do you know athletes who have continued running after a few days with this type of injury? that sounds very soon to start running even if I splinted it with the other toe.
yup. me. most doctors will tell you there’s not much you can do about a broken toe. I suppose some of the breaks are really bad and you can do surgery to set them with a pin in them, but for the most part you just tape them and go.
I’m assuming it’s not bent sideways or anything like that. but if you’re really worried about it go see a doctor. By the time you make an appointment and are seen chances are it will feel better.
interesting, are you 100% sure you actually had a broken toe? I had xrays and it showed a clean break going across the bone so there is no doubt what it is. How did you splint and bind it?
so you had xrays and the doctor didn’t give you any advice? didn’t tape it for you?
yes, mine was broken. I had xrays and the doc taped it to the next toes. I dont’ know how to explain to do it, because it just seems obvious to me how you’d do it. the doc said good luck and that I could do what ever didn’t cause pain.
Best advice - get professional advice * and that doesn’t mean here on ST.
Last year I was playing indoor soccer with my Year 11 class. We all had our shoes off and I managed to get my little toe 90 degrees to the others. Couldn’t be bothered with the hassle of going to get it looked at - so got my boss to pop it back in for me and just carried on teaching.
I had problems with that toe for months. Couldn’t run on the road, had to run on treadmill and even then it would flare up after any more than 20 mins.
Finally settled down after about 3 / 4 months when I told a friend what I’d done and she spent a couple of weeks forcing me to strap and doing some kinesio taping / lymphatic drainage on the area.
Honestly doctors don’t seem to know shit about joint injuries, that’s why I’m on ST. I take spiced rums advice over a doctors any day since he had the same thing. how often do doctors say you’ll never do this or that again and you end up doing it every day for the rest of your life.
I broke my toe last week. Doc said 1-3 weeks to heal. Maybe start running in a week if it feels better.
Taping it to the nearby toes. Taking advil and icing for the swelling. Applying heat once the swelling goes away.
Unfortunately I just sliced open a toe on my other foot so things are on hiatus.
Swimming seems to be okay. So does aqua jogging but it’s too boring.
Just pretending to lift and hopefully biking soon.
Here’s a fun toe pic. The right pinky is the fractured one:
Yesterday I slipped in my bathroom and broke my toe on the corner of a door frame; the fourth toe, the one next to the pinky.
I was wondering:
How long I need to wait to come back to swimming, then cycling, then running.
How long until I can aqua jog?
What are some cardio activities I can do in the mean time?
What will happen if I come back too soon?
Are there any tricks or tips on getting it to heal faster? Even an increase in one or 2 days out of ten weeks would be a big difference to me.
All responses are greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time =) happy training.
ugh dude, i broke my 2nd metatarsal a year and a half ago, it took 3 months before i could run. however whenever it was time to run, because i’d not tried to start early, i had no pains and have had no problems since. I couldn’t even swim because i could feel pressure in that area even with a pull buoy for two months. my first run back was a 4 mile run at 11:00 mile pace, and i have NEVER been so happy during a run. it only took about a month to get back to running in the 8:xx/mi range, so it comes back quick.
My hindsight advice:
watch your food intake, and be VERY serious about it. I went from 180lbs to 200 in 3 months.
take the time off that you need to. you’re GOING to get out of shape a bit, who cares if its 4 weeks of not training or 8. it all comes back. After 3 months off i trained for IMTX for3 months and did just fine.
cycling on the trainer was the first thing i was able to do. but seriously don’t push it, you don’t wanna deal with a nagging pain in your foot for the next 5 years.
Tank - there might be a doctor or two who could help you despite assertions to the contrary.
First off, I’m assuming that you’ve based your diagnosis on an x-ray noting the fracture. Buddy taping, 1/2 inch adhesive taping two toes together, sometimes with a pad in between, is sufficient most of the time. In my office, you would be allowed unlimited swimming and biking using pain as a guide. (Your bike shoe, if a perfect fit before, might cause excessive pain early.) I’ve had some problems letting people run early using pain as a guide, over the years, so I ask them for 10 days of water running before I let them begin to return to running. But that’s just me. I’m sure there are others who are more aggressive. Watch your skin, watch for any type of rotational deformity developing (toe nails no longer parallel like they were preinjury.) If there’s any question at all, your local Podiatrist could give you an informed opinion based on your specific findings. Good luck.
Don’t mean to step on your Doctor’s toes or anything but you need that border toe re-aligned and then immobilized with buddy tape / firm soled walking shoe or steel insert – or otherwise it is going to promote a slow T1 and T2…and a few other issues.
Have Dr Roof chime in if you want to hear it from a DPM.
KLG
PS thanks for pointing out which one needs re-aligned
Oh, I agree. That pic was soon after it happened. It’s been taped up pretty good since then.
Jeff,
Don’t mean to step on your Doctor’s toes or anything but you need that border toe re-aligned and then immobilized with buddy tape / firm soled walking shoe or steel insert – or otherwise it is going to promote a slow T1 and T2…and a few other issues.
Have Dr Roof chime in if you want to hear it from a DPM.
KLG
PS thanks for pointing out which one needs re-aligned
I probably have a disaster story, but I would highly recommend seeing a foot and ankle ortho specialist. At Black Fly last July, I broke my second toe entering the water. I was told by ED doc (not one at race – he was awesome) to tape together and that would heal in a few weeks. Not even close. 3 surgeries and over 9 months later and I still can’t run. I was 3 months no walking and about 6 months no cycling. I still have yet to take a pain free step. I suffered dislocation and displaced fracture. You said you had clean break so probably good idea to make sure specialist checks it out and ensures no special attention is needed.
Good luck and hopefully isn’t very serious. I’ve learned the hard way that foot injuries are not something to mess with. Just ask Julie Dibens.
it sounds like you had it a lot worse than me. I went to a highly recommended ortho specialist and he gave me four weeks until back to running, no dislocation, no need to reset the bone, so it looks like it was just a snap not a twist or anything crazy. Thank you for your story though I will be VERY careful getting back into training
Hi there, I broke my second metatarsal two 1/2 weeks ago doing a 9 mile road race. I have only just had an x-ray as I was hoping it was only a twist. I actually have a displaced fracture of my second toe and have to go to doc tomorrow to see what has to be done. Any idea on how long this will have me off running?
