Broken Toes? Does Anyone Else Have Them? Fixes? Remedies? Ignored It?

[Lostlover]

I saw my doctor last week as I am getting ready for an international trip and he wanted a full exam. So, I decided to mention my smallest toes on both feet as he had his back to me. He turned around and looked at them and said that both were broken and just shrugged it off. It isn't entirely obvious either as both are slightly tilted outward.

I was just curious if any other JUBbers have this and have they done anything about it?

By the way, who still asks their patients (adults especially) to strip down to their underwear?

 

[Corny]

umm .. why didn't you ask your doc when you were there

And stripping down to your underwear would be a pretty normal procedure for a full checkup.

 

[cisco_teen]

By stripping down to your underwear your GP can check for skin lesions and abnormalities.

If you have slightly tilted toes without any pain, I doubt that they are broken, or broken anymore. However, if they are painful and difficult or impossible to bend, the first aid and standard practice treatment is to 'buddy tape' your injured toe to its neighbor to stabilize it and keep it from moving.

 

[KaraBulut]

He probably meant that you had broken your toe at some point in the past. A lot of people break toes and don't realize that there was a break. If you have trouble walking or if your shoes begin to wear on your toe, you can see a podiatrist for evaluation.

The largest organ on your body is your skin. If your physician does a physical without checking your skin, they're not doing a complete physical. If you're allowed to wear underwear, you're getting off easy... a lot of practitioners will require you to strip naked for a physical.

 

[Lostlover]

umm .. why didn't you ask your doc when you were there

And stripping down to your underwear would be a pretty normal procedure for a full checkup.

He said, "Yeah, they're broken." And went on to talking about getting a hepatitis shot. I wasn't there for the broken toes and kind of asked it in passing.

 

[Lostlover]

He probably meant that you had broken your toe at some point in the past. A lot of people break toes and don't realize that there was a break. If you have trouble walking or if your shoes begin to wear on your toe, you can see a podiatrist for evaluation.

The largest organ on your body is your skin. If your physician does a physical without checking your skin, they're not doing a complete physical. If you're allowed to wear underwear, you're getting off easy... a lot of practitioners will require you to strip naked for a physical.

Depending on how you look at it, you can bend my smallest toe sideways to make a 40 degree (or 140 degree) angle. This can't be normal.

I just read online about a podiatrist that fixes broken toes by doing surgery and putting in pins through the bones.

A lot of times I leave the doctor's office taking a mental note to ask my brother (doctor) to clarify something. My brother had no clue if it was broken and said it was nothing to worry about.

 

[Corny]

As I said .. don't make mental notes to ask somebody else .. ask YOUR doctor when you are there.

Maybe it's just me, but I somehow can't grasp why don't do that Don't you trust your doctor? Do you feel uncomfortable talking to him? Maybe you should look for another doc?

 

[KaraBulut]

Depending on how you look at it, you can bend my smallest toe sideways to make a 40 degree (or 140 degree) angle. This can't be normal.

Depends on where it bends from. The bones in the toe are analogous to the bones of the finger- a series of small bones attached so that they can be moved individually or as a unit. If the first two bones in your toe (the phalanges) bend laterally 45 degrees, that wouldn't be normal as these bones normally move up-down but not side-side. If the entire toe moves laterally to a 45 degree angle, that's normal- usually the motion is limited by the skin that attaches between the toes.

I just read online about a podiatrist that fixes broken toes by doing surgery and putting in pins through the bones.

You pretty much have to obliterate the toe to have a surgical repair. Most fractures of the toe are spiral fractures that break the bone into pieces that eventually rejoin and heal. If you have a complete break and the bone fragments are at an angle where there's no longer a way to heal (generally, a compound fracture), then a pin (open reduction, internal fixation or ORIF) is necessary.

 

[Lostlover]

Depends on where it bends from. The bones in the toe are analogous to the bones of the finger- a series of small bones attached so that they can be moved individually or as a unit. If the first two bones in your toe (the phalanges) bend laterally 45 degrees, that wouldn't be normal as these bones normally move up-down but not side-side. If the entire toe moves laterally to a 45 degree angle, that's normal- usually the motion is limited by the skin that attaches between the toes.

It's probably all in my head now that I'm hearing this. ^^^

You pretty much have to obliterate the toe to have a surgical repair. Most fractures of the toe are spiral fractures that break the bone into pieces that eventually rejoin and heal. If you have a complete break and the bone fragments are at an angle where there's no longer a way to heal (generally, a compound fracture), then a pin (open reduction, internal fixation or ORIF) is necessary.

I don't think I'm at this point yet. At home we always had concrete floors and I remember banging my small toe countless times on dressers and cabinets when growing up.

 

[KaraBulut]

I don't think I'm at this point yet. At home we always had concrete floors and I remember banging my small toe countless times on dressers and cabinets when growing up.

Unless you recall your toes swelling and turning purple, you probably didn't break them- especially when you were a child and your bones were less calcified.

Runners and guys doing long hikes tend to fracture their feet more often than people who stub their toes. The big fractures tend to occur when people drop heavy objects on their feet.

 

[justsimon]

I broke my toe when I was younger and it still aches on occasion. I just ignore it.

 

[evanrick]

how did you break both of them?!

 

[Lostlover]

how did you break both of them?!

I'm not sure. I tend to wear shoes down so much so that I only replace them when they're literally falling apart. I do have aches and pains that seem to come out of nowhere.

It is just odd the way that both small toes are oriented.

 

[Lostlover]

I broke my toe when I was younger and it still aches on occasion. I just ignore it.

I ignore it too but thought of it while I was sitting on the exam table. The last time I saw my main doctor, I asked about the "red birthmarks" I had on my arm. To my surprised these "red birthmarks" had a name: cherry angioomas. It doesn't hurt to ask.