Possible broken toe

[career245]

I was a idiot yesterday, I walked into some books, and caught my little toe (had no socks on) it's now throbbing constantly- and is in the process of swelling up, is it a good idea to see GP or not?

Ouch! Not much point really they will only tape it to the adjacent toe so you might as well save yourself some time and do it yourself!

@TwigTheWonderKid thank you! It's really painful, that's fair enough, I wasn't sure if they would x-ray it or anything!

I did exactly the same thing two weeks ago, I walked into a door rather than books though! It swelled up and went dark red with a lot of blue/black bruising. I just strapped it to the next toe and took lots of ibuprofen. Two weeks on it's much better, I was able to walk today without it being too uncomfortable. I didn't see my gp - I work for a doctor and she said that she thought it looked broken, but treatment is the same whether it's broken or sprained/strained so a gp wouldn't xray it or do anything other than strap it up.

Very unlikely to x Ray for a broken little toe. Put a bit of cotton wool between it and the next toe when you tape it up so it heals straight. Seek medical advice if it goes blue.

Ouch @NannyR

Many thanks for the information I will strap it! And just keep taking painkillers!

I'd always say get it checked out if you think it definitely could be broken, but there'd be no point going to the GP as they can't xray it, they would just send you to A+E for an xray anyway. I'd say go to a minor injuries unit or A+E.
If it is broken, the type of break would determine how they treat it.
A broken bone that's not set properly when it heals can cause ongoing problems in the future.

If it were me, I'd judge how bad the pain is and if you're limping and its unbearable then get it x rayed, but if it's OK and you cba with the wait then get some painkillers and wait it out.

I dont imagine most toe stubs result in broken bones anyway, unless you walked into the books at high speed! more likely to be a ligament if it's more you bent it out of position when you did it :-)

There's not much a GP could do anyway.

Just put ice on it, keep it elevated and take painkillers.

Thanks everyone for replying! I'm just gonna strap it, rest it and keep taking painkillers

I broke my little toe once stubbing it on a door, it snapped into a right angle to my foot . I was able to snap it back into place. I never went to hospital as I assumed they would just tape it to its neighbouring toe, but it gave me jip for years after and is still bigger than my other little toe. I still don’t think hospital would have been able to do much else but I suppose I’m just warning you it might be painful for a while... sorry!

I went to a & e with a suspected broken little toe after walking into the ironing board barefoot. They said no point in even X rating as result would be the same. Strap it and wait. I couldn't walk at all on it. Surprising how much pain something so small can give you!!

I am someone else who went to A&E with a suspected broken toe (middle one). I went because I called 111 and they told me I should go within 6 hours. I waited ages to be seen to be told there was no point x-raying it as treatment was the same regardless of whether it was broken or strained /sprained (i.e. tape it to the next toe) They did tape it up for me but I could have done that myself.

I checked the NHS website when I got home and found their advice was exactly what I had been told at A&E. If it is a big toe which is suspected of being broken then I think they may x-ray as if the big toe is broken and heals incorrectly it can cause issues as it is important for walking /balance. But the rest of the toes are nowhere near as important.

Walking stick helped when dd did hers. It was bloo painful but there's no treatment. 💐

I broke mine at the end of last year by catching my little toe on a cardboard box full of my eds books. I was in a rush and didn't stop for about an hour. I then tried to move something out of the way with the same foot whilst hoovering, I suddenly realised I was in agony and realised what I'd done. I didn't strap it, just took pills, but it has taken about 3 months to heal.

Just a update, I went to gp for a unrelated issue, asked him, he had a feel (bloody hurt) reckons it's more likely to be a fractured metatarsal, so I'm now off for a X-ray!