How to Tell if Your Toe is Jammed : Jammed Toe vs Broken Toe

Explained medically, a jammed toe is a sprain of the joint capsule of the inter-phalangeal joints.  So if you have a jammed toe or even jammed toes, you most likely sprained your toes knuckle joint capsule or ligament!

It has probably happened to you before. You've been trying to kick a ball, and had your footing funny, or if they were not ready, and jammed the ball straight at the end of the toes. It hurts like crazy, and a little numb you for a minute. That's how you jam your toe.
Jammed toes are very common in sports, and they are often overlooked as unimportant. This is sometimes true, and a little rest and ice can go a long way to reduce the time needed to heal the jammed toes and get things back to normal.

Force of the toes meet in the end will be translated from the bones together.Often the ends of the phalanges (toe bones) in bruised ankle, and that is what caused the swelling and damage the capsule.

Jammed Finger Joint

There are other ways to suffer a sprained toe. You can turn in the wrong direction or too far in a different way. They may be employed between two helmets hit, hit with a baseball, or many other ways to generate enough force to cause. Big toes are jammed in most sports, and they tend to hurt. Pinky toes are second, but have a higher chance of being broken than sprained or jammed.

Symptoms like pain when movement, usually quite quickly, depending on how strong the sprain. 
Treatment of Jammed Toes:
Treatment of pain and swelling are the first steps of processing a jammed toe. Soon after injury, as you can, use the RICE principles to reduce pain and discomfort. Depending on how much has pain, swelling and loss of motion, you should ask your doctor. This is especially true if you have a successful hard jammed toe, or if your toe violently bent back. You may have suffered a broken toe and not just a sprain. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the two, as an X-ray image may be a good idea to apply safely. Once a fracture is excluded, you can work on improving flexibility and strength.Use ice and rest for a few days and then start trying to bend and stretch your toe. Do this carefully in only a mild discomfort to push. Their movement gradually as swelling goes down below.
Some sprained toe may need to be splinted. If you have a considerable swelling and pain, see your doctor, and are to guide you to treatment.

Pain, swelling, loss of motion and strength loss are common symptoms of a jammed toe. Swollen joint is very clear, and you can easily tell, usually when a toe sprain before.
A swollen ankle, and it seems remarkable than others. Unfortunately, swelling is often requires weeks if not months. Sometimes it goes away.

It requires only that you sprained toe. There are many splints and other bandages available to help heal your jammed toe, and they're pretty reasonably priced!. Toes sometimes are overlooked but very important for sports and much of your life. Do yourself a favor and take care of your toes. Just keep ice on the jammed or hurt toe immediately after injuring it.

If you are wondering what to do if you think you have a broken or jammed toe, check out Broken Finger Help!

How To Treat Turf Toe : Treatment For Turf Toe

Treatment of Turf Toe

Most turf toe injuries are treated non-surgically. If surgery is performed for this condition it is usually after years of repetitive jamming and destruction of the joint requiring joint replacement surgery. Prevention by addressing the biomechanical influences for turf toe is the key to treating this condition pallitively.

An initial assessment to rule out fractures or dislocations is made. Once ruled out, treatment is geared at protecting the soft tissues and allowing for functional rehabilitation.

• R.I.C.E. protocol: Rest and restricted motion at the 1st MPJ. Rigid soled shoes to limit hyperextension during propulsion. Ice during the first 48 hours of injury. Compressive dressing and elevation. A stronger breakdown of R.I.C.E:
• Rest—Avoid using the injured toe.
• Ice—Apply ice or a cold pack to your toe for 15 to 20 minutes, four times a day for 2 to 3 days or until the pain goes away. Wrap the ice or cold pack in a towel. Do not apply the ice directly to your skin.Do Not Sleep With The Ice Pack Because You Could Get Frostbite.
• Compression—If the injured toe is the big toe, wrap a two-inch elastic compression bandage around it. Put several wraps around the big toe and then include the rest of the forefoot within the bandage. This will limit swelling of your big toe. Other toes cannot be effectively compressed with a bandage. It is important not to cut off blood circulation to your toe or any body part when using such wraps – do not make them very tight.
• Elevate— Keep your toe elevated above the level of your heart whenever possible for 48 - 72 hours. This helps reduce both swelling and pain.

• NSAIDs as an adjunctive therapy to reduce inflammation of the joint
• Taping of the hallux with a crossing loop over the top of the proximal phalanx to splint the first MPJ and protect the soft tissues while restricting hyperextension
• Physical therapy modalities such as whirlpool and ultrasound with cold compression to improve motion by actively reducing edema and prevent scarring.
• Functional orthotic control, more specifically a kinetic wedge orthotic which plantarflexes the 1st ray allowing less jamming at the MPJ
• HA padding which preloads the hallux also allowing the 1st metatarsal to drop

What Is Turf Toe? : Symptoms of Turf Toe : Causes of Turf Toe

Turf Toe (medically named Hallux Limitus), a sprain of the metatarsophalangeal joint, is a condition that results from acute or chronic hyperextension of the big toe. The condition affects both the joint and the connective tissue resulting in painful inflammation and bruising. Often times the ligaments and tendons are stretched, and in severe cases torn. Greater risk occurs when one wears flexible footwear meant to grab the running surface, such as soccer cleats, or if one has greater than normal range of motion in the ankle.

Stage 1 turf toe (hallux limitus) describes an injury to the surface cartilage of
radiographic anatomy of the foot the great toe joint. One of the simple tricks to ‘off-load’ stage 1 injuries is to use a pad to plantarflex the the bone just behind the great toe called the 1st metatarsal. The range of motion of the great toe can be significantly improved by plantarflexing the 1st metatarsal. The best way to accomplish this is with the use of a dancer’s pad. Using a dancer’s pad can be a little tricky at first, but once placed in the correct position, the 1st metatarsal will plantarflex and improve the range of motion of the joint. Better range of motion means less pain. The following Turf Toe straps work well also if you do not have the time or leisure to wear the dancer pads.
Sponsored Link

As we progress into stage 2 turf toe, the use of a dancer’s pad becomes less useful. The reason that a dancer’s pad may no longer work is due to the fact that the joint now is starting to undergo physical change. Classic findings of stage 2 (see link above to hallux limitus) include dorsal beaking of the joint and early chondromalacia (degenerative change of the cartilage). Early stage 2 may benefit from a dancer’s pad but as we move to late stage 2 and stage 3, dancer’s pads will become ineffective.

Stage 3 turf toe is classified as complete tear of the capsuloligamentous complex of the 1st MTP joint, tearing of the plantar plate from its origin on the metatarsal head/neck, and dorsal impaction of the proximal phalanx into the metatarsal head. Associated injuries include articular cartilage or subchondral bone bruise, sesamoid fracture, diastasis of the sesamoids, and medial or lateral ligament injury.

Causes Of Turf Toe

Turf toe injuries account for more missed practice and training than ankle sprains, despite occurring less often.

Location of Turf Toe in X-Ray

Turf toe can be both acutely and chronically disabling if not treated appropriately. In fact, approximately 50% of all patients with hallux limitus (turf toe) have persistent symptoms which include hallux rigidus (severe degenerative joint disease with loss of range of motion of the 1st MPJ), hallux valgus (bunion deformity), chronic capsulitis and/or extensor tendinitis.

Turf toe caused by a direct injury to the joint may or may not obvious initially. The onset of direct injury to the joint may be abrupt, but also may be insidious becoming increasingly more painful as the training progresses.

Turf toe pain will subside with rest only to recur with increased activity

It’s not unusual to see symptoms of turf toe resolve in the off-season only to recur with renewed exercise. This condition is not just associated with sports or training injuries to the 1st MPJ. Some sedentary patients have a biomechanical abnormality which results in jamming of the 1st MPJ with every step. After several years, degenerative changes occur causing a hallux limitus or rigidus.

David J. Micca, DPM, FACFAS, CWS, FCCWS has a few expert articles online about turf toe and turf toe treatment. As such, some information on this post may be borrowed from an article published by David J. Micca.

Fractured Toe Pain : How To Tell If Your Toe Is Fractured

Broken or Fractured Toe vs Jammed Toe

Fractured toes can be very painful, just as any fractured bone will be painful. You would think that such a little extremity would not cause so much pain, but a fractured toe / broken toe can sometimes be more painful than other fractured bones because of the pressure that you place on the toe throughout the day! Fractured toe pain can be hard to bear, but a little research and consultation with your podiatrist or physician will show that there are many simple ways to relieve  toe pain on your fractured toe.

How Can You Tell If Your Toe Is Fractured?

• The first signs of a broken toe will be pain and a bruised, discolored toe may occur shortly after the initial trauma. Most toe fractures are the result of direct trauma of some kind.
• There are many signs of a broken toe. After the injury, pain, swelling, or stiffness will occur. Bruising of the skin around the toe may also be noticeable. It may be difficult to walk because of the fractured toe pain, and shoes may be painful to wear or feel tight. This can sometimes have counter-intuitive responses, as you want to protect the toe as it heals but wearing a shoe can cause more pain to your fractured toe. The toe may not look normal, and it may even look bent or deformed if the broken bone is out of place.
• Stubbing toes and dropping things on them is extremely common. Stubbing the toe hard enough could cause a sprained toe, but could also result in a fractured toe.
• Sometimes broken or fractured toes may occur as a result of systemic disorders such as osteoporosis. For this reason evaluation is important especially when there seems to be no obvious history of major trauma which has caused the fractured toe or if you regularly fracture or break your toe with seemingly no cause of the fracture.

How Can You Prevent Toe Fractures?

Toe fractures are easily prevented by:

• Wearing appropriate safety shoes/boots. This includes the use of steel toe safety shoes or a steel toe work boot where boots are required;
• Ensuring protective footwear is worn whenever lifting or working with heavy objects or machinery;

 How Do You Treat A Broken Toe?

Fractured toe treatment involves:

• Elimination of pressure from shoes/boots. You may want to invest in a good pair of sandals while your toe heals, particularly a type of sandal that will both protect your fractured toe while still giving it air to breathe and no pressure on the fractured toe.
• Splinting is often suggested to encourage healing with correct toe alignment. This can be done cheaply by taping a custom-sized popsicle stick (tongue depressor) to both sides of the fractured toe, then taping the fractured toe and tongue depressors to the neighbor toe(s). I recommend the following advertisement splints, but also a sponsored link for tongue depressors:
• Your podiatrist will more than likely want to do an x-ray evaluation. Just look under 'P' in the Yellow Pages or visit "Find a Podiatrist" to find a podiatrist close to you. 

Surgery on a fractured or broken toe is rarely necessary unless the fracture has severely distorted the shape of the toe or where skin penetration by the toe bone has occurred. In most cases your physician or podiatrist will simply tape or strap the broken toe to it's neighbor toe for 4-6 weeks until healing has finished and suggest that you take pain killers while the pain subsides. 

Of course, see your Podiatrist or Doctor if you notice any sudden onset of pain, discomfort, redness or swelling of the foot or the toes.

Note: "Fracture" is a term commonly used in place of "broken" and vice versa when talking about broken bones of any kind. 

Sprained Toe Symptoms : How To Tell If Your Toe is Sprained

Definition of a Sprained Toe:

•  A toe sprain is caused by a partial tear of the ligaments that support a toe. Ligaments are strong bands of tissue that connect bones to each other.

Meschan, I. 1955 An Atlas of Normal Radiographic Anatomy Saunders, London  

Common Causes of a Sprained Toe:

• Stubbing your toe into something when walking barefoot
• Landing awkwardly from a jump, causing a toe to jam into the end of your shoe
• A sideways yanking of the toe while wearing flip-flops or sandals that leave your toe exposed

Symptoms of a Sprained Toe Include:

• Pain and tenderness in the toe
• Swelling and bruising of the toe
• Pain when moving the toe

Treatment includes:
Self-care: R.I.C.E

• Rest—Avoid using the injured toe.
• Ice—Apply ice or a cold pack to your toe for 15 to 20 minutes, four times a day for 2 to 3 days or until the pain goes away. Wrap the ice or cold pack in a towel. Do not apply the ice directly to your skin.Do Not Sleep With The Ice Pack Because You Could Get Frostbite.
• Compression—If the injured toe is the big toe, wrap a two-inch elastic compression bandage around it. Put several wraps around the big toe and then include the rest of the forefoot within the bandage. This will limit swelling of your big toe. Other toes cannot be effectively compressed with a bandage. It is important not to cut off blood circulation to your toe or any body part when using such wraps – do not make them very tight.
• Elevate— Keep your toe elevated above the level of your heart whenever possible for 48 - 72 hours. This helps reduce both swelling and pain.
• Apply the R.I.C.E technique as the toe heals. If you have to use the toe (walking or any activity where your foot is moving is involved) protect the sprained or broken toe by wearing a shoe with a stiff sole.
• Soaking the foot with the sprained toe in Epson Salts will help reduce inflammation and pain significantly without the use of medication.

Medication
The following drugs may help reduce inflammation and pain. Consult your doctor before taking any medication:

• Acetaminophen (Tylenol)
• Ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil)
• Aspirin
• Naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn)

How to Treat A Jammed Toe : How to Heal A Jammed Toe

Unfortunately there is no way to heal jammed toes faster than what your body can do already, but there are ways to make the your jammed toe heal more comfortably. A jammed big toe can be especially sensitive as it receives the most stimuli throughout standard activities throughout the day.

How to Treat a Jammed Toe

A jammed toe when there’s an impact injury, resulting in tremendous pain and swelling. A simple jam can be easily treated at home and the pain will subside in a week or two.

With this easy set up you will have no more jammed toe pain.

Instructions

What you’ll need:

• Ice
• Epsom salts
• Toe splint: I recommend the following splint, I've provided a sponsored link:

Asses the severity of the injury. An obvious fracture, immediate bruising or mobility loss could be signs of a dislocated or broken toe


Soak, ice and elevate the toe for 20 minutes a day until the pain goes away. Use epsom salts for further pain relief.


Immobilize extremely painful jams by using a toe splint. Use a specific toe splint found at drugstores or wrap a popsicle stick or tongue depressor with medical tape against the toe.


Tape the jammed toe to a healthy one next to it. This is usually done for shorter toes that are too small to use a splint. This will also help with mobility and pain relief.


Take acetaminophen or ibuprofen for pain relief. This will also help the swelling go down. Once the swelling is under control, the pain is usually reduced.


Make certain you can bend and straighten each toe. If not, you may not just have a jammed toe. Call your doctor to make an appointment.

Symptoms of a Broken Toe : How to Tell If Your Toe is Broken

Jammed Toe versus Broken Toe

A broken bone can be painful, even more so if its your TOE bone thats broken. Here is a checklist you can use to check if your toe bone is broken!

HOW TOE INJURIES GENERALLY OCCUR: Broken toes can occur in a number of ways. If too much pressure is applied to a bone it will break, as is the case for any break. Some of the ways that a toe can break is stubbing toes too hard, having items dropped on toes, stress on the bone or sudden usage of it, and anything else that puts too much pressure on the bone can cause it to break. If you think you broke your toe but you're not sure, check these symptoms of a broken toe:

•  Tenderness on the bone
•  Pain
•  Swelling 
•  Immobility 
•  Bone protruding 
•  Bones clicking together (Crepitus Sound)
•  Intense bone pain
•  Intense pain around toenail
  

If you are experiencing these broken toe symptoms and are still not sure, try these easy steps to determine if your toe is broken or possibly just jammed or sprained:

How-To Steps
Step 1:
Carefully remove your shoe and sock and feel for any deformity or protruding bone. Gently run your fingers up and down your toe. If your toe feels crooked or lumpy, it is more likely that your toe is broken rather than sprained. 

Step 2:
Try to wiggle your toe. Severe pain is a major symptom to suggest that the toe is broken. 

Step 3:
This step may be tricky, but listen to your toe while wiggling it. If you hear a grating or popping sound, a piece of bone may be rubbing against another piece of bone. If you cannot get close enough to your toe to hear if it is making a sound, ask a friend or family member to listen for the symptoms of a broken toe.

Step 4:
Check for swelling. If your toe is enlarged or inflamed to double its size in puffiness and the skin is stretched, your toe may be broken. 

Step 5: 

Check your temperature. Within two to three hours after a bone breaks, the body's natural defense mechanisms kick in and your temperature automatically rises. A fever above 99.6º degrees F suggests the toe is broken.  

Step 6:
Compare your injured toe to the same toe on the other foot. IE: If you think your big toe is broken on your left foot, compare that toe to the size of the big toe on your right foot. If the injured toe looks shorter or deformed, you may have a broken toe.  

Step 7:
Try to stand for a minute or so. If your toe is broken, it won't be able to support your weight. A broken toe will tend to buckle underneath you when you stand on it.

If you are still not sure if you have a broken toe or a jammed or sprained toe and decide to see your doctor, he or she will more than likely have to take an x-ray of the toe experiencing pain.

Broken Toe