I guess you can say that my family is the typical one when it comes to handling the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re spending a lot of time at home. Much of the time not wearing shoes at home. Oh, and like many others, we got a dog.
We’ve had our dog Juju for a couple of months. She’s become part of our family quickly. She spends her days saving us from rabid squirrels that she thinks are going to take over. And like most dogs, she loves chewing on her bone.
Well heavy bones, fast dogs, and bare feet don’t go well together. As Juju was running past me carrying her bone, she dropped it. Right. On. My. Toe.
I saw stars and ran to put ice on it. Regardless, my toe swelled and became bruised. It hurt to wear a shoe. I was worried that I broke my toe. I decided that I would see my podiatrist the next day. Fortunately, I’m able to take care of myself sometimes.
The next day I took an x-ray of my foot and found that Juju and her bone did fracture my toe. Good news…it was a hairline fracture that cracked the bone. It wasn’t through the entire bone. And it wasn’t displaced at all. This is the best-case scenario for a broken toe.It’s often said that there’s nothing that you can do for a broken toe. That’s not the case. First of all, I need to take an x-ray. This is to make sure that if the toe is broken, the bone is not displaced. If the bone is displaced, I often will numb the toe and manipulate it so it is better position. (If this had to be done to my toe, I would have had to go to someone else…I couldn’t do this to myself!)
The second thing that I need to do if the toe is broken is to splint it. It is called a buddy splint. I use a non-stick wrap to splint the broken toe to the toe next to it. I also use lamb’s wool between the toes to keep them separated and cushioned. It is important to keep using a buddy splint as the toe heals. This makes sure that the toe is stable while it heals.
I was fortunate that Juju and her bone didn’t break my toe worse than it was. Believe me, it hurt enough with the hairline fracture. I’m happy to say that with treatment, the swelling and bruising is gone. There is no longer any pain.
If your dog drops something on your toe. Or if you slam it into a piece of furniture, don’t think that there’s nothing that you can do. Contact the office for an immediate appointment. I’ll be able to take an x-ray and make sure your toe is treated properly.
