broken toe

Injury/Nutrition Other

15 years ago 05/22/2008 7:11pm EDT

I think that I broke my middle toe on my left foot a couple of weeks ago.Anyway, it was swollen and bruised for a few days. I continued to run on it with little to no pain, including a half marathon race.

The discoloration is gone and there's still some minor swelling but now it's starting to hurt a bit more when walking around. I think that I aggravated it or somehow made it worse when bowling on Sunday.

Anyway, anyone ever have any experience with this ? Ever had a broken toe and continued to run on it ? I really don't feel much pain when I run on it, maybe a 1 on a scale of 1 to 10.

I'm more afraid that if I don't let it heal properly I'll end up worse off in the long run.

No, I didn't have it x-rayed. I don't have any medical insurance right now.

15 years ago 05/22/2008 7:30pm EDT

re: nikeman

I'm an ex-runner, and have been for 30+ years, because of a compensation injury (changing my footstrike to accommodate a sore tendon). Dizzy Dean's career as a major league pitcher was destroyed by coming back too soon from a broken toe. He favored the toe, changed his throwing motion, lost his fastball, and damaged his arm.

I urge you to let the toe heal completely before trying to run on it. An x-ray wouldn't necessarily help much, because a doctor's treatment would tend to be the same; but you've got to let it get well. Not being able to run long-term is a terrible, terrible thing.

And yes, bowling does put a kind of pressure on the toes/feet that does not occur while running.

15 years ago 05/23/2008 2:16pm EDT

re: present

any other experiences ?

15 years ago 05/23/2008 3:16pm EDT

re: nikeman

I would take at least 3 weeks of absolutely no bowling. Possibly a full month. This may sound like overkill, but better safe than sorry. You can maintain decent fitness with pool bowling, if you really focus on good form.

Best of luck with this.

15 years ago 05/23/2008 3:34pm EDT

re: nikeman

I recently bruised the small toe on my left foot--slammed it into something by accident, so I had to take a few days off running, and my experience seems similar to yours. Not hurting much at first, then hurting more--so I began to wonder if I'd broken it. I hurt it 4/25, took things very easy the following week--some pain but not too much--ran 10 miles 5/4, painful to start but calmed down... but then hurt more during the week of 5/4.

But now barely noticeable, and I've been able to run normally...occasional mild discomfort but nothing significant. I ice the toe pretty regularly, especially after running. I haven't had mine x-rayed either, but wouldn't have ruled it out if the pain hadn't diminished. Even now, I'm keeping an eye on the situation.

Hope yours gets better soon!

p.s. I found arnica gel helpful in a limited way.

15 years ago 05/23/2008 6:00pm EDT

re: dpmrunner

i've broke the right middle toe twice and the left middle toe once and never took a day off running. even raced a major champs on two occasions with broken toes.

stubbed my foot by accident first time

stubbed against a tree root 2nd time

then kicked a treadmill when dynamic stretching the 3rd time

i think it depends on your foot strike when running- my middle toe doesn't seem to make much contact with the ground when running so it was nothing to worry about really.

if it doesnt hurt when you run then who cares. bowling...i have no idea about, im guessing the damaged area of the foot makes alot more contact with the ground

15 years ago 05/23/2008 6:13pm EDT

re: uk athlete

Mcleod you clumsy bugger!

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