broken toe? - General Health Message Board

SentenceDoing · 08-20-2008, 10:13 PM

About 30 minutes ago, I accidentally kicked a chair really hard as I was walking by, and my second toe from my big toe hurt so bad. I could still bend it, so I didn't think it was broken, but then I looked at it and noticed that it's crooked now. All my toes were parallel before, but now that one is pointing towards the one to the left of it (almost overlapping it), and there's a gap between the injured one and the one to the right. It started swelling really quickly, so I put ice on it for 20 minutes or so, but it's still really swollen. I can hardly bend it now because it's so swollen. It also looks like it has a bump on the side of it.
So does it sound like it's broken? Is it always true that if you can bend it it's not broken? But then why is it crooked? Will it be like that forever now?
Thanks.

janewhite1 · 08-20-2008, 11:00 PM

Could be broken, could be one of the joints is dislocated, either way if it is visibly deformed like that, you probably want to have a doctor set it so it heals straight. Is it real late at night where you are? Unless the break is so bad the skin is broken, you probably don't have to go to the ER in the middle of the night, but get to medical attention within 24 hours, in any case. You really don't want it to heal crooked!

It's not true that it's always impossible to move a body part that's broken.

SentenceDoing · 08-21-2008, 07:44 AM

Thank you!
Yes, it was 12:30 AM when I posted this, so it was a little late, so I may go to the Walk-In Center at lunch time (as it would take too long to get in to see my doctor, and I don't know if the ER is a little extreme at this point). Do you think a Walk-In is a good idea even though I don't know if they have x-ray equipment on-site, or should I go to the ER?

janewhite1 · 08-21-2008, 07:47 AM

I'm not sure the walk-in clinic would have the equipment to treat it, or necessarily have an orthopedist or podiatrist to fix it today. You could call them and ask, though.

Keep it elevated, you don't want the swelling making it harder to treat.

SentenceDoing · 08-21-2008, 08:15 AM

Hmmm, ok. Do you think it would be too long to wait until about 5:00 to go to the ER (about 7 hours from now)? I'd like to be able to work a full day today, but I also don't want to wait too long until it can't be corrected...