In mid-April I suffered a pretty bad running fall injury when a car pulled in front of me against the light during a night run.
I had to immediately switch direction, and I hit my left foot against the lip of a curb and lost balance thus falling head-first onto a chip-sealed road.
My chin took the worst of it with a laceration that required 13 stitches.
Unfortunately, my left big toe was also injured and even 24 weeks later is still bothering me.
The first couple of weeks after the injury, my energies were devoted to the chin laceration and other road rash, but I did see my podiatrist in May and the films were negative. He advised returning to running when tolerable.
The continuing discomfort is at the IP joint of the left big toe below the nail. There is some local redness and perhaps minor inflammation at the knuckle which has not resolved.
There has been some very slow improvement. Even elliptical workouts were uncomfortable during the first two months, and I didn’t start running again until August.
Runs are still uncomfortable, with concrete/asphalt runs the most uncomfortable and dirt or track runs less so. The toe hurts worse as the run continues, particularly the final two miles of a five mile run.
It still hurts to put on a laced shoe (the left foot feels tight as if inflamed). Wearing my Five Fingers is much more comfortable.
I’ve tried to do tons of isometric movements over the 24 weeks with the left big toe, and the toe’s range of motion seems decent.
Ice/ cold water immersion hasn’t helped.
Has anyone else dealt with a jammed big toe injury? Is it normal for it to take 5+ months for the local inflammation and discomfort to resolve?
I’ve had other toe injuries over the years ( including actual fractures ) and they all resolved rather quickly and without much trouble. These injuries were not, however, to the big toe.
Do injuries to the big toe among runners typically take much longer to heal than problems with the other toes?
I thought my biggest challenge from this fall would be mitigating the facial scar (now at 24 weeks of twice daily Biocorneum on the laceration site – still not sure whether there will be a permanent scar but going down on the dreaded chip seal didn’t help).
Thanks for any insights or recommendations.
I had to immediately switch direction, and I hit my left foot against the lip of a curb and lost balance thus falling head-first onto a chip-sealed road.
My chin took the worst of it with a laceration that required 13 stitches.
Unfortunately, my left big toe was also injured and even 24 weeks later is still bothering me.
The first couple of weeks after the injury, my energies were devoted to the chin laceration and other road rash, but I did see my podiatrist in May and the films were negative. He advised returning to running when tolerable.
The continuing discomfort is at the IP joint of the left big toe below the nail. There is some local redness and perhaps minor inflammation at the knuckle which has not resolved.
There has been some very slow improvement. Even elliptical workouts were uncomfortable during the first two months, and I didn’t start running again until August.
Runs are still uncomfortable, with concrete/asphalt runs the most uncomfortable and dirt or track runs less so. The toe hurts worse as the run continues, particularly the final two miles of a five mile run.
It still hurts to put on a laced shoe (the left foot feels tight as if inflamed). Wearing my Five Fingers is much more comfortable.
I’ve tried to do tons of isometric movements over the 24 weeks with the left big toe, and the toe’s range of motion seems decent.
Ice/ cold water immersion hasn’t helped.
Has anyone else dealt with a jammed big toe injury? Is it normal for it to take 5+ months for the local inflammation and discomfort to resolve?
I’ve had other toe injuries over the years ( including actual fractures ) and they all resolved rather quickly and without much trouble. These injuries were not, however, to the big toe.
Do injuries to the big toe among runners typically take much longer to heal than problems with the other toes?
I thought my biggest challenge from this fall would be mitigating the facial scar (now at 24 weeks of twice daily Biocorneum on the laceration site – still not sure whether there will be a permanent scar but going down on the dreaded chip seal didn’t help).
Thanks for any insights or recommendations.