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

If it was me I'd probably opt for the walk in at 7am rather than a&e now, given the waiting times anyway.

Hey OP! Ive been though it with my toe hence the name Definitely get yourself to urgent care / minor injuries in the morning. I did it via 111 online but you can sometimes just go a walk in patient too.

For now, elevate as high as possible with some frozen peas and more meds if you can take them (ibuprofen tablets or gel should help any swelling) and stick something fun on Netflix.

They will likely X-ray you and go from there. Usually with toes they can't do much so may tape them and offer you a boot / crutches if they feel it's needed.

For me I ended up with a bad dislocation that needed surgery. As someone with heath anxiety, I completely get it - no fun as everything that could go wrong did in my case - but 6 weeks on and almost healed and chalked down to crappy luck. Let us know how you get on!

Hmmm it def needs looking at. If you won’t sleep then maybe head to A&E now if can’t get anyone to look after your toddler tomorrow morning.

Ds broke his big toe a few weeks ago. They X-rayed it and strapped it to his second toe. Nothing else to be done except wait for it to heel (around 6 weeks). He bought a medical boot in a pharmacy and that helps him walk for short distances.

Of course you could call 111 as well for advice

My son fractured his finger last month and it looked and felt like that. They pierced the nail to relieve pressure from the blood and he felt Sooooo much relief.

I would think you might need something like that as well to take the pressure off.

It looks like the nail bed has taken some of the impact, this can be the cause of the increased pain as swelling under the nail hurts big time. You need to rest the foot, with it elevated and use cold peas wrapped in a towel for 20 mins every 2 or 3 hours. Antiinflammatory medicine like Ibrupofen, Aspirin or Naproxen would help with the inflammation which is most likely the cause of pain. The tingling doesn't necessarily indicate a break, nerves that are compressed by swelling will feel like this too and will return to normal once the swelling subsided. A and E isn't the best place to go, because it's not a life threatening injury and you will be there forever! Best would be the minor injury clinic and if you get there early, there's usually no queue. They are bound to have an x-ray technician if they are worried about a break.

Get up to the walk in centre in the morning, if its a break with nail bed damage it needs seeing. I had a break a couple of years ago with a crush and twist injury , went to walk in centre, they had to remove the nail. Had x ray to confirm break, was given boot and crutches and refered to fracture clinic. You need to keep off the foot for a while even if it's just severe bruising. And driving wouldn't be advisable.

Can your partner take the day off tomorrow, get you to the walk in centre and get you set up at home to make looking after DC easier for the next week or so? You'll likely be advised to keep it elevated and to not walk on it for several days.

I broke my big toe once and the pain level sounds similar to yours. I had it x-rayed because of the importance of a big toe in gait, and although the GP didn't think it was broken, it was. I taped it to the next toe, and it healed without any further intervention. However, the fracture extended from one toe joint through to another, so calcification has formed in the joint and I can't bend that toe properly now. I'd have it looked at so that you know how best to manage the injury.

GP won't do anything. She needs urgent care/ minor injuries where they can x-ray

Stepped on by a horse?

Drs only really care if big toes are broken due but yours could be so worth getting xray minor injuries.

I’m not gonna lie, OP - that looks awful.
It looks painful and miserable and terrible.
You need to make up your mind where, and go!
If you decide to go in the morning, I hope you can sleep tonight.
Sending love.

Go and get it looked at, OP, this is from the NHS website.

Always worth getting that checked out as it’s giving you so much pain. Lots of bones in the feet and it’s likely you may have broken something. Not sure (I’m not a doctor) there’s much they can do other than X-ray it, give you stronger pain killers and maybe strap it up to the toe next to it to give it some support. Rest and feet up, chocolate and Netflix you’re onto a winner.

@Ihaveaquestionn for big toes you do need it assessed and they treat the break as it’s essential for normal walking function. If you have a minor injuries unit nearby or even a bit further you get seen far quicker than A&E

Thanks all - I have slept for about ten minutes at a time every couple of hours. The only thing that seems to help is standing up and putting weight on my foot and kind of marching on the spot, sounds very odd but elevating it makes it so much worse!

Ive taken the highest doses of paracetamol with codeine AND ibuprofen and it hasn’t done anything.

Unfortunately my husband is unlikely to take the day off work so have messaged my sister to see if she can help, as I don’t think I can cope with this pain plus a 3yo at home let alone at a walk-in clinic.

Oh op! Yes you need to go somewhere with an xray machine. Get some bags packed now. Take dc in their buggy and hopefully your sister or someone can pick her up from the waiting room. Or can you go now and dh deliver dc to you in buggy before he starts work? Can he start work a bit later?

unimpressive from your husband. That needs to be seen. A friend of mine lost his toe in similar circumstances so I would always take injuries like that seriously.

I hope your sister can help but even if not I would encourage to get it seen asap today.

You're not meant to take ibuprofen for the first 48 hours as it interferes with the body's natural healing process. You must get an X-ray. If it's broken and you don't deal with it correctly you'll have a lifetime of issues.

I’m a podiatrist. I broke my big toe years ago. I didn’t even buddy strap it. It healed without incidence as a lot of things do.

Dh wanted me to go to A&E but I refused and sent him out to get fish and chips instead.

Personally I would ice for the next few days and let the swelling and bruising subside. When it's inflamed, there's very little you can do due to the pain. If it's still painful in a week, then visit the GP.

I've done this several times. Dropped a hoover on it, frozen ice bottle from the freezer shot out and landed on it. I'm accident prone it seems! But it has never been broken, the pain was from the blood pooling underneath. You need to go into the walk in so they can drain the blood and x ray.

Not all areas have a minor injuries unit.

Get it seen as soon as possible. Not only might you have a fracture but you may also have a build up of blood under the toe nail which is excruciating and requires treatment.

Take a deep breath and get to a local unit asap.