Would you see a dr for this?

[7costanza]

Monday night I stubbed my pinky toe pretty hard, and there was a loud popping sound. There is now swelling and light purple/blue bruising where the foot meets the toe. I have much less ability to spread my toes outward on that foot, though curling them seems ok. It’s painful to walk on the side of that foot, so I’ve been limping around a bit. The pain seems to be more in the foot/toe joint area than in the actual toe. Would you see a doctor now, give it a few more days to see if there’s improvement, or is this not a big deal and I should just suck it up (which is what my H clearly thinks, lol)?

UPDATE: I was able to get in with my regular doctor and she ordered an x ray, the second joint is fractured. I just have to keep it immobile for 4 weeks. She did not recommend buddy taping because it can be difficult to tape the pinky (I tried and it was not comfortable at all). She suggested a fitflop or clog style shoe, but I think I’m just going to get one of those hideous squared toe post op shoes.

[fivechickens]

I don’t know if they will do anything for a broken toe. I might call the office and see what they think.

[Jalapeñomel]

Tape it together and if it still hurts in a couple days, make an appointment.

[cjcouple]

No. They can't do anything if it is broken or sprained anyway. I fell down my work steps about 6 months ago and my big toe was HUGE and super purple. I just had to take it easy, favor it and wait it out to heal. Its fine today :-)

[ohgillian]

Ditto PPs. You just need to tape it to the toe next to it.

[wildrice]

Aug 12, 2020 13:17:12 GMT -5 cjcouple said:

No. They can't do anything if it is broken or sprained anyway. I fell down my work steps about 6 months ago and my big toe was HUGE and super purple. I just had to take it easy, favor it and wait it out to heal. Its fine today :-)

This is what I always thought, but my mom seriously broke her pinky toe a few months ago, and they put her in a boot/shoe to help it heal. They said it wouldn't have healed properly if it wasn't set in place (she basically broke it clean off...). Hers got progressively more swollen and painful over a few days before she went in.

So, I might give it a couple more days but if it seems to be getting worse, it might be worth just getting checked out to be sure there is nothing they need to do to treat it. 

[muffin0]

I think it depends on where exactly it hurts.

Super close to foot/on foot I would call

Middle/towards end of toe buddy tape

[picksthemusic]

I'd get an x-ray for peace of mind. If it's not displaced, cool, you can buddy tape it. If it's fractured/displaced/dislocated, they can do something about it. At least give you a flat bottom shoe/post-op shoe so you're not flexing it and can give you some pain relief.

[Deleted]

I'd probably buddy tape it and give it a few days. If you don't see any improvement or if it keeps getting worse I'd see a doctor. I've broken a couple of toes and they've always healed just fine on their own, even if they did hurt like the dickens for the first few days/week.

[7costanza]

Thanks all! I called and because of the location of the bruising/pain (more on the foot than toe), they want me to be seen. Hopefully it’s just a little sprain!

[mich1]

Nope, in my experience they'll just tell you to tape it to the other toe and to take ibuprofen.

I rammed my pinky into the corner of a wall. It broke, dangled there. I pushed it back into place before I realized what was going on. Then it hurt. I went to the ER and was told that they could xray the joint and tell me definitively it was broken, but all they'd do is tape it and give me ibuprofen. In my brain, it didn't make any sense to wait around hours for an xray just to do what I could do at home....so I left the ER.

The whole side of my foot hurt, and it was about 4 weeks before I could wear shoes.

[georgeglass]

And just to confuse things, when this happened with my finger, the orthopedic surgeon I went to fussed at me for buddy taping. Said that was old treatment and could cause more damage. May be different with a toe, but I'd get checked out.

[tarzanswife]

Former soccer player and major pinky toe breaker. All they can do is tape it to the toe next to it. They may give you a walking shoe to make it easier to walk but you can easily pick one of those up at any pharmacy if you can't get it in a regular shoe and flip flops aren't an option. Ice and lots of Ibuprofen. Make sure you are elevating it as well.

[court26]

Let us know how it went! I was just going to say, tape, ice, elevate, which was already pretty much covered. I badly bruised my toe in the spring and I was so worried about it, but it did feel better in a few days. Yours sounds worse!

[AdaraMarie]

Not helpful, but here's where I'm at. I broke my toe on father's day and went to urgent care because I couldn't walk on it at all. Just before 4th of July I called a nurse line to make sure how it felt was normal (numbness, tingling, twitching, cramping) and they said yes.
Urgent care told me 4-8 weeks. It has now been almost 8 weeks and it still isn't normal. I can get my foot into a regular shoe but I have numbness still and am trying to figure out 1. What doctor to call, and 2. If I can wait another 12 days until my kids go to in person school or if I should take them with me to an appointment sooner.

[sandandsea]

Aug 12, 2020 13:16:42 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Tape it together and if it still hurts in a couple days, make an appointment.

This. I broke my pinky toe a year or two ago and there is nothing they can do for it. After 8-10 weeks it healed.

Oh. And I couldn’t buddy tape it. For some reason that was excruciating. So I wore athletic socks to keep from hitting it again and the socks held it in place.

[PennyCandy]

DH recently broke his little toe and dislocated it along with needing stitches on the bottom. It was bad. The ER referred him to an orthopedist even though it was only his little toe. I actually would go in given the location of the pain. They can at least put you in an orthopedic shoe to keep you more comfortable.

[Jalapeñomel]

Aug 12, 2020 23:49:23 GMT -5 sandandsea said:

Aug 12, 2020 13:16:42 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Tape it together and if it still hurts in a couple days, make an appointment.

This. I broke my pinky toe a year or two ago and there is nothing they can do for it. After 8-10 weeks it healed.

Oh. And I couldn’t buddy tape it. For some reason that was excruciating. So I wore athletic socks to keep from hitting it again and the socks held it in place.

I feel like it’s easy to point out the dancers and athletes in this thread. 😂

[7costanza]

Update in op!

[wanderlustmom]

I would call the doctor! My husband broke and dislocated his pinky toe and he would not be bothered to do anything. Now it's jacked up looking and he says he gets tingling in from time to time. I don't get that. If I am hurt, I go to the doctor. On the other hand, I do love that DH never complains about anything. He is no man cold husband.