Two weeks ago I had a spectacular fall and injured my foot. I tripped, landed hard on the ball of my right foot and toes and then flew through the air and slammed the top of my foot on the wood floor. It was extremely painful when it happened but after a few days of rest and icing it was much better
Two weeks later I still have some pain on the top of my foot and my arch. Swelling is mostly gone and I have a few dime size bruises. I’d say it is about 80% better but I am still limping and have some pain when I push off the ball of my foot and it doesn’t seem to be improving.
I ask this question here because if I have an issue I imagine I will need to see a specialist. If the diagnosis will likely be more rest, I’d rather avoid the large bill. Is it normal to still be limping and have pain after two weeks? Thanks for your input.
Not a doctor, but have been around a lot of injuries. The kind of fall you had could have caused bone bruising, and those take a while to heal, and likewise you may have strained the tendons in your foot, so it could be all you have is some deep bruising and/or strained tendons. One question is how much does it hurt, when you step down on the foot, is it a dull ache, or a sharp pain? If when you step down it is like someone stuck a knife in your foot, that might indicate there was a fracture (and keep in mind I am not a doctor, do have more than a bit of first aid training, plus personal experience).In any event, pain and limping after two weeks is not unusual with deep bone bruises and strains, they can take a while to fully heal. You could probably give it a couple of more weeks and see what happens, if it doesn’t seem to be getting better, you then could go to your regular doctor and get an xray, rather than an orthopedist, to see if there is any serious damage.
If you’re generally physically active and have experience with injuries you can probably trust your intuition on whether or not to see a doc. It probably wouldn’t hurt to have a fracture ruled out though.
I will say that I came down very hard on the ball of my foot once (the big pad just aft of the big toe) and it was bruised and sore for a solid 2-3 months. That was back in my 30’s when I still had the healing power of (relative) youth, too.
I broke a bone in my foot a in 2004 - I remember the year because we called an ambulance for my husband and I walked outside to make sure they could find our house and, in the dark and in bare feet, stood on a heavy duty outdoor power cord plug. I remember sitting in agony in th ER while they worked on my husband but feeling like I couldn’t say “um, once you finish saving his life can you look at my foot”. I went to family doc next day and she did an x-ray and I had broken my foot. The treatment was just rest and trying to keep weight off it by using a stick for a few weeks. It did take several weeks for the pain in the ball of my foot to go away. Also had a stress fracture a couple of years back which was basically the same treatment but without the stick. Again, it was several weeks (& more supportive shoes than th ballet flats I’d been wearing) before the pain went away.
In both cases, I had an xray to confirm the break. Family doc first time and urgent care the other. Have you thought of just going to family doc or urgent care for an xray? Shouldn’t be too expensive and you can make sure there is nothing more serious. No need for a specialist unless it shows something more serious. If it is feeling better and you can bear weight on it, it is likely not serious, but why not be sure.
Several years ago, I broke a tiny bone in one of my toes. The injury was very painful but there was nothing the doctor could do for it, except, in essence, to advise me to be nice to my foot.
H had a similar landing (ie, on the top of the foot) as a twenty-something year old and turned out he had dislocated the bones in his foot…so that’s also something to consider
The way I figure it, for a foot issue, if you ignore something that does need attention, this is half of what holds your body up and lets you move. I pretty much agree with musicprnt that the sort of pain can matter and an xray can inform. And yes, a sprain or bruise can ache for a long time. Ice and heat can help, as well as wrapping. Been there.
I took a similar fall in 2013. Broke my 4th/5th metatarsals. Required surgery, as if they had been allowed to heal in their shattered form, I would have had severe deformity. I, too, contemplated not going to the doc. Thankfully a friend made me go. Finding shoes for my big feet is hard…finding shoes for big deformed feet would have been worse. Don’t mess around with your feet…you need em every second of every day.
There are better and subpar urgent care places. I met the staff at the subpar ones, which made me swear off of them (nonexistent training and DUMB staff that just needed $$$). A friend found a good urgent care less than 2 miles from our home that is staffed by ER MDs and has X-ray machines and walking casts and crutches. That is where I went when I couldn’t stand on my foot because I rolled my ankle. The md x-rayed and confirmed it was a break near bottom of fibula and prescribed a walking boot and crutches, and referred me to orthopedist for follow up.
The next day, went to orthopedic clinic where they prescribed and gave me a new walking boot that came up to just under my knee to replace the short mid-calf boot that they said was not supportive enough.
I had several follow appts and eventually a round of pt via orthopedic surgeon and his nurse practitioner. I was very concerned that I heal 100% before a 16 day tour to Korea; fortunately just made it!
@HImom when you find a good doc, it really highlights the quacks out there! Glad you had a good experience, and got to enjoy your trip. I have never had such terrible issues with mobility until I had foot surgery. 3 of them, actually. Taking good care of feet is so critical…being non weight bearing for months at a time (with all the inconvenience that brings, living in a two story house), drove that fact home big time. I am now very careful when I walk/run. I never want to injure my feet again.
I rolled my ankle 3 years ago. 10 days later I went to an urgent care because it was still bruised and swollen. I could walk on it without pain, but I thought it should have been back to normal. ER doc on the staff, mostly PAs. I had multiple xrays taken and they sent them to our local hospital to have the orthoped on call read them. No breaks found, just severely torn ligaments.
Fast forward to now. I should have gone to the orthoped because the range of motion never returned and my balance declined. I’m at PT now and have marked improvement after just 2 visits. Daily exercises and stretches. Next time I sprain it, I will break something: guaranteed by orthoped who read the xrays. So I am extremely careful.
I partially tore my achilles tendon where it meets the heel when I was playing tennis. The doc said rest it. DH broke his toe on the coffee table-rest it. Since it’s nearly impossible for me to stay off my feet, it’s just healing verrrrry slowly. Same for DH-he had to stop Crossfit for a while, but is back at it even though the toe’s still a little tender.
I can’t give you advice on whether or not to see a doc, but I can relate my own experiences-which are that feet take a long time to heal because we’re on them a lot, and a lot of things you do to your feet can’t be “fixed” by a doc. However, in both cases we were seen by an orthopedic surgeon just to make sure.
@zobroward , Thank you for asking. My foot continues to get better. DH mentioned last night that my gait looks like I am at about 90%. Oddly, it is still painful to wear my expensive, super supportive running shoes so have an I appt to get an xray on Tuesday. I will be sure to post an update.
Update! Went to the podiatrist and got an xray on a fancy standing machine. No broken bones. He poked and prodded which didn’t feel horrible but didn’t feel great. He gave me a small dose prednisone and an expensive ($150!) support bandage. He said that if my foot was not significantly better in one week that he wanted to see me again.
Glad you went and got some help! My D2 recently saw a podiatrist due to plantar fasciitis. It was helpful just to get expert advice and ideas for exercise and therapy to move along the healing process. She was also amused by the anti-pedicure posters around the office.