Broken foot?

[Anonymous]

Um, so how would you know if you had a broken foot vs a really bad bruise? This just happened about 2 hours ago, something heavy fell on it, and I can walk but it hurts a lot. If it is broken, does it definitely need a cast?

[Anonymous]

If you can move it, wiggle your toes, bend your ankle, put weight on it - even if it hurts, its probably not broken. The think with a break is, it will still be broken and hurt tomorrow and every day after. A bruise will feel better.

[Anonymous]

You'd definitely know a break vs. a bruise. A break is excruciating pain that you just can't walk on. If it's a broken toe they can't and won't do much about it. A broken foot they'll want to put in a cast.

[Anonymous]

Not true. I broke my fifth metatarsal and could walk on it. Get an X-ray. I used a walking shoe, no cast.

[Anonymous]

Well, not always. I had a fracture in my foot and they had me wear a tight shoe. They said there was not much point in casting my foot.

[Anonymous]

op: to those who broke something and could still walk on it - what made you decide to go get it checked out?

[Anonymous]

just an Xray can tell

[Anonymous]

A break usually swells like crazy.

(Though no doubt someone will jump all over me with their broken-in-14-places foot that didn't swell at all, but was the worst broken foot their Johns Hopkins trained orthopedist had EVER seen.)

[Anonymous]

A bruise can really really hurt. Remember it was a bruise on the calf for that American Skier that was going to keep her out of the olympics.
Get an x-ray.

Actually sprains can be worse than breaks because all the soft tissue is injured and takes longer to heal.

[Anonymous]

Go get an X-ray, especially if it swells up.

When I broke my ankle, it was excruciatingly painful and I couldn't put any weight on it.

When my mom broke her foot in 1978 playing kickball (I was eight), she got up and ran to home. Then she went out for Chinese. Only figured out it was broken two days later.

So you never know... you might need a walking cast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:op: to those who broke something and could still walk on it - what made you decide to go get it checked out?

I didn't want to risk messing up my feet. Broken bones need to be set to heal properly - even most toes can be set. Some orhopedic docs have x-ray machines in their offices and you'll find out on the spot. Do it. You may come to regret it if you don't.

I went for the foot (bones were set and then wore a walking cast for 6-8 weeks) but not for the broken baby toe, just a few glasses of wine.