Photos - would you take this for an X-ray?

[houstonspca]

DS fell down the stairs at the weekend - would you be taking him for a X-ray? He says he's ok but he's limping and I'm not sure whether to insist he goes...

Can he wiggle his toes?

Yes he can wiggle but says it hurts to do so.

Bumping

If it's a broken toe they won't do anything , unless big toe. Do you have a walk in centre?

Just because you can move your toes doesn't mean there's not a fracture.

Looks like mine when I broke my foot. I'd head to minor injuries.

Yes, could be a fractured metatarsal

Yes I would. I foolishly ignored a painful foot myself long ago and it still causes minor issues.

I would take him judging by the bruising on the foot.

I would take him, having looked this up myself in the last couple of days for a similar injury

www.nhs.uk/conditions/broken-toe/

It says that injuries to children's feet should be checked in A&E or an urgent treatment centre

I would. I'd most likely not go for myself, pain level depending, but I would for my kids.

I'd go to minor injuries or a and e. You have so many bones in your feet.

I took my DS to A&E with a similar injury and pattern of bruising when he was about 8 or 9. They said it might be broken but it was not even worth x-raying it, because the treatment would be the same whether it was broken or just bruised - tape it to another toe and just let his body tell him what he could and couldn't do. He had a fencing lession the next day and I thought he might need to give it a miss, but he went and it didn't hurt any more than normal walking. It took quite a long time for the bruising to go down completely but he was only really uncomfortable for 2 or 3 days.

Normally I'd say there would be no harm in going but it wasn't really necessary. During Covid I'd definitely be inclined to try taping it and wait a few more days at least before maybe phoning the doctor and see what they think, if it isn't getting better.