broke/dislocated pinkie toe

[ems]

Oh dear I wasn't paying close enough attention to the trail I was running on on Sunday, was waving aside brambles and so stubbed pinkie toe very hard on something, most likely a hidden tree root. ( in kso's btw) After a lot of hoppping up and down and near swearing ( I didn't swear as I was running with my 10 year old son , other wise I might have said something a little different to " Oh  dear, oh dear, oh my gosh ow, ow ow".)
Anyway I reckoned damage wasn't too great and ran a further 5.5 miles home. Whenever I stopped to give my son a rest then the toe really hurt of course. Running on it wasn't so bad oddly.
Then my son tripped over just before we got home so we limped home together. I said to him " Tell daddy we DID have a fun time, look at the pair of us"
By the evening it was swollen and dark purple, like a fat little sausage, couldn't walk on it at all.
Now three days later I'm still hobbling but it is getting better. I've strapped it to the next toe, seems to help
Soooooo my question is for those of you who've badly stubbed/broken a toe running your vff's, how long until you started to run again?
I'm pissed off as you might be able to tell and of course everyone likes to wag their fingers because of my shoes, no proper protection you see

Ems

[jcarneytx]

I thought I had cracked one of mine. It didn't swell up much but it did hurt a lot. I was able to run on it the next week. I was on a good run and kicked a rock pretty hard with my left pinky toe. Then did it again about an hour later. I had to hobble after that.

[fingerhunter]

I kicked my dog's rear achilles? tendon when he cut in front of me on a run.  My toe was screaming!  I taped it to the next toe for 3 days and didn't run on it for a week.

[noelbodwell]

You aren't alone. I stubbed my pinkie toe the on a root or rock the 4 months ago. It still is larger than it used to be, but it stopped hurting after a week or so. It turned purple and it seemed that for the next month, if I did catch a toe on a rock or root, it ALWAYS was that one!! I iced mine quite a bit. Hope you are back on the trails soon!

Noël

[EricMontgomery]

OOH. Been there, done that. I broke the pinky toe on my left foot about 12 years ago. We new it was broken instantly since it was sticking out at a 90 degree angle from my foot. My then wife who was a Navy Corpsman laughed at me (since she knew what the Dr was gonna tell me) and said "I'm not waking the baby to drive your broke ass to the hospital over a broken toe."

Need less to say, I drove myself. I hobbled into the ER at midnight. Lucky for me the nurse on duty was only in a tired/grumpy mood instead of her regular charming self. She looked me up and down skeptically and asked "What's wrong with you?". That's when I put my foot on the counter so she could see the toe and said "Nuffin much, how's about you?". Her eyes widened a little and let me play in a wheel chair until she got the right people roused.

Since they obviously can't do anything more than tape it to the toe next to it and wait the only thing I accomplished was to get documentation for wearing street (or no) shoes until it healed. Putting a military boot over it was a little out of the question for a while.

As to how long until you're able to run again? That's really in your court. I would wait a month at minimum then treat it like you're just starting out in VFFs (slowly working your way up) until you're comfortable that the toe is solid and won't re-break on you. (My opinion here)

Take it easy, put a good cleaning on all of your VFFs and use it as an opportunity to get a new pair from your husband as a sympathy gift for not being able to wear them for a while.

[ems]

Thanks all Glad I'm not the only one!

It's so frustrating, just as I was really getting to grips with the monster hill trails round here. 8 miles was a very comfortable run.. Now, back a few paces.
Ouch Eric, 90 degree angle. At least mine is still facing the same direction no wonder you had to wait a month. Hmm if I wait that long I shall be chewing the carpet!

[EricMontgomery]

Wouldn't you know it, I went and did it AGAIN!. SAME TOE! It's not at a 90 degree angle this time, but it's definitely broken. <SIGH> I really hate the thought of going back to regular shoes, but there's nothing for it now. I'm rather unlikely to get a sympathy pair of VFFs though. LOL. My wife is immune to that trick.

[Hawkeye]

Wouldn't you know it, I went and did it AGAIN!. SAME TOE! It's not at a 90 degree angle this time, but it's definitely broken. <SIGH> I really hate the thought of going back to regular shoes, but there's nothing for it now. I'm rather unlikely to get a sympathy pair of VFFs though. LOL. My wife is immune to that trick.

You might want to get a normal minimal trail running shoe like the upcoming merrell trail glove so you don't break anymore pinky toes. You can always wear your vffs for non trail running stuff and you might want to be more careful in the future.

[EricMontgomery]

This is the third time I've broken this particular toe and EVERY time it's been done in the house when I'm barefoot. Unless I start wearing shoes in the house all the time it's not going to make much of a difference.

[MCvet]

If I stay true barefoot I break my outer toes fairly often. Have bot yetin my VFF. I did drop a steel bumper on my instep yesterday. Instant bruise and I though I broke it...

[UpNorth]

This is the third time I've broken this particular toe and EVERY time it's been done in the house when I'm barefoot. Unless I start wearing shoes in the house all the time it's not going to make much of a difference.

Knock on wood - so far the only times I have really hurt my toes have been inside as well.   I almost broke my pinky toe while visiting my parents.   And on another occasion, was half asleep and tripped on a the lower doorjamb on a ferry (not sure what to call it.)   

Both were good reminders to pay better attention or at least try to wake up before walking around.  (Not that it won't happen again I'm sure at some point.) 

Good luck to all those recovering.