Last month I fractured *two toes. As it was after hours, I went to the ER (in and out in only 2½ hours!), and when the doc saw me quipped “we can’t do much for toes” as he went about resetting them, and taping them up.
In the six weeks since then, of people, who, upon noticing that either I have crutches or a fracture shoe, have asked “what happened?” almost half of then, after my telling them about my toes, responded, "They can’t do much for toes. . . " Almost half, and in those same repetitive words.
While factually correct for the **most part, I wondered, “If taping the bad toes tp the good toes is enough to get the job done, why would you want to do ‘much?’”
*#3 and #4, left foot, if you’re curious)
**At my first follow-up appointment with the orthopedist, he gave me the heads up that if taping didn’t work, and the bones weren’t knitting back together properly, I’d need to see the surgeon to get a pin. So far as I was concerned that would have constituted “much.”
Interesting observation. In would make more sense rather than saying “they can’t do much for toes” to say instead, “they don’t have to do much for toes.”
Fun fact: they will hurt you for the rest of your life whenever you happen to flex them the wrong way. I would suggest that you not go barefoot at home in the future.
Heh, was the same when I broke my little toe. Only I also said it to myself (and my very dramatically over-concerned SO, who had been chasing me around the house at the time) and decided not to go to the doctor but just to tape my poor little toe to the next one. Then, just when I could walk again without wincing every step, my SO stood on it. AARG!
My friend once had her toe broken while dancing with a Frenchman. The reactions to that were: 1) “romantic” and 2) “they can’t do much for toes”.
I was told almost the exact same thing when I broke my big toe in high school. The doctor didn’t even tape it up. I was given a funny shoe and some crutches and told not to put weight on it. I haven’t been able to bend that toe in the middle ever since. The joint must have fused when it healed. This would have been an unacceptable outcome for a finger, but apparently it just doesn’t matter much for toes.
I’m currently wearing the funny shoe and have my toes taped up. It’s been a month. It’s healing well, but my foot is still numb and the toe is still swollen. Good thing it has barely snowed this year because though I can get my foot in my snow boots, it hurts to walk much. That reminds me, I need to buy more tape.
A. I’ve had the same experience as the OP.
B. I did not have any lasting repercussions/pain after either incident. Both healed nicely and give me no pain at all.
C. I’ve never taped my broken piggy to its neighbor. Just wore the boot cast thingy. Crutches the first time, used a cane for 3 days the second time.
D. Even if either toe had healed weirdly and a surgeon wanted to put a pin in it, I would have refused surgery unless they could provide evidence that the damage would screw up my balance or something.
Hell, even for a broken foot they don’t necessarily do much - I was in the funny boot for most of 3 months, and did some toe-taping (the doc decided that due to the break, taping the toes would help keep the metatarsals aligned).
Really, you could argue that for most breaks, “they don’t do much” beyond immobilizing it one way or another. Of course “one way or another” can range from “avoid walking on it” or “wear a sling”, to percutaneous pinning and/or a cast. When I broke my elbows (on separate occasions, I decided I wanted a matched pair) I just wore a sling for a few weeks.
About a year and a half ago, I busted up my foot. Everyone told me that “there’s not a lot that can be done” so I didn’t go to the doctor or anything. I thought it was just a sprain and I don’t like doctors so I was happy to take their advice.
Fast forward a year later and I had surgery because the pain never went away. From what I have learned, there was a LOT that could have been done if I had gone to a doctor the same day.
Ooh while we’re on toe stories, this happened to my flatmate last year:
She was drunk and broke her toe. Went to hospital, had xray and the doctor looking at the xray said: “hey, this is really unusual, I need someone else to come and have a look at this”. Just then, he was called away to an emergency. A nurse came in and started taping up the toe, saying the same old “can’t do much about toes”. My flatmate was screaming in agony and was told to shut up because it was only a toe.
After a night of agony she went back to hospital to the same doctor as number one. When he saw her & realised she had just been taped up he turned white. He had the other expert come back in and he confirmed the first doctor’s suspicion: the bone in her toe had broken off and turned around in her skin so that the tip of the toe was facing her foot. :eek:
ETA: they asked her permission afterwards to publish the pictures. Awesome
