Parents maybe broken toe?

[CLgym]

Yesterday at practice DD (age 11 L8) jammed/stubbed her toe. She is in quite a bit of pain, particularly when she walks, and there is a decent amount of bruising at the base of the toe (no noticeable injury at the top of the toe/nail area which is where she actually hit). It is the second littlest toe. Normally I would not take a kid to the doc for this kind of injury. After all, we are talking about a stubbed toe! And I don't think think there is much anyone can do even if it's broken. But I'm wondering if gymnastics changes things at all? Is it important to know whether it's broken or not for purposes of guiding her activity level in the gym in the short term? (Also, I feel like the coaches would be more understanding if I say the toe is broken, rather than just stubbed....)

Is it worth a trip to urgent care? Will they even Xray (Google says probably not)? Anyone with a similar experience? TIA

 

[CatLeap]

I would definitely take her to urgent care for an Xray. It's true when they are younger that a foot Xray is hard to read but at 11 yrs the foot is developed enough to see a break. Broken or not - better to know.

My DD has "stubbed" her toe twice. First time she was younger and we were newer to this game. Everyone told her (and us) it was just stubbed and she needed to suck it up. After a week we took her to an orthopedist and it turned out the "stubbed toe" was actually a broken foot.

Second time (which happened last week) we didnt hesitate and went right to urgent care. She is the same age as your dd and they were able to clearly see the break on the Xray. They also saw it was close to the growth plate so an Ortho visit followed the next day. Toe is buddy taped and foot in boot for the next several weeks.

All the bones in the foot are so connected that the force of "stubbing" a toe can cause issues elsewhere. I would want to know what's happening with her foot. Especially if she is level 8 where the pounding on the feet is much more intense.

 

[cp13]

I would get an xray. If it's broken, you don't want the injury to turn into something bigger that takes longer to heal and keeps her out longer. My daughter has had at least 2 teammates break toes and both were in a boot for 2-3 weeks.

 

[RTT2]

Probably good to get checked out, but something similar happened to Dd at the end of the summer with her big toe. She taped it for two days and took it easy at practice, then luckily had several days off over Labor Day weekend. It was fine by the time she got back. Took a week total, and her toe was puffy and a little bruised the first night, but healed fine with a little rest.

 

[Seeker]

Definitely get an x-ray.

 

[GymAir]

Yes definitely get an X-ray. The farther back toward the foot you break it, the worse it is. I have stubbed my little toe and broken it. Hit the top but broke it at the base.

 

[RTT2]

I in no way mean to suggest people shouldn't seek out a medical diagnosis in a case like this- but, things have changed so much from when I was a kid, and it amazes me what we walked off. I actually broke both little toes in gymnastics as a kid and never got any treatment- no lasting impact. I remember hitting my finger on the diving board as a teen in diving and my mom did nothing until the coach told her she should take me to the ER. I'd chipped the bone on my index finger, but other than giving me a splint for it nothing was done. Now a broke toe probably does mean a month in a boot or something (which I am sure is good sense and appropriate, but I grew up in a totally different era!).

 

[Flippin'A]

I in no way mean to suggest people shouldn't seek out a medical diagnosis in a case like this- but, things have changed so much from when I was a kid, and it amazes me what we walked off. I actually broke both little toes in gymnastics as a kid and never got any treatment- no lasting impact. I remember hitting my finger on the diving board as a teen in diving and my mom did nothing until the coach told her she should take me to the ER. I'd chipped the bone on my index finger, but other than giving me a splint for it nothing was done. Now a broke toe probably does mean a month in a boot or something (which I am sure is good sense and appropriate, but I grew up in a totally different era!).

Absolutely. I'm so glad things have changed from how injuries were treated when I was a kid. I knocked myself out once hitting my chin on the high bar and just spent the rest of practice conditioning. Never saw a doctor. I also broke my elbow and it took a week for my coach to admit I should get an x-ray. At least at my gym it was an unspoken rule that you saw a doctor if the coach said you should, and if he thought you were good to "walk it off" then that was that. It seemed totally normal at the time. Never in a million years would I let a coach make that call for my DD today and luckily her gym at least is more cautious with injuries than most of the parents.

And to the OP-- I've heard of stubbed does being jammed back into the foot and breaking more than just the little toe bones, so for sure see a doctor. If it requires more than buddy taping you're going to want to know now so it doesn't get worse.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

We, wait to get in with her orthopedic doc................................... Unless it is beyond debilitating, which thankfully has not ever happened.
But we do get her to orthopedic doc and an xray.

A toe for the regular life, yeah move on.

For gymnastics.................... get to the doc and the xray.

 

[Madden3]

I have found that toe (or finger) jams/sprains can be SUPER painful and ugly looking and may take some time to heal, even if nothing is broken. If anything knowing it is broken might offer a clearer picture of when it will be better because when the injury is a soft tissue injury the window for healing time is quite wide. Soft tissue injuries are still injuries, and pain, bruising and swelling implies there is an injury that will impact training at least until the pain is gone. So Xray or not, I would suggest getting a doctor's note if there is any chance the coaches might not be appropriately understanding.

 

[mommyof1]

I in no way mean to suggest people shouldn't seek out a medical diagnosis in a case like this- but, things have changed so much from when I was a kid, and it amazes me what we walked off. I actually broke both little toes in gymnastics as a kid and never got any treatment- no lasting impact. I remember hitting my finger on the diving board as a teen in diving and my mom did nothing until the coach told her she should take me to the ER. I'd chipped the bone on my index finger, but other than giving me a splint for it nothing was done. Now a broke toe probably does mean a month in a boot or something (which I am sure is good sense and appropriate, but I grew up in a totally different era!).

On the flip side, when I was a kid it seemed that most non-toe fractures were casted for 6-8 weeks, and when the cast came off the kid had always lost a ton of muscle mass and mobility. Now the preference for less serious fractures seems to be for removable boots and splints, they are on for a shorter period of time, and recovery is quicker.

 

[CLgym]

Thanks for your replies! All good advice..... Got an Xray today and it's broken.

 

[RTT2]

Thanks for your replies! It's broken

Bummer. Good you got it checked out. Is she in a boot?

 

[CLgym]

Local urgent care put her in a "shoe" and told me to follow up with her pediatric orthopedic sports medicine doc to see if a boot would be more appropriate given the gymnastics. Taping is not helpful bc the break is further up the foot (still a toe bone, but not one in the actual toe). It's a linear fracture (runs long ways) but is not displaced and does not involve growth plate. Healing time should only be 3-4 weeks. Unfortunately, it's pretty bad timing for her....

 

[mommyof1]

Sorry to hear it’s a fracture, but glad to hear you got it x-rayed! An encouraging anecdote: my daughter was in a boot for three weeks with a broken toe, and the recovery was very easy compared with other injuries she’s had. As soon as the boot came off and an x-ray confirmed that the fracture was healed, she was able to go back to full workouts immediately with no pain.

 

[gymnastmom05]

Local urgent care put her in a "shoe" and told me to follow up with her pediatric orthopedic sports medicine doc to see if a boot would be more appropriate given the gymnastics. Taping is not helpful bc the break is further up the foot (still a toe bone, but not one in the actual toe). It's a linear fracture (runs long ways) but is not displaced and does not involve growth plate. Healing time should only be 3-4 weeks. Unfortunately, it's pretty bad timing for her....

Sorry it's broken. My DD had a broken toe a few seasons ago (right before their first meet so bad timing). Her toe was the wrong direction (obvious it was broken - which I guess saved the questioning phase of do we see a doctor or not). She wore a boot for about a week, mainly just to protect it while she was at school so people wouldn't step on it or accidentally bump it and then switched to running shoes for a few weeks. She bounced back fast though she did have to miss a travel meet which she was bummed about but it's just a blip on the radar now.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Yesterday at practice DD (age 11 L8) jammed/stubbed her toe. She is in quite a bit of pain, particularly when she walks, and there is a decent amount of bruising at the base of the toe (no noticeable injury at the top of the toe/nail area which is where she actually hit). It is the second littlest toe. Normally I would not take a kid to the doc for this kind of injury. After all, we are talking about a stubbed toe! And I don't think think there is much anyone can do even if it's broken. But I'm wondering if gymnastics changes things at all? Is it important to know whether it's broken or not for purposes of guiding her activity level in the gym in the short term? (Also, I feel like the coaches would be more understanding if I say the toe is broken, rather than just stubbed....)

Is it worth a trip to urgent care? Will they even Xray (Google says probably not)? Anyone with a similar experience? TIA

Just tape it to the bigger toe . Broken or stubbed , no tumbling , hard landings etc... until it feels better . If it’s a week or two you know it was just jammed . If it’s longer you know it was broken . Either way it’s healed now and you saved some money and time . Or you can take her in if that releases the stress of not knowing . Edit : Never mind I see you took her in .