Top 7 Tips to Treat and Prevent Stubbed Toe

This little piggy went to the market. This little piggy stayed home. This little piggy smashed into the bedpost and you sat up the rest of the night, crying and cursing the throbbing digit. For all the pain they cause stubbed toes have a hard time being taken seriously. Part of the problem is that they are usually self-inflicted, most likely when you are trying to navigate a darkened room in the middle of the night. The fact that it is just your toe does not help a whole lot either. Stubbing your toe can do a lot of damage to you. You can tear soft tissue or a tendon around a toe joint or the metatarsal joint, which is where the toe attaches to the foot. You can even break a bone. So while you may joke about a stubbed toe, it is really nothing to snub. People blow it off. Then four to five years later, the toe is killing them. It turns out there is a fracture line and arthritis. Here are some tips that you can consider to adopt to prevent further damage to your toe.

1. Tread Carefully

Until you have your toe examined, try not to bend it or put pressure on it when you walk. You could have a hairline fracture, and pressure would enlarge the crack and possibly displace the bone. Shift your weight to your heel as much as possible. But do not overdo it. Overcompensating could cause problems elsewhere in the foot or in the knee or hip.

2. Open Wide

Make sure your shoe provides ample space for your injured toe. It is recommended to choose an open-toed slipper or a sandal over a closed shoe. This will help protect your toe from additional pressure.

3. Just Chill

Apply ice to your toe right away. The sooner you do so, the sooner you will reduce the swelling. That is important because swelling puts pressure on the tissues, which in turns puts pressure on the nerves within the tissues. And that contributes a great deal to the pain. It is recommended massaging the toe with an ice cube for 10 to 15 minutes every hour or two. But do not do this if you have diabetes or a circulatory problem. The ice can limit circulation in your toe.

4. Put A Hold On Heat

Do not use any type of treatment on a snubbed toe. Anything hot will immediately dilate torn blood vessels. That will lead to the build up of fluid in the toe.

5. Leave Your Toe Unwrapped

Do not bandage a stubbed toe yourself. You may not wrap it correctly and if it is fractured, you may do more harm than good. Leave this step to the professionals.

6. Attend To A Broken Nail

The impact between toe and immovable object can cause the nail to tear or break off. If the nail is still partially attached, cover it with an adhesive bandage to give it a chance to reseat itself. It does not reattach or fall off within a few days, clip off the wobbly end.

7. Keep It Up

Stay off your feet as much as you can, especially for the first 24 to 36 hours after the injury. And keep your toe elevated, even if you just have your foot resting on a box 6 inches off the floor. What you do not want is for your foot to be hanging down, with blood running into it. That will increase swelling.