Sign in Pro
Broken & Fractured Toe Strengthening Plus Treatment
Broken & Fractured Toe Strengthening Plus Treatment www.walkjogrun.net Broken or fractured toes are caused by a variety of things, however, it is typically caused by blunt force trauma. What do we mean by that exactly? We mean you accidentally slam your toe into a rock or curb or drop something heavy on it causing one of the fragile bones in your toes to break. Broken or fractured toes can affect every part of your day and make putting your office shoes on, an unbearable task.
The first thing you will notice is the pain that starts. This will quickly be followed by bruising and swelling. Often a break or fracture won’t be bad enough to cause your toe to look odd, however, on occasion, you may break it several times in which case you may be able to visually tell there is a problem with one of them.
What to do first
There are a few steps to follow after breaking a toe to ensure it heals appropriately.
- First, you want to get off your feet, removing any weight from the affected foot.
[space] - Next, you want to elevate your foot above your heart and apply a cold compress or ice to reduce swelling.
[space] - Simple breaks or fractures will not require a doctor’s treatment and can be buddy taped to the toe next to it. However, if it is a more complex or you have sustained multiple breaks a doctor may be necessary. Breaks are a serious thing and seeking medical advice is never a bad plan.
[space] - Once cleared by a doctor you will want to start exercising your healing toe or toes to ensure they are good and strong.
[space]- You will want to start with easy or passive toe exercises. As your strength grows you can move on to harder exercises to ensure your feet are as strong as they ever were.
Starting Exercise
When your toe starts to heal you are going to want to start exercising and stretching it to ensure proper healing and strength rebuilding. It is important to note that you do not want to stretch or exercise your broken or fractured toe to the point of pain especially sharp pain. The bone is fragile while mending and can quickly and easily rebreak. These exercises are usually started about four to five weeks after the break or fracture has occurred.
You also want to be careful of the shoes you are wearing. Constrictive pointed toe heels are not going to help a bone heal correctly. It pinches the toe and pushes it into an unnatural position. This goes not only for high heels but any shoe that does not offer a roomy toe box. Walking shoes can be a great option while nursing a broken toe due to the fact they typically sport a wider toe box.
Once your toe is feeling better and you are ready, where do you start?
- Start slow and easy with toe curls –
[space]- For this exercise, you will simply curl your toes down slowly
[space] - Hold for a few seconds
[space] - Stretch them back out as far as you can
[space] - It is important to note if this causes pain you may be exercising them too quickly and if you have not sought out medical advice you may want to.
[space] - You can step this exercise up by using your hands to push your toes down farther than they will curl by themselves. You can also stretch and extend them up farther with a small amount of pressure
- For this exercise, you will simply curl your toes down slowly
Once your doing toe curls with no problem you can add on to your strengthening routine.
- Step it up with a towel crumple or pick up –
[space]- This is a fairly simple exercise but is absolutely wonderful for strengthening
[space] - You can do this sitting or standing, whichever is more comfortable
[space] - Start by throwing a hand towel down on the ground
[space] - Place your affected heel firmly on the towel
[space] - Using your toes crumple the towel by stretching them, gripping the towel, and pulling back by curling your toes
[space] - Push the towel with your toes back into position
[space] - As your toes get stronger you can start lifting the hand towel and gripping it for five seconds and placing it back down
[space] - Repeat the process at least 5 times and work up from there
- This is a fairly simple exercise but is absolutely wonderful for strengthening
Eight Weeks In
Now you are eight to ten weeks into the healing process. The bruising and pain have disappeared. You are accomplishing the above exercise easily and have been cleared to take on some of life’s previous activity. You are ready to start conditioning your toes by taking your routine to the next level. But where do you begin?
Depending on the situation if you are a runner you may put on your favorite Nike running shoes and head out for a jog. If you are an athlete you may start attending practices. You want to keep it light but this will show you how your toe is really feeling.
Finding yourself into something a bit rougher? Maybe a martial art or you decide you want to put that awesome pair of heels that causes a lot of toe pressure back on. Be careful, the bone is still fragile. You may want to buddy tape it for extra support and pay close attention to signs of pain. Take it slow and only participate for a short time or wear those heels around the house before deciding to wear them out for an entire date night.
Not everyone has an activity like the ones above. Falling into this category is absolutely fine. For you, standing on one foot or up on your toes are a great place to start. As you do better with these you can jump or even jump on one foot. Again you want to be careful because you don’t want to reinjure your healing toe.
Once you are beyond these exercises your toe is probably all healed and back to normal. Continuing strengthening and conditioning is never a bad idea. Ensuring you protect your toes in rough environments can help you avoid furthur injuries. We know sometimes life happens and bones break, if it does happen again, we hope you will have a great idea of how to strenghten and condition your toes back to optimal form.
Sources
- https://www.emedicinehealth.com/broken_toe/article_em.htm Broken Toe John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP
- http://www.sleewee.com/number-bones.php
- http://www.ivyroses.com/HumanBody/Skeletal/Skeletal_System.php
- https://osteoporosis.ca/bone-health-osteoporosis/living-with-the-disease/after-the-fracture/general-information-about-pain-after-a-fracture/
- https://askabiologist.asu.edu/bone-healing How do bones heal?
- https://www.verywell.com/how-to-heal-a-broken-bone-quickly-2549327 By Jonathan Cluett, MD February 25, 2018, 6 Ideas to Speed Bone Healing After Injury
- http://purelynutritious.com/healing-broken-bones/ Broken Bone Healing
October 26, 2013/in Alternative Medicine /by PNADMIN - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proanthocyanidin
