DD broke her toe - some questions

[mikeys_mom]

DD4 broke her 4th toe on Saturday. She stood on a toy and her twin sister pushed her off. I think she landed on another toy. After a sleepless night, we went to the ER on Sunday morning, had x-rays done and they saw a small break in her toe. We were told that there really isn't anything to do and that it should heal in a few days. Basically, let her rest it and when she's ready she'll bear weight on it.

She's been doing great - can crawl around, swelling is gone, it isn't sensitive to touch, she can even kick her sister and bounce around on the couch. She will pull herself up to reach stuff and stand on her toes but not put her foot flat on the ground. There is a bruise on the bottom of her foot, that I imagine is painful to stand on. I bought her a pair of slippers and she took a couple of steps while holding my hand, then sat down.

Anyone have a child break their toe? Is this a typical recovery? How long until they were actually walking again?

Every morning I'm hopeful she'll be back to herself and be able to go to preschool but so far she's not ready yet.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Ugh, how miserable. :( I'm sorry, I know nothing about this. Just wanted to send "speedy recovery" vibes your dd4's way!!

Beth

[Indianamom2]

I unfortunately have experience with this.

DD broke her big toe in the first month or so of Kindergarten last year when she fell off the monkey bars. She hobbled around on it the rest of the day but when she got home it was really bruised and swollen and she wouldn't put any weight on it, so we went to the urgent care place. They x-rayed it and said it wasn't broken and sent us on our way with a too-big special shoe that she limped around in for about 2 days...and then they called back and said that the radiologist had reread the x-ray and it WAS broken. So they referred us to an orthopedic doctor and they x-rayed it and checked it out, gave us a shoe that actually fitted and excused her from physical activities at gym class for a couple of weeks.

DD was able to walk on it with the special shoe right away, but I think different toes bear different amounts of weight and pressure, so her toe might be more sensitive. Really, there's not much else that they can do.

Do you have a follow-up appointment to make sure that it's healing properly?

[mikeys_mom]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I wonder if because she is only 2.5yo, they figure we can just carry her around when necessary. The ER dr didn't say anything about a follow-up appointment. He showed me the x-ray and it was a really tiny little crack. Maybe I will call my family dr if she's still not walking by Monday and see what she thinks. I know she got a copy of the report from the ER.

I guess I really just had my hopes up because the ER dr said kids this young tend to heal quickly. Today is day 5. She told me it hurts on the bottom of her foot, right where the big bruise is - its towards the outer part of her foot, between the arch and heel, so I imagine walking puts pressure on it and is painful. I'm glad it's not serious but will be so happy when she can walk again.

[misshollygolightly]

I broke my big toe in elementary school. The dr. "buddy taped" it so it would heal straight, and I had to avoid putting weight on it for a while. It did heal quickly,though--I was still able to dance in the Nutcracker within a couple of months. My dad (a doctor) had me keep my foot elevated a lot early on to reduce the swelling. That's really about all there was to it. :grouphug:

[lmintzer]

I broke my 4th toe once. It was a pretty big fracture, and it hurt a ton to stand on. What helped me was getting an orthotic shoe--basically, just a slipper with a solid bottom that velcroed over my sock. Once I had something stable under the toe that didn't bend, I was able to walk around without too much discomfort. I used this for a week or two, and it made all the difference in the world. You may want to ask about something like that for her. Hope she feels better soon!

[TwoBees]

Ugh! I have had numerous broken toes and there's not much you can do for it. I'd just have her keep the weight off for a week until it becomes less painful, and then buddy tape with the next toe.

[mikeys_mom]

Thanks everyone for all the advice. It is very comforting to know that everyone seems to recover from a broken toe within a few weeks. I don't know why they didn't tape the toe or suggest that I do that after a few days but I suspect it is because the broken part was the middle bone in the toe, not the tip part (sorry, I have no idea what the correct terminology is :)) and there is so much tissue and fat in that area. The Dr was actually surprised to find the break because it's so rare for kids that age to break anything in their feet because there is so little bone and it is so protected. Leave it to my kids to figure out a way to break a toe...

Today has been soooo much better. She stood up and walked across the kitchen before. She was so proud of herself. I told her to keep her slippers on but of course she's 2 and doesn't listen. She went into the playroom with her twin sister, took off the slippers and was jumping around and stepped on a small toy as I was coming in to the room to tell them to calm down. After that she wouldn't walk anymore. They are now playing quietly. I hope she didn't re-injure it. I guess I'll have to keep a super close eye on her as it heals. OY!