Toe pain

Hi there,

I play 5 a side football (or soccer for all you US readers!), and I get a pain at the base joints of both big toes ( the joint next to the ball of the foot). I suspected I broke or cracked the bone in that region some time ago, but went up to A & E and was told it's probably not broken if I can walk on it, so they wouldn't X-Ray or treat it. (Basically, "you did this to yourself playing football, we've got more important injuries in here, get out and stop wasting our time"). Anyway, that was over a year ago, but it's still bothering me. I just stopped playing for 4 weeks and went back last night and felt the pain again.

Does anyone know if there anything I can do to strap it up while I play or that I can do to help it heal?

If you need more information, just let me know.

Thanks

Hmm, sounds familiar. You've perhaps got an instability at the proximal big toe joint that causes the joint surfaces to become painful as they are exposed to load. You could try strapping the toe down to prevent excessive extension. There are also great silicon pads that hook over the toe to soften the impact.

I have the same pain on both feet from past years of martial arts training (and kicks gone wrong). Today in fact they are giving me a bit of grief - Hard boots for walking in the snow. The best self remedy is to mobilise the joint a little, strap and pad when you need to i.e. for football.

If that isn't working for you then see your local PT or Foot Specialist for further investigation.

Hi physiobob,

Thanks for your reply. I'll try strapping them down and see if that makes any difference.

Have you tried the silicon pads? If so, can you post me a link to ones that you thought were ok?

See the attached images. These are typically sold for bunions or metatarsal pain. I just turn them around to work on the sore part of the big toe. One is a total support strap which is pretty good.

You should be able to get them in Boots.