Sprained Toe

A sprained toe is one of the most common form of foot injury. Sports persons who are associated with soccer, football, basketball, rugby are at a higher risk of toe sprain. Runners can sprain the toe if they stop suddenly while running. This results in jamming of the toes inside the shoes. Similarly, jumping awkwardly or a bad fall can lead to this foot problem. Others can get it while walking on an uneven surface or if the toe gets crushed into some hard surface.

Symptoms

The most commonly found symptoms of toe sprain are pain, tenderness and swelling in the toe and the surrounding areas. Sometimes, bruising may occur in the toe. Basically, the sprain occurs when the underlying toe ligament is damaged. The sprained toe ligaments damage can be categorized into three different grades.

The first grade results from a micro tear in the ligament. The typical characteristic of this pain is that it is not a constant pain but it comes and goes. As a result, the injured person can walk around without much difficulty. The second grade is the partial tear of the ligament where the symptoms are moderate and the patient feels the pain while moving the toe. The third grade is the most serious form of sprain where the ligament is torn completely and so the symptoms are more severe too. Many a time, the symptoms have a lot of similarity with stress fracture symptoms. So, one should be extra careful.

Treatment

The treatment can start at home only. When you have sustained a sprain in the toe, the first thing that should be done is to give the injured area proper rest. This will help to heal the injury. Application of ice can also have a soothing effect on pain and swelling. However, do not put the ice directly on the injured toe. Rather, put the ice cubes in a plastic bag and wrap it up with a towel and then place it over the toe. Apply the ice packs at least 4-5 times a day for the first three days after the injury. Compression of the toe is a bit difficult. However, if the injury is on the big toe, you can wrap it with compression bandage and then wrap the entire forefoot with the same bandage. The injured foot should always be kept in an elevated position for the first two days. This will reduce the blood flow to the area and help in bringing down the swelling. If the pain is bothering you too much, take over-the-counter pain relieving medicine for pain relief.

Rehabilitation

Healing time depends on the severity of the injury. One can recover from a minor sprain within a day or two if it is treated properly. For a more serious sprain, it will take a week to ten days to get rid of the problem. When the sprain is acute and the range of motion of the toe is badly affected then the recovery time will be even longer and may require a few weeks or may be months. The main aim of rehabilitation is to help the patient to resume the normal activities without causing any further injury to the toes.

Once the pain and swelling subsides, toe exercises are highly beneficial in this regard as they add strength and flexibility to the injured toe. They can also help to regain the full range of motion of the toes. Some of the common exercises are flexing of the toes and stretching of the toes. To perform these exercises, wear a special closed-toed protective shoes with stiff sole and wide toe boxes that will prevent pinching of the toes. It is always advisable to do the exercises under the supervision of a physical therapist.

If the toe is not healing despite all the treatment, then it is likely that there is a fracture in the toe. In that case, you should consult your doctor who will diagnose the problem with the help of x-rays. Broken toe treatment involves splinting of the toe in order to keep it in stable condition. A sprained toe should never be ignored because it can lead to serious health complications in future. It can lead to foot deformity, chronic pain in ankle, hip and knee joints or even arthritis in future.