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How to do a toe rise?

Alternative to post-op shoe for broken toe?

  • I broke my pinkie toe and have to immobilize it for at least a month. This means buddy-taping, no pressure on the toe, and wearing a post-op shoe if I'm walking further than the confines of my studio apartment. The shoe is both terrible and, technically, optional. What could I replace it with? I have a smallish foot (women's size 6) and the XS shoe is substantially too big for me. Even with socks stuffed in the back, it's a struggle to keep it positioned correctly and a real effort to drag it around. I have to keep it Velcroed tightly to my foot, which puts pressure on the toe. The result is that I can't walk very far on it without twinges of pain, which is what I have to completely avoid to promote my healing. The shoe is technically optional, but I'm not sure what other options would work. The doctor said I could wear any shoe that was closed-toe (which, oddly enough, the post-op shoe is not), very supportive, and had no rise in the heel. Ideally it would be hard-soled, but good tennis or running shoes would be fine. The problem with those is that I currently can't navigate my toe into a sneaker without serious pain, and I have no idea what kind of shoe would work. Danskos seem close, but they generally have a heel, and I have a pretty bad tendency to ankle-roll in Danskos. It's entirely possible that there is no solution and I'll just be housebound (I am a freelancer with only occasional access to a car). Maybe the problem isn't with the shoe, but just with sustained walking. But my quality of life would improve so much if I could walk two blocks to the bus stop or my friends' house, and the shoe is just so obviously terrible that I'd like to try to fix it before I give up. Have you been in this situation, and what did you do?

  • Answer:

    I broke mine twice as a kid and remember wearing clog type shoes which had a strap on the back so you aren't gripping the shoe by bending your toes. So maybe something like a croc style shoe would work. Basically something with a big toe box. And the pain was much, much better even after about a week or two so it may not be as bad as it is now sooner than you think.

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I had a broken toe that was splinted and buddy-taped when I was a teenager, and I just wore Birkenstocks sandals until it healed with no problems.

erst

Oh, and this is Broken Toe Day 4, so I've had a chance to get used to the shoe.

thesmallmachine

Did the doctor say why it had to be closed-toe? When I broke my pinky toe and had to tape it to the toe next to it, I just wore flip-flops for a month.

rabbitrabbit

I think the closed-toe thing is to prevent reinjury if something knocks against it (I guess the post-op shoe's sheer mass makes up for its openness). That said, Birkenstocks...Crocs...! Strong shoes both, and easy to put on. Thanks for your encouragement about the pain, magx94. I've never broken a bone before, even this most ideal of bones (if you're gonna break one, that is), and I don't know what to expect.

thesmallmachine

Is the post-op shoe one of those deals that’s a super-flat, hard foam sole, and then kind of an upper like a sneaker made of foam or fabric but without the toe and tongue, and then Velcro straps over it? I’ve broken my share of toes, and unfortunately I’ve never found a good substitute until I was able to get the foot into a proper sneaker. The difference is, I didn’t have your problem with getting one the right size. I wonder – instead of stuffing the socks in the back of the shoe, might it work better to try to build the entire foot size up by wearing a couple of pairs over each other? Or maybe an Ace bandage would have the same effect, without causing any slipperiness. They do seem to make some so if you don’t find anything else it might be something to ask the doctor or pharmacist about.

The Underpants Monster

I'm assuming you're wearing a velcro boot thing? Can you get a child's size instead of an adult size? Since the adult XS is too big, wouldn't a child's size work? (I'm also a women's 6.) I have not ever broken a toe, but if the boot thing would be fine if it fit, then I would try finding a smaller size boot instead.

Crystalinne

It is kind of like that, Underpants Monster, but with a surprisingly heavy one-inch platform. I'll look into pediatric ones as well -- that seems promising. Sorry to threadsit.

thesmallmachine

Check out http://www.keenfootwear.com/us/en/shoes/women/. They have a very ample toe box.

Wordwoman

Can't speak to the shoe issue (I have similarly mutant feet, but mutant in a different way), but I can attest that the pain from a broken toe gets WAY better WAY fast. Yeah, if you bonk something on it it'll hurt more than usual, but I deliberately went without any painkillers when I was recovering from a broken http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones_fracture and after like, a few days, I honestly wouldn't have needed them anyway. However, I've found after other injuries that getting a wonky foot into a sneaker is a lot easier if you undo and remove all the laces, and then lace the whole thing back up once you get your foot in. Time consuming, yeah, but it does make your sneaker way more accessible and easy-entry. So if you haven't tried that and the crocs don't work...worth a shot, maybe?

EmpressCallipygos

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