Is anyone awake??? In absolute agony!!

[Mammaof]

All day today I've had a pain under my big toe, right on the ball, but tonight the pain is excruciating, I can't bend my toe fully and have to hop to get around. Its really swollen and horrendous to touch? Does anyone know if its possible to break a bone Here?? I've never felt pain like it
I've added a photo to show the swelling

I'm guessing 18k steps isn't a big deal if you don't drive?

My money would be on gout. The good news is that even if it feels as if you're walking on glass, putting weight on it isn't actually dangerous.

So don't feel you have to struggle if it's easier to use your foot.

Gout is really weird. I had it very briefly when I'd unusually had a ton of seafood in one week and fruit juice?!

Have you ever had a problem with your kidneys?

Maybe have a quick google, there's a diverse list of foods, medicines etc that can trigger it.

Middle of the night, nurofen is your best bet. BUT, you must follow up with a doctor.

@Mammaof you can safely take paracetamol and ibuprofen together.

Get your foot raised on a pillow or cushion, ice for 10 mins at a time with gaps between.

Is there any sign of injury ? Even a pin prick size ? Could be an insect bite/sting or bit of wood/gravel that's gone in and caused infection?

Definitely get it seen to tomorrow.

Good luck.

You poor thing, that looks horrendous. I had much the same last year and it was diagnosed as cellulitis. I was prescribed antibiotics for it. If you are prescribed them then please take them with lots of water. I didn't drink enough water with them and they made me sick. Meanwhile, take a painkiller if you have one.
I ordered a pair of crutches too. It took about a month to heal, but I'm older than you so you should recover more quickly than that. Hope you can get an appointment today. Well done for taking photos, mine was a telephone appointment with uploaded photos. Good luck, I know how awful the pain is.

It looks infected. I had a swelling just like that in my thumb, and it really hurt/throbbed. It turned out a tiny piece of something had gotten under the skin, worked its way in and caused an infection. I got some antibiotics and it cleared up. If you walked a long way today it seems likely. I went to a minor injuries unit or something (this was years ago, I can't remember what exactly it was) but the long and short of it is you probably do need a medical appointment tomorrow at the latest.

Hopefully you are able to get some rest now.

If it does prove to be gout then you may be recommended some diet changes plus there is some medication which reduces the frequency and severity of attacks.

DH is prone to gout. It is absolute agony for him when he does get an attack so you have my sympathies.

I think the 18,000 steps might be the cause. So either a stress fracture or just inflammatory through overuse. I’d take painkillers and ice it. And go to a walk in centre.

If it's no better this morning you need to see GP out of hours. It is not easy to diagnose what this is over the internet and depending on their assessment you might need further tests eg X-ray/bloods.

In the meantime keep taking the Ibuprofen with food if you can tolerate it. Make sure you're drinking plenty too as dehydration exacerbates a gout flare (if that's what this is).

Hope it settles soon.

Mine swelled up like that but on top, under my toes and it did turn out to be a stress fracture. It was agony. But, I freaked out thinking blood clot, infection etc and saw my doctor and then A&E a day or so later when it wasn’t healing. Hope your doctor is helpful. I got strong prescription pain killers and a boot / crutches for walking eventually. Good luck.

I'd guess gout. My DH gets it and is on long term medication. It can be so painful, that even putting a sock on is difficult. Its linked to diet but I think you can be prone to it too.
Take some ibuprofen for now but you need a prescription if it is.

I hope you get it sorted. It looks very painful.

You haven’t got a hair in there have you? May sound daft, but I once cut my hubby’s hair and must have stepped on one of the floor cuttings and it got stuck in my foot. The pain was horrendous.

Also be careful of osteomyelitis I got it once and it causes bone lumps and I should have been in excruciating pain but for some reason my case was asymptomatic apart from the lump!

morton's neuroma?

the advise is not to walk bare foot
did you change your shoes?

oh no, looks like the wrong toe for a mortons

good point, did you perhaps walk on something? tiny shard of glass?

I hope you get seen this morning OP, it does look painful

Just here for the hand hold. I am sorry you are in pain. I am awake and while
I am a stranger I do hope for you to be ok!

Do you drink a lot of energy drinks? I worked with a guy who drank a few cans a day and he got gout a lot. Apparently there's a connection.

@FlamingoQueen

You haven’t got a hair in there have you? May sound daft, but I once cut my hubby’s hair and must have stepped on one of the floor cuttings and it got stuck in my foot. The pain was horrendous.

This happened to me once, as well! It's so bizarre.

Call 111. If you physically can't get anywhere they might send someone to see you.

It could be a stress fracture. I used to walk a similar amount almost every day and was very used to it but still managed to get stress fractures in two metatarsals just from walking on hard pavements.

They didn't show up on x-ray at first but were absolute agony for weeks and eventually picked up on an MRI.

Hope you can get seen today OP. How are you?