Running On A Broken Toe?

I broke the 'ring' toe (next to the pinky) on my left foot, about three or four years ago. I didn't know I broke it right away, but tried to run on it a few hours later and turned around after a few minutes because it felt nasty...gave me kind of a sick feeling in my stomach. The next day it went black and blue and swelled up.

I'm pretty good at running through injuries, too, and I didn't run a step for 6 weeks so it could heal. Didn't want to run on it, either. Rode my bike with stiff-soled cycling shoes instead.

If it's your big toe, it'd be much worse. I don't think someone could run 90 minutes or so on a broken large toe. If it's really broken, you're gonna find out real quick. If you can run on it tomorrow, it's not broken.

Had the same exprience by playing third world nations world cup soccer game(playing the game without any shoes b/c you chose third world countries)broke three toes, takes about a few weeks to heal to run on good, but ran a race the week before I broke them and did basically what you did ran on the inside was doing fine till like half way through my 5k xc race in h.s. gradually slowed down towards the end I was limping in a walk across the line to finish in a terrible time of 18+ mins. It seemed to be nothing at the beginning but towards the end it just keep increasing in pain and thumping till I was pretty much f***ed

And how is it today? Update?

You'd be surprised what other injuries you're going to be prone to since you're shifting your footing.

If you experience pain in your other leg (which would be taking more brute from the change up) then stop running and take off.

I inflammed the bottom of my foot by missteping a pothole and ran through it. Later on I developed pain in my hamstring and calf on my other leg. So I sat out for a week.

I've run on a broken "index finger" toe. Tape the toe to the others and just go for it. But no matter what you do, it will take 6-8 weeks to heal.

They are crocked but who cares it dosent hurt unless I get into like really hot water

Wait a few days and have it looked at ... X-ray would be best. I neglected to do this, and ended up with a major problem resulting in surgery and now 3+ months of recovery. Had I had an X-ray a few days after messing up my toe, I could have gotten away with a minor joint "cleanup", but ended up getting a cleanup, and rebuild with a couple of screws.

Yeah I broke my smallest toes, not like any huge metatarsals so if you did I would get an x-ray too and just forget what I did

Broke a toe when I was training for the Austin marathon a couple of years ago. While I have not read this whole thread before replying you likely know there is basically nothing that can be done for a broken toe. Mine was swollen and very colorful and jolly painful. However, the marathon being the goal and this occuring afew months before the event, I chose to run easily through the pain my tootsie felt on impact. After a few days of painful running, easy runs no speed work, I was able to get back to more normal and press on. The marathon was not effected I am glad to say. Wishing you the best........

Buckeye Senior wrote:

I'm reasonably certain I broke...or severely f***ed up...my toe this morning. Despite that, I did today's long run but found myself having to alter my foot plant to avoid aggravating it (big left). Anyone have any experience with broken toes?

If it's not a big toe you can probably push through it...although if it's affecting your stride I'd be careful. I broke the left big toe on the joint (at the time I was in the best shape of my life and had just finished a road race the week after my last collegiate outdoor season ended...went up to accept my award and kicked a light fixture). The first doctor I went to said I would be running again in a week...after a week I tried, but couldn't run a step without a limp. It ended up taking 3 months to heal and still doesn't feel perfect. I finally went to see a podiatrist and he said the best thing I could hope for is to run on it and hopefully it would go back into place...I asked about operating, but he said there was no guarantee that this would fix my problem...possibly might make it worse. It's definitely not the way it used to be, but it doesn't bug me at all anymore (this is 2 years later)...simply because I've learned to live with it. Bottom line: if you broke a big toe on the joint you're going to have to take at least 4-8 weeks off before running on it again...it's just too painful and can't be done withough messing your stride up. If it's another toe, buddy tape it and try to run...best of luck