Why Bone Fractures In Your Toes Need Immediate Attention

Did you know that the pinky toe is the number one toe that gets broken? The bones in this toe are smaller in comparison to the bones in your other toes, and you are more likely to have something step on or fall on the outside of your foot than the inside. It is simply instinct to try and pull your feet out of the way of danger, but this often results in your pinky toe getting the brunt of what lands on it. Regardless, any fractures you incur to your toes need immediate attention. Here is why.

Weight Distribution and Walking

Your toes are responsible for taking a lot of your weight when you walk and run. They also help you walk/run properly with forward heel-toe action. As you put your heel down, your foot naturally rocks forward onto the ball of your foot, and then your toes help propel you ahead to the next step. If your toes are broken, you are not only in intense pain, but also unable to walk properly and balance your weight over the balls of your feet.

Badly Broken Toes Destroy Nerves and Blood Vessels

When you drop something really heavy on your toes or accidentally smack your toes with significant force, you can break them very badly. Badly broken toes then cause nerve and blood vessel damage, which in turn causes the broken toes to die. Rather than heal properly, the toes become necrotic, foul-smelling, and cause a system-wide infection in your body. Only x-rays and the expert care of an orthopedist can find out if your toes just have bone fractures or are in danger of becoming black stubs.

Tiny Bone Chips Can Travel Through the Blood

Slivers of bone can migrate into the bloodstream and into major organs of the body. Some people may argue that this is not possible, but given the fact that bullet shrapnel and other slivers of foreign objects have traveled in the bloodstream and into the heart and lungs, it can happen with tiny slivers of bone. It just depends on how shattered your toe bones are and whether or not there is a nearby blood vessel that is open and flooding the broken bone area with blood. At any rate, you would not want shrapnel or splinters of anything making its way into major bodily organs where it can cause serious damage. See a doctor right away.

For more information, contact a business such as Ultimate Sports.

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