Most toe injury cases will not have been caused by a car accident however there is a significant proportion that is a direct result of motor vehicle collisions. If you have been injured in an accident and you want to make a compensation claim for personal injury and loss just complete the contact form, email our lawyers offices or use the solicitors helpline. Our toe injury solicitors offer advice at no cost without further obligation. If our toe injury solicitors deal with your claim it will be on a no win no fee basis, compensation is paid in full and you do not have to fund or finance your car accident compensation claim.
Did you know that your toes contain a total of 26 bones? The bones help you keep your balance when you walk and the big toe is the most important. You can get a toe injury if you play sports, run, get a blow to your foot or crush your foot. If you wear shoes that are too loose or too tight, you need to consider that your toe can become injured. Arthritis of the feet can cause damage to the toes. Gout also causes pain in the great toe most commonly.
The toe can be injured with fractures and toe bones, ingrown toenails, corns and bunions and toe sprains or dislocations. Fractures of the toe can happen with a crush injury or blow to the toes. They cause swelling of the toes and the toe may look straight or out of place. The swelling can act as a splint to keep the toe straight during a fracture. The toe can be very painful, bruised and swollen.
Doctors can use x-rays to determine which of the phalanxes of the toe are affected with fracture. There are two to three phalanxes per toe (only two on the great toe). Because the toes are small and are not attached to two or more bones, except the most proximal bones, no casts are applied to the toe. Instead the toe is immobilized in a firm supportive shoe or in a splint. It is allowed to heal on its own unless it is severely dislocated.
You should check the circulation of your toe and make sure it is not pale and cold. See a doctor if this is the case. Make sure the bone is not sticking out of the skin. If there are not gashes in the skin, there is a closed fracture. Feel the toe for protrusions, consistent with dislocation, that require medical attention. Seek attention in the emergency room if any of the above signs or symptoms are noted.
The treatment of the toe fracture is the RICE method. This means you use ice to the affected area, rest to the toe, compression of the toe, and elevation of the foot. This can cause the wound to heal more quickly and takes the swelling down on the toe or toes affected. If the toe has no pressure on it, it heals more quickly. An injury shoe which leaves the toe protected, yet visible, works well to heal the toe.
You can apply a small amount of cotton on either side of the injured toe in order to splint the tow. You can splint it by taping the fractured to an uninjured toe. This is called the digit wrap. Do this for three days and if everything is feeling better, you can use this method to heal the toe over 4 to 6 weeks.
Dislocation of the toe can happen if the soft tissue of the toe is disrupted so that the toe joint becomes out of place. The toe bones get misaligned and the toe looks crooked. You can have the symptoms of pain to the affected area and the signs of swelling, crookedness of the toes and bruising of the toe.
The doctor can do an x-ray to determine the extent of the dislocation. The doctor often pulls on the toe in order to relocate the toe in its proper position. It is treated much like a fracture after the dislocation is relocated and rest, ice, elevation and compression or buddy taping is recommended until it heals.
The toe can be cut or lacerated and this can occur with or without a fracture or dislocation. Infections can occur if the laceration isn't treated properly and isn't sutured or at least cleansed with antiseptic. A minor cut can be involved in infection if you have poor circulation or diabetes. You can get excessive bleeding if you are taking blood thinners or have a bleeding disorder. Deep wounds need extensive cleansing so that infection doesn't get into the tendons or bones.
The toenail itself can be affected by injury. You can get a subungual hematoma by having heavy object drop on the toenail, causing bleeding beneath the toenail. If the toe nail is loose, you may get infection stuck inside of the nail. The doctor may remove the nail in order to have it start over as a new nail. If there is an ingrown nail, the ingrown portion of the nail can be cut out so that the nail is narrower and doesn't become ingrown.
If you have suffered physically, mentally or financially, you should consider making an accident compensation claim. For telephone advice at no cost from specialist personal injury solicitors just call the helpline. Our toe injury solicitors will assess the strength of your claim and will advise you on your potential award of compensation without any further obligation.
LAWYER HELPLINE: ☎ 1800 339 958The author of the substantive medical writing on this website is Dr. Christine Traxler MD whose biography can be read here