What's wrong with my mum's foot?

[ScaredyDog]

For a week now the top of her foot has been swollen and very, very painful.

It's only one foot, it's not water retention or anything like that.

It's about two inches above her three smallest toes and is puffy and almost bruised looking.

She's seen a dr and had an xray, they let her go home so presumably not broken or anything - she wasn't given any results.

The only thing she can think she's done to it is dropped a cupboard on it four weeks ago - bad enough to make her cry but it only started hurting like this a week ago.

She wore some new sandals last week and that's when it started hurting like this.

Any ideas please? I'm thinking the shoes have rubbed her and inflamed something - tendons maybe? Drs haven't been very helpful and she's in a lot of pain.

Is it red and hot feeling? Was thinking cellulitis , but if she has seen the doctor he prob would have picked up on that!

Cellulitis is caused by a bacterial infection, so could be caused by sandals rubbing etc , it's treated with antibiotics

Gout?

No actual redness or any look of it being infected or weepy, which is what I think you look for in cellulitis - the foot isn't warm and she has no other signs of infection such as fever.

I've suggested gout too, but it's not in her toes, it's right above her toes, where the strap of a flip flop would cross up the outside of your foot. She takes a tablet for her back that is also used as a gout treatment and that hasn't helped it at all.

I'm wondering if it's bursitis or tendonitis?

Could be. What analgesia is she taking, she needs a good anti inflammatory one.

Ibuprofen. 400mg three times a day today and she says it feels better than it did.

I've told her you can take more than the 1200mg a day dose (my ex DP was on 3000mg a day for a dental problem) but I've told her to check with her dr first on Monday to check it's ok for her to increase it - no reason she couldn't up it a bit as far as I know.

Is there anything that might work better?

Bump for help please.

She's in agony again today. Swelling went down on the weekend (it wasn't massively swollen, more puffy just above her toes on the left side of her foot) after I bandaged it and she kept off it a little. She really thought it was getting better.

She's been careful with it, but today it's agony again. Still no results from the xray but they let her leave the hospital so we can only assume there is no break - and even if there was, it was three weeks since she dropped the cupboard on it and the pain starting so we're not even sure if that has anything to do with it.

Would they have let her leave A&E if there was a break? The doctor made her wait while they checked the xrays and then said she could go, without explaining anything.

She's mid 50s and in good health, she's got lots to do and can't stay off it for any length of time - plus it was better for a few days this week but has got bad again.