To be concerned about my toe

[Ihaveaquestionn]

Solid oak bar stool fell directly across my toes today.

I have EPIC bruising, pain I can only compare to childbirth and a weird tingling/numb feeling underneath the toe.

Pain is currently so bad I can’t sit still or think about anything else despite having taken paracetamol and codeine.

I have iced and elevated it most of the day.

My husband says there’s no point having it seen as they will just advise rest and ice. Thinks I’m over reacting.

admittedly I have health anxiety so am imagining worst case scenarios of blood clots, losing my toe, the bone being broken and not healing properly and causing problems down the line

Pic attached and any advice/reassurance welcome

I’d definitely go to the GP considering your pain level. They will also be best to assess you for the things you’re worrying about. I dropped an electric piano on my toes 12 years ago. Big toes were completely black. My nails didn’t fall off but were deformed for a few years afterwards. Now just a little ridge in them. My mum’s toe was driven over years ago, her nail did fall off. But grew back fine.

Your big toe plays a massive role in the architecture of your foot and your gait, so there likely would be something they'd do to fix it if broken. I'd get it x-rayed to exclude fracture. Not sure from the picture if it naturally has a slight bend, but if not, it does look broken. The level of pain you described works along that line, too.

P.S Neither of those resulted in breaks and seems like a similar impact level. But I’m not a doctor!

Ouch looks painful. I would get it looked at. NHS advice is to be seen if its very painful. Can you move your toe at all?

You probably need to go to minor injuries with it.

@my6 At first I could wiggle it a bit. I can barely move it now without serious pain.

If it were any other toe I'd leave it but your big one needs to be assessed for a break.

Also, im sure a broken toe can cause tingling/numbness that you describe

@FluentRubyDog my big toes do naturally bend inwards thanks to a number of years wearing pointy heels in my youth! So I’m not concerned about the angle. It’s more the pain and bruising now.

I know my health anxiety is playing a part as I’m googling gangrene and toe amputations!

but putting that aside it’s just excruciating pain that is getting worse. There is absolutely no way I will asleep and I have a 3year old to look after tomorrow.

dont think my husband can take me to have it seen but might be able to get my sister to come and take me

Oh ouch! You poor thing - that looks so sore. I'm no health professional so if the pain is unbearable then I'd say head to a&e. But as it's so late now, if you think you can sleep and wait it out til tomorrow then I'd probably do that as it would at least save you a sleepless night waiting in a&e. But definitely trust your instincts if you're in pain.

Strangely the only thing that helps is standing up and sort of moving my weight between my feet.

@katy1111 my husband has work tomorrow and we have a 3year old so no idea how I could make that work. Definitely won’t be sleeping

Get a taxi to a walk in centre.
They can tell you if it's broken and give you some better pain relief

It's probably best to get it checked out.

Saying that though, similar happened to me a few years ago, the bruising spread further up by foot as well as my big toe and I didn't get it looked at and it's been fine since. It was during covid so getting medical treatment seemed like too much of an issue. If it happened now, I'd go and have it checked out.

Stop googling!!
it’s a disaster for your anxiety.

what have you had for pain relief and how often?
have you iced and elevated every half hour?

The thought of sitting in a taxi for 30 mins to my nearest A&E seems literally impossible with the pain this bad!

Any toe other than big one I'd tape it up. That I would definitely get x rayed. If you can wait until morning I'd go then to minor injuries or a&e

Ouch, looks very painful. Rest and ice is what they suggest. What painkillers are you taking?

@UncharteredWaters ive had paracetamol every 4 hours and mostly recently paramol which is paracetamol and codeine. Nothing is touching the sides.

It felt a bit better earlier so I stupidly was walking around doing the washing and cleaning a bit!

this was before the bruising really started

I’ve had such terrible experiences waiting to be seen for HOURS in A&E previously I’m really reluctant to go if there is another option but walk ins don’t seem to open until 7am and my husband starts work at 8

Thank you for your replies by the way x

Big toe injuries are a bit different to other toe injuries and it is vital it heals properly whatever you have done. Definitely pop along.

I’d get it checked out my mum had a painful foot (from playing volleyball I think!) turns out she had broken it and needed a moon boot. She did see the GP but they sent her to a walk in centre to be seen as they could do x rays etc. so this may be a better option for you rather than GP as don’t think they have x ray machines.

Also, even if not broken, soft tissue injuries do still need care and can take as long to heal, so it's really not about whether it is broken.

Nothing helpful to add I’m afraid, but as someone who regularly suffers from gout I can definitely sympathise with a painful big toe. Hope it all turns out ok for you.