Broken Big Toe - How long until walking normal again?

Triathlon Forum
1

Hi ST,

Just broke big toe last Sunday by stubbing it bad. Doc. said I can’t run for at least 6 weeks, which is understandable because I can’t put any pressure on it right now. Although Doc. said he will take another x-ray within four too see how it has healed. Right now I am hobbling around all day at work because I can’t toe-off. Main question is for those who have had broken toe - how long until able to walk normal again? Doc. says I can bike and swim. Tried riding on trainer the other day (3 days after it happened), and it was too soon. Feeling a good deal better since then, I will try again tomorrow. Can’t imagine swimming just yet because pointing toes will aggravate it, as will kicking off wall. Though will likely try with a pull buoy lightly next week. If anyone has had this happen to them, how long did it take to heal for you? When were you back to running and the other sports? Any suggestions? I’ve never felt more jealous when I see someone out running.

Thanks,

Chris

2

Hey Chris- Tough luck on the big toe.

My teenage son broke his big toe around May 1st. Wore a walking boot for four weeks, during which time he did no activity other than go to school. Around May 30th he got clear from doctor to go back to XC practice. Was running on it for short distances the next day.

I guess everybody healing time is different.

3

Thanks for the info, that gives me a glimmer of hope that things can get better sooner. No boot for me though. He said he would have given me one, but he liked the way I taped it. My work in broadcasting requires a lot of standing and lifting, so I guess the boot would get in the way anyway. So I guess it is a good thing.

Thanks againg,

Chris

4

I’ve broken middle toes (2nd, 3rd, 4th) and those took a week to start walking on. i think a month to run.

5

I broke my little toe 8 week prior to Honu this year. Recommend to wear a hard sole shoe (birkenstock’s work great). That limits the flexion of the toe. Also can try buddy taping it to your other toes. It took me about 1 week to bike comfortably, 2 weeks to walk comfortably and was running at 4 weeks with mild discomfort. I did a swim and bike block and ended up having a great race at Honu with only 4 weeks of running. For swimming, swim with a pull buoy until it is comfortable. I learned to flip turn and push off with only one leg and got pretty good at it.

Again, it was my fifth toe, not the first toe. A first toe break typically will take a little longer to run as it is more important during the push-off phase of running. Also, if your break is intra-articular (ie. in the joint), you may want to be more conservative in returning to running as these can lead to post-traumatic arthritis. Most are extra-articular (ie. not into the joint) and shouldn’t have any long term issues unless it heals with a significant angular deformity.

Good luck

6

Yep its buddy taped with a cotton ball in between along with a kt tap wrap of the toe for first layer, than three strips of kt tape with slight tension running on top of foot, on bottom of foot, and on side of foot, than the buddy tape. Currently jacking up the rest of shoe with powerstep insoles, and forefoot pad (to offset) drop that insole creates. The reason I did this is because it allows me to take a more normal step. My running shoes that I work in are reasonably stiff. I just bought a pair of work boots which may work well because they have stiff soles and a high top. Weird thing is that I remember reading in some moonwalk dance instructional video that high-tops are better for toes if they are tight. Basically because you can put more pressure of your body weight into them. I tested this out once and it appears true, but not sure how this would work with walking. Either way I thank you for your reference of time it takes to heal. Interesting about Birkenstock. Do you mean the shoe or the sandals? I was thinking Dansko shoes, but even though they are stiff they seem to have a raise in the heel which would put greater stretch on the toe. Now that you reminded me about that, I’ll be sure to give Birkenstock a try.

I have a buddy of mine that had a stress fracture in big toe years ago, and it still gives him some trouble. I’m trying to avoid that, all while being able to return to training as soon as I can. I’ve been stimming, heating, icing, and ice massaging the area along with increasing calcium etc. According to the P.A. at the office supposedly bromelain and pineapple help heal broken bones, so I have been taking both.

I have sprained all the other toes of that foot once, and it took me a few weeks to get back to running again. Cycling I remember helped it. Really not sure how a break works though, but Doc. confirmed it would be better to ride than to do nothing. Just trying to gather as much info as possible as well as release as much info as possible as to what I am doing to help other unfortunate slowtwitchers in the future searching for methods to help.

Thanks again,
Chris

7

I broke my big toe in two places about 4 weeks ago. I’m just starting to walk normally again. I managed a 45 mile ride today and swam twice this past week. Good luck!

8

I wore the Birkenstock sandals. Was the most comfortable footwear I could find. Luckily, I can wear scrubs to my clinic and it just opened up dialogue with my patients anyways about why I am wearing sandals.

Basically, I’d advise to wear something with a stiff sole that is comfortable. When it is acutely swollen, looser shoes or sandals will usually be more comfortable. Tight shoes may squeeze the toe and make it hurt more. I had to adjust my cycling shoes some to comfortably wear them; I loosened up the forefoot strap. Not so loose that my foot moved around, but looser than normal to accommodate the swollen, tender toe.

Besides Calcium, make sure you get appropriate vit D. Vit D deficiency is surprisingly common, even among athletes who “think” they eat healthy.

9

Thanks again for the advice. Definitely getting vit D. Taking in supplement form and also outside good part of day at work. Going to do a trainer ride today, I’ll see how that goes.

10

Ok, I am coming back to this story as a recap and for future reference for people who have broken toes and too make them optomistic, this is what I did. The following was a response to someone whose daughter has turf toe, it made me think of how I would get back to my recent post of a broken big toe that I got a little over 6 weeks ago. Before that, I would like to say that if anyone has a broken toe they should read the rest of this thread, and see there Doctor (duh) for even more information. I had an intra-articular break of my big toe at the proximal phalanx, aside from eating healthy (plus, no soda, alcohol), taking supplements - vit c., bromelain, minerals (w/ calcium), vit. D, omega 3’s, and eating a good amount of yogurt, broccoli, pineapples, bananas, this is what I did…

Ultimately I would do what the doctor suggests, physical therapy, taping, or whatever. Just had a broken big toe, and came across a lot of turf toe wrapping in my spare time. Just due a google search for turf toe wrapping, and turf toe wrapping with k-tape (kinesio tape). Also, if you go to a therapist, make sure he is doing stimming and ultrasound. You can buy a great TENS stim for under $45 that is battery operated. I use mine on any injuries, even with my toe fracture. Doctor said with the type of fracture, I couldn’t run for 6-8 weeks, but since I stimmed, Iced, heated, lightly Ice massaged it, wrapped it every day (with 1 ultrasound a week), when he re-x-ray’d it 4 weeks after the break, he said I could have started running a week earlier. So in effect I cut healing in half. I decided not to run though for another few days, so that it could heal further.

Ice and heat everyday - no more than 15 min at a time of each. Best way to do it, put electric stim on, and while stimming heat the foot for 5-10 minutes, take heat off (leave stim on), and immediately ice 5-10 minutes. Do this 2-3 times a day. Also, ice massage (with stim off) occasionally. The way you do this is to put water in dixi cup, freeze, then cut out bottom and massage area. Make sure she stretches toe after initial healing, and perform exercises. Stretches include 1. calf stretching, 2. tibia stretching, 3. all toes dorsi flexed, 4. all toes plantar-flexed, 5. than individual toes dorsi flexed and 6. plantar flexed, 7. assisted toe seperations. Exercises include 1. curling towel on floor with toes, 2. picking towel up with toes, 3. using band as resistance to dorsi-flex (plus inverted, everted), 4. using band as resistance to plantar flex toes (plus, inverted everted), 5. using band as resistance invert and evert feet 6. seperating toes (toes do all the work, no assisting). When she gets stronger - 7. calf raises - regular, inverted, everted, one-legged, 8. jump rope jumps (without jump rope) varying height and one/two legs.

Good luck,

Chris

Extra: As for what I did with taping, I first wrapped big toe at break with k-tape cut half the width (no tension on tape), then I cut k-tape in thirds (of width) and at about 4 inches, I put one-third on top of toe (with no-tension starting on toe, 1/3 tension between toe and metatarsal then no tension), I repeated the previous action for the bottom of the toe, and the arch side of toe. Then, I started buddy taping. I used a non-sticky, self adhering tape, wrapped toe once (without tension, don’t want to cut off circulation), then put cotton ball between big toe and second, than wrapped once around that and ended at the top of big toe. Every time I took tape off, and put back on (for therapy), I changed direction of buddy tape wrap as to not torque/twist toe in one direction.

As an aside, cotton ball, only needs to be for a big toe break. Other toes, you just buddy tape.

11

Also, in order to restore muscle memory, I have been doing a lot of one-leg and two-leg balances on wobble boards, and bosu balls in order to awaken my body to realize it has use of the toe again.

12

Hi
Don’t know if you’ll see this. Just signed up to this forum. Thank you for all the great advice and sharing your experience.
Question- I broke my big toe- displaced fracture PIP. It was reduced by the doc. I’ve been religiously buddy taping it, icing, and been doing passive range of motion exercises as well as swimming and biking to maintain my sanity. It’s been 4 weeks. My question is, the toe is still tender, yet i can walk and toe off (finally) in almost a normal gait pattern wearing shoes. so is the tenderness and soreness because the toe is stiff - still do not have full range of flexion. How long did it take for the tenderness to dissipate. When you returned to running, how much soreness did you have? i would rather behave and do what it takes now versus dealing with this for a prolonged period of time.

thanks so much!
Lynn

13

Hi Lynn,

If I remember correctly when I went back to running, I had no pain whatsoever. That was about 4-5 weeks after I broke it. Apparently mine healed so quickly that I could have started running after 3 weeks. I am very lucky now because I haven’t really had any residual pain. I’ve had more swelling with sprained ankles. If you do all the stimming, icing, heating, ultrasounding, taping, popping minerals, eating healthy, etc, that I posted in past posts I think you can get better very quickly. A little soreness, you will have. But like I said I don’t remember much soreness going back to running You might want to try walking first. Yes, I know you can swim and bike. But, I was somewhat lucky (even though I didn’t think of it at the time) that I had a job that was 12-14 hours a day that required me to walk a lot right after I broke it. At first it sucked. But, I was outside all day - which equals a lot of Vit D. And, after it healed my toe was already getting used to the pushing off phase with all the walking. Take your time though, because there is no reason you need to put up with a painful toe the rest of your life when it is avoidable.

Best,
Chris

14

Thanks for the reply… i just have to be patient. You’re absolutely right, in some ways broken bones are better than ligements and tendons!

15

Thanks for this post. I broke my big toe about 10 days ago (dropped a weight on it at the gym). Got it xrayed and evaluated by a friend whose a podiatrist. She confirmed it was broken but not displaced…said to keep it in a boot/buddy tape the toes. I am supposed to run a 10 mile race on may 3rd (exactly one week after I broke it). I’ve been spinning like crazy to keep up my cardio but have not run. I was going to try after 3 weeks. I’m curious - how many miles did you start running after the injury? I was running 8-9 miles prior to dropping the stupid weight. Physically I think I’ll be fine…I just don’t know if my toe can last 10 miles.

16

well- unfortunately, i’m like the normal person who takes 6-8 weeks to heal. i haven’t started running yet- it’ll be 6 weeks monday and i’m going to try running. i was running 8-10 miles before i broke it. i still get a twinge with walking, and so i’m trying to be smart about it now so not have to deal with it months from now. Essentially, if it hurts, it’s probably not fully healed, controlling for any pain secondary to the joint being stiff. you will be suprised at how significantly better your toe will feel week to week. as far as jumping back into running- use common sense- you probably can run the 10 miles - but it may flare your toe pain up (especially if it’s not fully healed). however as long as the break isn’t involving your MTP/or intra-articular PIP/MTP joint - you don’t really use your PIP or DIP or associated joint with running- so just buddy tape it - and if the race is important go for it.
it’s totally annoying, but it’ll get better.

17

i broke the toe next to the little one (so i guess thats the 4th? i am not good at medical terms) a week before my first 70.3. I buddy taped during the days leading to the event and iced a lot. My only run during that time was a set of 400s to check which shoes hurt less (winner: Newton Motion S). As expected, I ended up running a lot slower half-mary than planned but still managed to finish it. I went for x-rays the week after and there was no additional damage from it. Dont know if that helps but if you have an important race, dont underappreciate the anti-pain effects of adrenaline and endorphins.