Broken Toe - What to Do

Broken toe is a term commonly used to describe an injury to a toe. The bones that make up the toes, may be fractured, depending upon the severity of the injury. Falling of a heavy object on the toe is the most common cause of this type of injury. The injured toe is swollen and even touching it may trigger unbearable pain. In some cases, the skin color of the affected toe turns blue or gray. Studies have revealed that generally broken toe heals within 3-5 weeks.

Treatment

Rest
The swelling and pain associated with an injured toe will aggravate if adequate rest is not taken. Refrain from doing activities that are hurting the injured toe. Physical activities that put undue strain on the broken toe need to be avoided. Too much walking or standing can extend the healing time considerably.

Ice Therapy
Application of ice on the affected part is one of the most sought after treatment to reduce the swelling that accompanies an injured toe. Icing the damaged toe 3-4 times daily for a period of 10 minutes is necessary to decrease the pain. Direct contact of ice cubes with the skin is not advisable as, it can lead to scarring. Instead, one should wrap the ice cubes in a cloth and then place it on the injured toe.

Medications
Intake of appropriate medicines can play a key role to alleviate the pain. The most commonly used medication for the treatment of broken toe is ibuprofen. This is one anti-inflammatory medicine that can work wonders to get rid of the swelling associated with broken toe. Even acetaminophen is helpful in this regard but the required dosage has to be followed strictly for the medications to be effective. These medications are basically painkillers that do a great job of relieving the discomfort.

Positioning the Foot
Keeping the foot in a position that helps to relieve the pain is equally important. In order to ease the discomfort, allowing the leg to rest in an elevated position, is a good option to ensure a speedy recovery. Bad or improper positioning can not only increase the healing time, but can also, at times, cause the toe to 'heal' badly.

Taping the Toe
An easy way to accelerate the healing process of a broken toe, is to prevent it from moving. This can be easily achieved using surgical tape. Just tape the injured toe with the toe adjacent to it, in order to immobilize the toe and reduce the recovery time. Do not forget to place a cloth between the toes. This will provide a greater support to the injured bone.

Surgery
In case the toe bones are dislocated to a great extent, then the aforementioned remedies fail to provide any relief. In fact, with the passage of time, the symptoms aggravate and the person finds it extremely difficult to concentrate on work. In such a case, surgery is the only option to restore normal position of the toe bones.