Previously broken toe still hurts?

So two months ago, in august, my friend broke my toe by accident. I assumed he had just sprained or stubbed it, so I didn't get it checked by a doctor and didn't tape it. In September, however, I went to go get my foot x-rayed, because I was worried I had a stress fracture. Turns out I didn't, but the x-ray showed that my stubbed toe was actually broken, and according to the doctor, hadn't healed properly. Now it still hurts, but only a little, and only when I bend it/put too much pressure on it. Usually I don't feel any pain, but I'm worried that because I didn't treat it, it'll stay like this and I'll need realignment surgery/develop arthritis in that toe. It still looks a little purple, and is somewhat more swollen and crooked than my other toes. Anybody else had a broken toe that didn't heal properly? Does it still bother you? Wow, this sounds so paranoid.....lol.

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Based on 162 votes (104 yes)
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Comments ( 9 )
  • randypete

    i have 2 and they still hurt sometimes

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  • thundercat

    Yes, it is normal for them to hurt afterward.
    I have broken three of them since a lot of years ago and I haven't developed any arthritis in them. I just get some very minor annoyances from time to time. It is different if you have a fissure, as I did, along the bone, or get the bone cut in two transversely as maybe happened to cookiegirl here. For what you say, yours were also a fissure. Don't worry too much about it. Just make sure the bone has already healed totally. Tendons and muscles will be a little sore for some time more. Maybe later, if it really is somewhat misaligned, you will have a little trouble when walking too much, but you can use some little orthopedic pad for that.

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  • cookiegirl

    i broke mine in April, i got a cast the nexd day, it didnt heal properly, it still hurts and also the surrounding toes cause i bent them all, its crooked and it feels loose. I asked a lot of ppl wo broke their toes how they ended up, they are all stiff and cant bend them much, looked like i was givin the finger when i tried to bend my toes cause that one wouldnt go down, that was before therapy... that you can do at home, but no it wont ever be the same...

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    • Lperry87

      What was the therapy?

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  • Patkuhn89

    I just saw this thread and thought that I should say that I broke my big toe eight months ago and I still can't bend it and the doctor said that was normal, I can't believe him bc it still hurts but is fully healed

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  • jabber

    I broke my second (very long) toe nine weeks ago & because I listened to everyone who said that nothing could be done for it, I wasted 3 weeks until I got x-rays and found out how serious it was. I'm sure I did more damage to it. My podiatrist buddy-taped it to my 3rd toe (which I had to change daily) & gave me a velcro shoe with a hard flat sole. It was purple, very swolen & I've been off it for the last 6 weeks. Today I was ecstatic when my X-rays showed that it was finally healed! I have to transition into a tennis shoe. Day 1: one hour; Day 2: 2 hours; Day 3: 4 hours; Day 4: 8 hours and it will be 2-3 weeks until can do yoga. In 4 days I can try swimming (5 min. then 15 min) the elliptical & biking. My toe will not bend either but she said it might take a year before all the swelling goes down. She also gave me exercises 20 x each: Ankle circles clockwise & counter; write alphabet with big toe; pick up small towel with toes-(can't do this one!) & point toes up & down.

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  • rachelofficial7

    I stubbed a toe 6 months ago but I was insisted by everyone it was fine even though you could clearly see it was broken. Now, 6 months down the line it still looks a little swollen and has a bump where the bone is around where I hit it and from time to time it still hurts.
    I would say that its always safer to get an injury checked to be on the safe side.

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  • LadyLuigi

    Two months doesn't sound like very long, so I'd expect a lot of pain yet. The purple color would scare me, so you might want to check on that. I broke my second toe two years ago. It's still painful once in a while. I'm pretty sure it's arthritis. It's not too bad. It starts pulsing pain through that toe, out of nowhere, but it only lasts a few minutes for me. I'm not sure what starts the pain.

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  • DhGlory

    I shattered a metatarsal about 4 years ago and it's fully healed by now but every so often that area will swell up but it was a pretty intense break, it practically exploded on impact :)

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