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)

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

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

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

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

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