See your doctor for an x-ray of your foot if the pain doesn’t get significantly better within a few days. Stress fractures can be difficult to see on x-ray if there’s lots of swelling. If there is lots of swelling, your doctor may recommend a bone scan to identify the stress fracture. Stress fractures of the pinky can occur with strenuous exercise (lots of jogging or aerobics, for examples), improper training techniques at the gym, trauma from stubbing the toe or dropping something heavy on it, and severely sprained ankles.
If you really want to sanitize your toes / feet and remove most of the natural oils, use an alcohol-based sanitizing gel or lotion. Make sure to completely dry your toes and the spaces in between before any using gauze or tape.
Use enough sterile gauze, felt or cotton balls between your 4th and 5th toes so that it doesn’t easily fall out before securing it with tape. If your skin is sensitive to medical tape (maybe it gets irritated and itchy from the adhesive), then wrap the gauze completely around your 4th and 5th toes and cover as much of the skin as possible before using tape.
Wrapping the tape too tight will cut off circulation and turn the ends of your toes a purplish-blue color. Your toes will also feel numb or tingly if you’ve wrapped the tape too tight. Reduced circulation to your toes also slows down the healing process, so make sure to buddy tape the toes together firmly, but loose enough that blood flows normally. If you don’t have any medical or surgical tape (sold at regular pharmacies), then duct tape, electrician’s tape or small (narrow) Velcro straps can work also. Most simple (stress) fractures of the toes take about 4 weeks or so to heal properly, so plan on buddy taping for the majority of that time.
If you bathe every other day, then you can wait an additional day to re-tape your toes unless your feet get wet from some other reason, such as getting caught in a rainstorm or flood. Using water resistant medical / surgical tape may reduce the frequent need to re-tape, but any time the gauze / cotton between your toes gets wet (or even damp) you should redo it. Remember not to use too much tape (even if it’s loosely applied) because you may not be able to fit your foot into your shoes properly. Too much tape also triggers overheating and sweating.
Apply the ice or cold therapy for no more than 20 minutes at a time to the lateral (outside) part of your foot. Use the cold therapy 3-5x daily for the first few days post injury. Wrap the ice bag or gel pack around the front of your foot with an elastic bandage for better results because compression helps to reduce swelling too.
If you’re on the sofa, use a footstool or a few pillows to keep your leg / foot elevated above your heart. While in bed lying down, use a pillow, folded blanket or foam roller to prop up your foot a few extra inches. Always try to elevate both feet at the same time so you don’t create hip, pelvis and/or low back pain or irritation.
Cycling can still be a good option for exercise and maintaining fitness if you’re able to position the pedal closer to your heal and away from your toes. Swimming is a non-weight bearing exercise and appropriate for a broken toe once the swelling and pain have subsided. Don’t forget to re-tape your toes afterwards.
NSAIDs include ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn), and aspirin (Excedrin). NSAIDs are better for bone fractures because they inhibit swelling, whereas painkillers don’t. However, NSAIDs such as naproxen may slow bone healing, so they should be used with caution. [11] X Trustworthy Source PubMed Central Journal archive from the U. S. National Institutes of Health Go to source Aspirin should not be given to children, whereas ibuprofen should not be given to infants — stick with acetaminophen if your child needs pain relief.
