To not take son to a&e with a suspected broken toe?

[Pawprintsonthewindow]

Ds was at a presentation today in a lovely social club. He leant on a tabletop which wasn't attached to the legs of the table and it fell off onto his foot. It's landed near the top of his little toe and the two next to which are now pretty bruised.
He's not bothered by it much but it is sore. He can wiggle all his toes and walk on his foot. He's had calpol and is being careful with it.
I'm not sure if it warrants a trip to a&e. Our local hospital doesn't have an a&e and I don't think the walk in centre will deal with broken digits.
The nearest a&e is half an hour away in a big town. I could ring 111 but every time I have used them in the past they just tell me to use a&e.
What would you do?

If there is any chance the break could be of the 4th and 5th metatarsals you should take him. But could wait till tomorrow morning and indeed go to a minor injuries unit rather than proper A&E. good luck

That looks more like the foot than the toes in which case there is actually a lot they can do.. so I would probably get it looked at

I broke my toe once (I know this because I heard it crack). I went to A&E in agony and they didn't even offer to x-ray it, telling me that there isn't anything they can do for a broken toe and to let it heal.

I don't know if that is NHS policy or whether I was fobbed off by the nurse practitioner.

Yes I would and get it x rayed. Daughter ran into a chair at 10 and had a very similar injury and bruising.
took her to a and e and got an x ray - shed broken two broken bones on the side of her foot (not toes) put in a cast for 4 weeks and then a moon boot for a couple of weeks - glad I did as it healed nicely

If you think it's an actual broken toe (and it's not the big one in the photo!) you can normally take care of it at home. I would say you don't normally need to go to hospital, but I think the advice for children is different - it would be worth getting him seen just because he's so young.

Are you definitely sure it's broken though? I broke mine a few months ago, I wouldn't have been able to go off playing at a mates house (or the 30 year old equivalent haha) with it for a few days, I couldn't stand on it properly.

I thought I’d broken my toe years ago, turned out it was a fracture further up. Worth a trip to just to check it out. Poor dude

I think I broke my little toe in lockdown 1 stubbing it of course! It was so painful and very bruised up that side of my foot. Dh just strapped it to the next one but no lasting damage. I think it’s only a big toe that would need x-ray etc.

That looks fine op, they can't do anything for broken toes except strap them together (broke my big toe 2m ago and it very definitely looked broken!)

I'd put on an ice pack on and see how it is in the morning, but it does look like standard bruised painful toes to me.

My husband sat in an A and E waiting room actively having a heart attack at the weekend - seems they don't give that much of a shit even when you are death's door...
Thankfully, they eventually realised and he's on the mend...

I've just tried to call the walk in centre but it just rang out.
I'll get him over there in the morning and see what they say. Not sure they will treat him but will try anyway.

Your daughter broken her foot and wasn't in pain and was perfectly happy to walk and go and play at a friend's house? That's impressive , I was in agony.

When I broke my toe all they did at hospital was use surgical tape to tape it to the next toe to keep it straight.

If you hang on till the morning if it's broken the swelling and bruising will be much worse and will be a clearer indicator that's its broken. I went to minor injuries the day after breaking my toe. They didn't even x-ray it just looked at it and said 'yeah that's broken. ' It was only xrayed at my GPs insistence so she could sign me off sick. (Just to avoid the MN cries of 'slacker'....im a nurse, at the time i was kn the wards so on my feet all day, and couldn't even put a shoe on and as it was December/January I had to wear proper shoes. If I could have worked from home I would have, but my job wouldn't let me and this was mid 90s when wfh wasn't a thing anyway.)

100% take him. I broke my toe 3 years ago and it still hurts to move it now, because I couldn't be bothered going to a+e straight away. I walked about on it for 3 days untill the pain got too much and I collapsed. When they x-rayed it, they said they could tell I'd been walking around on it as they could see the initial fracture and 8 more fractures and bits of bone broken off! Needed a 4 hour operation, with wire and a week stay in hospital. I will always regret not going as soon as it happened.

@DisquietintheRanks I think it depends on the break
I broke my foot and ankle and walked on it for a week. When I broke the other foot and ankle I couldn't even move without being in agony

🤮

Dh's Nan broke her hip and walked around on it for two weeks. To be fair she was in agony but didn't want to go into hospital so she just kept rubbing ibuprofen gel into it. 🤦‍♀️

I'm not sure I'd go as I don't think there is anything that can be done for a broken toe. They just confirm it's broken really.

Oh don't be silly. There is almost nothing to be done about a broken rib except wait and take it easy. What did you expect, surgery? A torso plaster?

It's more so I can tell school if it is broken. If I didn't and it was bad I'd be worried what they would think!
I'll see what it looks like in the morning. He's a tough nut but when it happened he was trying not to cry and deep breathing whilst I took him out of the room to check it. It bruised straight away and is just getting more colourful..

@meganorks They can splint it, give a boot and depending on the brake they may need to operate.

When I broke my toe I was told as it wasn't sitting at a funny angle they wouldn't do anything. I knew I had broken it because I heard the crack. The bruise started at the break and spread about 3 inches over the top of my foot. The only footwear that was comfortable was a pair of memory foam trainers.
I would definitely get it xrayed.

Maybe it depends on the break. My husband just got told 'yep, that's broken' and nothing!
If it looks out of alignment you should go I suppose. Or is there a way to book an x-ray via a GP? (I'm guessing not to be honest!)

Yabu. You don't know how much is broken. Might be one or two toes or the foot. Don't muck about with it and get it checked.
Little toes mend themselves in a couple of weeks of tlc, the rest of the foot, not so much.

I understand where you are coming from but it could be classed as neglect if you don’t get him seen. If school reports it ss could be involved. Not suggesting you are at all neglecting him btw! Just they can be funny about these things. Take him just to cover yourself x