Is there a doctor/foot injury expert in the house?

[LouisEly]

Last night while playing sand volleyball my big toe got caught under me in the sand and I rolled over it. Not uncommon, it has probably happened to me 20 times before, but when I got home and took off my shoes the area around the knuckle(?) of my big toe was pretty swollen. This has not happened before. I can walk on it fine as long as I don't stretch the toe too much one way or the other, but it is a little tender in one spot when I press on it on the top.

 

Does the swelling suggest a broken bone? I have minimal insurance right now so anything minor I have to pay out of pocket, and I don't want to pay for a bunch of x-rays and an urgent care visit (my doctor resigned two months ago and I don't want to drive 30 miles to see anyone else in that system) if it is just a sprain and will be fine in a few days.

 

Thanks!

[trwi7]

Not a doctor but my brother hurt his big toe when he was younger, didn't think anything of it and got up the next day and it was really swollen. Went to the doctor and turned out it was broken. Not saying yours is but it's possible. If you don't want to pay for a doctor's visit unless it's necessary just wait a couple days to see if it gets any better. It's only a toe. If it doesn't get better they'll give you an x-ray and then if it's broken a little two hole sleeve thing that fits around your big toe and attaches to the other toe so it's stabilized.

 

Can you take a picture? I remember what my brother's toe looked like when it was broken, so that might be something for me to go on.