Broke toe as a child, is it too late to do anything about it?

January 24, 2012 9:46 AM

Can I do anything about a broken toe (and it's side effects), when the toe in question was broken when I was about 3 or 4 years-old?

When I was little, I broke my toe (the one next to the big toe) when a mace fell on it (Owww!)
This is the toe I'm talking about: : Uuuuu
This resulted in a few things:

• I can feel a bone at the base of the toe that isn't supposed to be there.
• Toe in question is crooked and has odd swelling
• The big toe next to it would swell and itch under the toe nail. I would try to scratch and scratch but the itch (and purple/redness) wouldn't go away, obviously, since it was under the nail. this doesn't happen anymore in recent years.
• The big toe next to it became much bigger than the one on the other foot. There is a swelling too. However, in recent years, only the little toe hurts.
• The pad of my foot by the "knuckles" has a swelling which requires me to buy shoe size 0.5 size bigger than I need, and I wear a thin sock on that foot, a thick sock on the normal foot, to compensate. Unfortunately wearing big shoes (on my already big feet) make me clumsy... :P
• This pad really hurts sometimes :-(

It hurts on and off, but when it hurts, boy, it hurts, and hurts, and HURTS! I'm nearly 25 now. Is there anything I can do to fix it?
Also, should I post a gross picture, just for kicks? :-P

The only ideas I can think of is to do liposuction on the "pad" to remove whatever gooey stuff is there... And to break the toe again and re-set it straight.


(And as a bonus question, does anyone have a faint idea if I'd be able to wear Vibrams FiveFingers with a foot like this? I'd probably have to buy 2 sizes, uh?)

posted by midnightmoonlight to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

Best answer: Your second idea is probably the likeliest option - if you go to an orthopod i would bet that's what they would do. obviously there's nothing you can do about it on your own, unless you want to go wild-west roughing-it -
posted by facetious at 9:58 AM on January 24, 2012

to be clear - break it and reset it -
posted by facetious at 9:58 AM on January 24, 2012

Best answer: Your second idea is mostly likely i think for a permanent fix. I think it would be worth it in the long run, but be informed it can be a painful recovery with things like a pin sticking out the end of your toe for weeks.

Even at that, I would do it. 25 is way too young to have chronic pain.

disclaimer - i have not had this done, but my mom did after she unknowingly broke a toe and had it heal all weird. it was scary looking after the surgery and she required use of a scooter for awhile, but now she is glad she did it.
posted by domino at 12:05 PM on January 24, 2012

There's no way we can give you useful advice about this; you need to see your GP and be referred to an appropriate specialist.
posted by Specklet at 12:23 PM on January 24, 2012

On your bonus question, I was excited to buy my first pair of VFF shoes, until I tried running in them. Sprained my big toe twice in two weeks when I caught it on the road. Then I thought I'd try to force myself to like them by wearing on an all-day jaunt at Disneyworld.

My feet still hurt, three weeks later.

If I had a toe issue like you describe, I'd probably hate them more than I do now for running/walking. They are, however, awesome for lifting weights. YMMV.
posted by liquado at 1:00 PM on January 24, 2012

Response by poster: I've already had doctors check it, they just give me creams for the pain.That's why I'm asking here what my options may be. And just because one specialist recomends I do X, doesn't mean that Y might be better, so that too is another reason to ask here.

I'm guessing that re-setting the toe wouldn't remove the squishy/gooey pad at the top of my foot? That, and the swelling on the toe itself, seems to be what causes the pain.

About the Vibrams: I already run/walk barefoot and I love it, I'm just wondering if the Vibrams would fit my weird foot shape. I don't know if they're stretchy enough to acomodate it?
posted by midnightmoonlight at 1:40 PM on January 24, 2012

Best answer: The Vibrams are pretty stretchy. Go to a store that will let you walk around the store for 10 minutes in the Vibrams.
posted by gregr at 7:35 PM on January 24, 2012

Response by poster: Thank you everyone. I thought it was a silly idea but I'll see someone about re-setting the bone. I don't mind being in pain for a while, I'm in pain now anyway.
posted by midnightmoonlight at 7:18 PM on February 23, 2012