I injured my left big toe back in June (don’t know if it was broken). Over the course of the next two months, the toenail turned purple, then white, then became loose, then fell off. I’m now about halfway through growing a new toenail.
Yeah - well that’s before the medical profession fell in thrall with big CAM boot money! 
Taping is more common with an undisplsced. fracture of the proximal phalanx of the big toe, or the smaller toes. If the toe is displaced or rotated you yank it back into place, and if it is an unstable fracture it may need a Kirschner wire. It isn’t uncommon for there to be blood below the nail if you drop something on your foot, which is painful since there is very little space there.
Things can be complicated by the details of the fracture extends into the joint - higher complexity is less benign. These can be more complicated than they look. Nail bed injury can hide an open fracture, and imperfect healing can result in chronic big toe pain and rigidity.
Taping may be reasonable but might hurt more. It is not optimal for every fracture of this description and since the break was missed and possibly not treated it merits another look. If not possible for whatever reason, taping it is better than nothing.
When I kicked a furniture leg, the doctor didn’t take an x-ray. He said he was going to tape it to the next toe anyway, so why bother.
Is that a real phrase? That’s so cute.
That’s the common name for it.
I saw an orthopedist today. He said the fracture was extremely minor and as long as I tape my toes together, avoid excess activity and wear my medical shoe for the next 1-2 months while the toe heals, I should be fine.
Glad to hear it!
I am not a doctor, and my medical advice is sketchy at best…
When I suspected a broken toe I simply duck-taped to the next toe as a splint. Then took lots of painkillers. Then climbed an 800m peak on a really steep track with a heavy pack, and spent the next five days kloofing, a form of hiking that involves walking down in and next to a river, with lots of rock-hopping.
Whisky and painkillers. Both regularly.
I was NOT going to miss that hike.
The toe-taping part of that sounds horribly irresponsible.
The rest, however, I heartily endorse
Holy crap, sweetie, is everything, like, okay at home … ?
Have you considered less violent hobbies?
I’m not @Happy_Lendervedder but I’ve had numerous foot injuries…doing exciting stuff like walking on level ground. Hopefully H_L’s injuries have been from something more fun! (I have, oddly, NOT yet broken a finger. But there’s plenty of time left for that).
My own foot injuries have, luckily, never required surgery or anything more than a surgical shoe / boot. The confirmed broken toe involved several breaks in the same part (medial phalanx or some such), so I did a thorough job, but luckily still got by with just buddy / surgical shoe.
The doc told me not to to stuff like swimming at the beach (because of walking on sand and uncontrolled flexing of the area). Which made sense… but I went in anyway. Wearing the boot - and for about 5 seconds, as this was in Maine and it’s COOOOOLD in that ocean. But we couldn’t be by the ocean and not at least dip our toes in. I planned ahead, and brought a spare shoe to change into as soon as I did the toe-dip.