏻‍♀️

*break not brake! 🤦🏼‍♀️

@Soreashell I'm a doctor. Hot and swollen - go to a&e!

You now have a Dr telling you to go back to A & E - please do it asap.

My mother fell down the stairs and after x rays was told she had a bad sprain. No improvement after a week of agonising pain, so we took her back. This time they could clearly see 3 breaks in her foot that had been missed. She ended up having an operation and pins put in her foot.

Go back. A friend of mine hurt her foot, went to a&e who said it was bruised. Went back a week later as it was still terrible and it turned out she had been walking on a broken bone and damaged her foot so it was far worse

my son hurt his ankle on the trampoline (worst contraption i know 🙄) and he was in so much pain we took him to a&e. head paediatric doc was certain it wa broke, xray said nope. hospital phoned week later to say after having a final look at the xray they could see a hairline fracture. so they dont always get it right the first time. 👍

I was told to walk on a really bad break that is also hard to miss for four days before I went back for them to check it and after one look at the X-ray the doctor said I needed a cast immediately and I needed two operations. Ended up in casts for about four months and a boot for a further six weeks. I know always say if something doesn't feel right even after being checked always go back.

Sounds like an infection, I would certainly get it seen to to avoid getting sepsis, whether it is broken or not, hot and swollen is a red flag to me after 9 days

Jesus 🙄

I don't know why my quoted text didn't show ip as bold just now but never mind.

Sprains, bad bruising, torn ligaments etc are often much more painful than a break.
You need to elevate and apply some ice. Make sure you keep moving it or it'll end up worse in the long run.
If no improvement after 2 weeks, reassess.

Ds injured his foot 4 days ago. They done and x-day and said no break so just soft tissue damage. However if in a week there was no improvement to go back and they would x-ray again, as it may not show the first time clearly with the swelling. Thankfully he’s in pain and hobbling, but he’s on the mend.

Hi @Soreashell hope you're now at A&E and getting treatment.

A friend of mine hurt her foot and it was diagnosed as a bad sprain it was actually a break that now needs surgery.