To not want to go to A and E?

[PITA5000]

I’ve probably broken my toe. 2 days on and it’s purple. I just can’t bring myself to go in though.

Do you have minor injuries unit? They could X-ray and strap it?

our a and E have wait times on line- if you Google your trust you might be able to see what it is like and pick your moment

Do you have a walk in minor injuries near you? I broke my little toe and just taped it up to the one next to it - nothing more they would have done at hospital. Saw minor injuries a few days later and they agreed taping it was for the best and let me go. Had it been my big toe I definitely would have seen someone at a&e

Minor injuries or walk in centre might be better. 111 could also advise.

Our local A&E have been all over SM in last few weeks saying “life threatening injuries only “ to present at A&E.
I think they are swamped and struggling to cope.

Well, nobody can make you go, but if you need help with it, you’ll have to. If it’s purple I would worry there’s a problem with the blood supply; I wouldn’t want to risk losing it.

Is it your big toe? If so, I would go - it could cause you longer term problems if it doesn’t heal right.

If it’s one of your other toes, is it straight? If not, it will need realigning before it can heal. DH stubbed his little toe so hard it ended up at 90 degrees to his foot, and needed pulling back into alignment so the broken ends met up and could regrow bone between them. He was in a boot for 6 weeks. I think if it’s not out of alignment they don’t do much for smaller toes except maybe tape them to the adjacent toe for support.

If A and E isn’t appealing, look for a minor injuries unit or walk in centre and go there, but be prepared to go to A and E if they don’t have an X ray machine, because you might need one.

Unless it’s at a jaunty angle they won’t do anything other than strap it to the one next to it.

Lots of A&Es have a separate minor injury stream. You might not have as long a wait as you think.

Thank you for the feedback. I’ll look into minor injuries - thank you!

Yanbu. I suspected mine was broken a few years ago, just taped it up, hobbled for about a month and carried on with my life!

I broke my little toe and when I looked into how to treat it, various sources said to just tape it up if there were no other complications, but, a broken big toe should be seen by a doctor as they are important for balance and walking, so it's crucial that it heals properly otherwise it can cause longer term problems.

I've broken toes before, but they didn't go purple.

Mumsnet is such a bizarre mix of 'clearly needs medical attention but won't go' to 'doesn't need medical attention but wants to go to A&E' - there never seems to be a middle ground, although I suspect attention is the key word here.

Depends on if it needs putting back into place or not, even with little toe.

My DP went to minor injuries last night for a broken toe. There isn't much they can do for a broken toe except strap it. His is his little toe and they said they won't X-ray it unless it was the big toe because of balance etc. They just put a gauze in between and strapped it with a plaster.

That's incredibly rude.

I broke my middle finger and it didn't look particularly exciting but I went to A&E the following day because I wanted to just have it checked.

The X-Ray showed I had snapped straight through the middle bone so it was put in a metal splint for 6 weeks.

It is a little bit mishapen two years later but I'm bloody glad it isn't worse.

Big toes are vital to movement and balance - you should go.

Just tape it to the biggest toe next to it.

Don't bother. They don't do anything.

I broke my toe and I only got it x-rayed because I thought it was dislocated. It was, it was just broken. They do nowt.

Update us if you can OP.
Not sure anything can be done to help, but as someone with recurring foot pain (after injury I got 35 years ago but never go medical care for), I can encourage you to check if they can help make sure your toe heals well.

That's incredibly rude

It's not untrue though. It's very common to see posters who genuinely need to be seen saying they don't want to go. It's just as common for people to be desperate for someone to validate their plan to go to A&E when they clearly don't need to.

If it's your big toe then yes you should go get it checked out, but any other toe there's not much more that can be done other than buddy taping.

They said I need to call back tomorrow for a minor injuries appointment - none were available today. In the meantime I’ve taped it to the next toe.
it’s not my big toe it’s the one next to the littlest one.

Xfingers it will be ok by itself anyway.

I was told unless it's sticking out at a weord angle they won't and ant do anything.

Ice it regularly - ice water easier with toes - anti inflammatory pain killers, and keep it elevated as much as possible. You need the inflammation to come down.