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Can you run on a broken toe? What about a sprained toe?

These were the words I found myself Googling on a Monday morning…can you run with a broken toe?

Things started off so well, it was the perfect active recovery Monday. A nice little outdoor yoga workout (because why live in Florida during the winter if you aren’t doing things like that.) I mean even a photo that caught the light in a way to show how seriously ZEN I was feeling.

You know, Instgram happy. Body happy. Mind happy.

What more could a runner ask for on a non-running day?!

The answer is NOT TO BREAK MY TOE!
Restorative YogaComing home the frentic energy that is my creative mind began. I was bouncing from computer to kitchen to make my green smoothie, when SHWACK.

Nailing the chair with my toe, releasing a string of expletives{which science has proven to help with pain}. I paused and went back to work. Because seriously, who hasn’t stubbed their toe.

An hour later I jumped up from my desk, then promptly pulled my foot up because it hurt.

It was purple and swollen. Now that was unlike any stubbed toe I’d ever seen and by the time David came home we were both convinced it was a broken toe.

Those of you who follow me on Facebook saw this frantic message {priorities right?!}
Broken Toe Question

How To Know If Your Toe Is Broken?

A broken and sprained toe can look at awful lot alike. I now know that a broken toe looks much worse and feels much worse than a stubbed toe.

Signs of a broken toe:

  • A lot of bruising (probably the entire toe, possibly in to the foot)
  • Swelling
  • Aching, throbbing
  • Tender to the touch and painful to walk
  • Crooked or misshapen (at this point you need to go see a Dr, you don’t want it to heal poorly)

I opted not to go to the doctor because I didn’t really think there was much to be done. In most cases, it’s about taking care of the toe and unlike a finger they probably won’t put a splint on it.

If however, my toe had been pointing the wrong direction I would have headed to Urgent Care. You need your feet to function well for great running.

Lacing tips, inflammation fighters and other tips for running with foot pain #runchat Click To Tweet

How soon can you run with a broken toe?

It largely depends on which toe you broke.

A broken pinky toe (or little toe) gets a lot more pressure from the side of your shoe and could take longer to comfortably wear shoes again. Meanwhile your big toe is the major driver of your push off the ground.

A broken big toe is likely going to take a couple of weeks before you can start to run without serious pain. And potentially 6-8 weeks before you should really be running at all. Just remember that starting too early and turning a small break in to a big issue means a lot more time off.

How to Run with a Sprained or Broken Toe?

The absolute top three tips are pretty basic:

1. If you can’t put on a shoe without pain, it’s not time to run.
2. It’s going to hurt, so run to your pain tolerance
3. Tape your toes for support

But let’s dig in a little deeper.

Days 1-5 by no means could I put on a shoe and walking on hard surfaces wasn’t too comfortable.

However, I found on the carpet I had pretty free range to move around, so I did Strength Training, HIIT workouts, Pilates, Yoga, whatever struck my fancy.

I had been on a seriously good roll with training and I wasn’t happy at the interruption, so I made it work.

By day 6, I could put a shoe on again and that’s where the tips really start to come in handy.

Per usual, my pain is your gain because I learned a lot from this that I’ve been able to share with the athletes I coach.

Step 1: Combat Inflammation

Step one I knew was to do everything I could to combat inflammation and get the swelling down. This was my process for how to heal a broken toe!

  • First few days I did take ibuprofen, which I never do.
  • Iced a few times (now knowing the new science I would NOT have done this). It numbs pain, but slows healing.
  • Took more potent Turmeric, again to keep fighting inflammation
  • CBD oil at night – more inflammation fighting
  • Avoided all shoes and socks for at least 5 days
  • Applied a blended essential oil twice daily << I swear this had the biggest impact. I have never had a bruise look better so quickly or swelling drop so fast. More on essential oils for runners.
  • Did Cryotherapy on Day 5 {again based on the new science would have skipped this UNLESS I needed to run that day because of say a race}

Day 6 – We have lift off!

I could put on a shoe, BUT had to make a couple adjustments for it to be bearable and I think these are key!

A broken pinky toe might need more time because even with the different lacing, you’ll find more pressure on the toe.

See below for what made a run bearable.running toe pain

Step 2: Taping for Toe Pain Relief

For me taping the toes together hurt worse because of the increased pressure.

But if you want to know how to tape a broken toe, it’s pretty straightforward:

  • gently pull it next to another toe
  • put a small piece of gauze or a cotton ball between the two
  • using sports tape (cut kinesiology tape works too)
  • lightly wrap tape around both toes so they are now joined together
  • this is called buddy taping

Instead of buddy taping, I found wearing Injinji Toe Socks provided additional padding and space between my toes which felt tremendously better.

Step 3: Shoelacing Techniques for Pain Relief

I realized that my broken toe felt much better on a treadmill.

Outside any little angle of the ground requires your toes to work harder to keep you balanced. After a mile or two I felt my toe beginning to scream.

Possibly most important was relacing the shoe to reduce pressure around the toes. I couldn’t leave the shoe on until I’d made this change.

There are a lot of great lacing techniques out there which can make an average shoe your favorite shoe, so don’t feel like you need to keep it exactly as it comes out of the box!
Shoelacing techniques

1. Here you start by threading up through the first hole on the bottom with a ladder to the next hole. This pulls up the toe box, which can create additional space and prevent it from pushing down on the toes.

2. Lace as normal and then at the top, utilize ALL the available holes.

Usually there are two holes on the top of the shoe and we only take advantage of the front one, but you want to prevent any heel slippage as that could allow your foot to move forward crushing the toes {HINT could be why you lose toenails!}.

3. Instead — lace through the first hole to the back hole creating a little loop through which you will thread the opposite lace before tying the shoe.
Shoe lacing to prevent heel from slipping

Can You Run On A Broken Toe?

Back to the original question of whether or not you can, or more accurately should, run on a broken toe.

What if it’s just a sprain and not a break, does that make it better or worse?

In a weird twist, sometimes a sprain can take longer to heal. So I’m going to go back to what I said to start: be your own best judge of pain and if you’re making things worse.
run on a broken toeClearly I’m not a doctor, but I’ve worked with thousands of runners so this is what helped me and what they have said helped too. So the above techniques are what got me back in to my running shoes after about a week and then slowly feeling comfortable putting more pressure on it with more miles.

I have talked with a couple Physical Therapists and the consensus is this:

See a Docoor

If it’s crooked or pain spreading up the foot or pain that wouldn’t stop, go see a doctor. You likely need to identify where it broke because that could make a difference and you don’t want to run making things worse.

Give It Enough Time

Try taking 2-3 weeks off for swelling and pain to subside.

Or like me, keep testing it until you decide you can run without severe pain and evaluate your toe post run. If the bruising returns, you may have torn a tendon rather than broken it and need more time off {plus a doctor!}.

Your big toe is likely going to be a bigger problem than my small toe.

If you’re altering your gait STOP. This is going to lead to a host of other injuries.

Don’t Medicate It Away

Don’t try to mask the pain with drugs and run.

If it hurts, stop…again you don’t want to make things worse or prolong healing. Additionally, running and using NSAIDs leads to a host of other issues like harming your liver!

Seriously if it hurts, stop. There will be those who have it happen prior to a race and the truth is yes you could probably force yourself to tolerate the pain, but you’ll likely also change your gait creating pain in other areas and prolonging the healing of your toe.

You certainly aren’t going to PR, so put it in perspective… one race or months on the side lines?

Can You Exercise with a Broken Toe?

If you are indeed sidelined from running, the good news is you can still exercise with a broken toe. It’s time to get focused on your upper body work, core work and you might even find swimming doesn’t aggravate it.

As you saw in my story above, I ended up doing a lot of barefoot things on the carpet because that felt ok. So be willing to change things up and test things out.

A broken toe healing time is usually around 6 weeks, which means your job during that time is to do all the things that are going to help you come back strong.

You absolutely get to wallow in the frustration for a few days, that’s step 1 of getting over an injury.

Test out the buddy taping that was recommended to me, maybe it will work for you! You simply get some Rocktape and without pressure tape it to the toe next to it. See if that feels better, gives you more support.

Looking for more to treat your feet right?

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Category: injury, running coach

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Comments

  1. wendy

    I have broken a toe, twice. The first time was a stress fracture and I didn't run on it because it hurt really bad. But I did bike. The second time was the joint below my big toe, and I ran a race with it before I had it checked out. Then I went into the boot to let it heal. So my answer would be…it depends…
    My recent post The eyes have it

  2. ChasingOliviaCrew

    Yesterday the last half mile of my long run had me yelping in surprise at a sudden sharp pain in my left foot – about an inch down from the little toe. I've never had a stress fracture before so I'm not sure if this is what it is, but it had me pretty concerned. I slowed my pace and am taking today off from running. My foot feels fine when walking or running slowly so I'm hoping it's just a random twinge that just needs a day to recover from. Have you experienced something like this? I'll do my run tomorrow on a treadmill and see how it feels…
    My recent post Home again

    • RunToTheFinish

      Sudden sharp pain is always a signal to stop. That being said sometimes it's just a weird muscle spasm and goes away, but if you find that the next time you start to run it's sharp again, yup time to stop.

  4. Gus

    I have learned the hard way after years of injuries to just listen to the body when it is in pain. Cross Country regional's in high school ran with what ended up turning into a hairline fracture and put me out of running for a solid 4-6 months. Ran last year with pain on my hip and it ended up taking months to come back even with rest in between.

    Definitely worth it to just stop and fix the problem rather than making it worse down the line. But at the same time just because I say this advice doesn't mean I will take my own advice LOL.
    My recent post Weekly Training Recap 6/22/15 – 6/28/15

  7. frances

    i wouldn't run on it. i broke my toe and tapped it but somehow it didn't set and now i get painful craps in my toe. take a week or two off and do yoga for the time being.

  9. christineyu69776410

    That would have been my first thought too – can I run??? Luckily I haven't broken my toe but I've sure had my share of foot pain/issues. I've definitely started lacing my shoes differently and it's made a big difference for me!
    My recent post 30 Healthy Smoothie Recipes

  10. Kelly

    I've broken a couple toes. The first one was a pinkie about 30 minutes before going on stage at a dance competition… That toe wasn't set right and its grown back crooked. The next toe I broke was my middle toe, and I broke that on a chair like you did! At the time I was still a dancer and not a runner, but I danced on it as well. It did hurt pretty badly though. I say listen to your body and do what works for you. Both times the only real visible symptom was bruising and swelling. Luckily I set the middle toe correctly and it looks normal now. If you to go the a doctor they'll just x-ray it and send you home with some toe tape and advil… There's nothing you can do for most toe breaks. Buddy-taping usually helps support the toe, but if it hurts, don't do it. Watch out for those chairs!

    • Emily

      I’m a dancer as well and a few months ago I hit my pinky toe on my door and it hurt but it got better after a few weeks. It has moments where it hurts but yesterday it started hurting really bad. I couldn’t walk on it and I still can’t. I’m still a dancer and have my concert next week. I’m going to the doctors today because it is a little crooked and very swollen. Even the joint is swollen. We tried buddy taping it but it caused more pain.

  11. Arthi

    I came across this post because I'm literally going through the exact same experience! About 4 nights ago, my mom knocked over a barstool that landed on my pinky toe and destroyed it. I had horrible throbbing pain that entire night and it was completely bruised and I couldn't walk on it the next morning. I got an x-ray the next day and fortunately the doc said it wasn't broken at all, just badly banged up. I'm on day 5 of no running (have been swimming every morning) and am PRAYING I can run the Turkey Trot in a couple days.

    Maybe I'll try those socks you wore!

  12. Mariona

    How can you post this of you didnt even get an X-ray to know if it was broken. I personally have a broken toe RIGHT KNOW (doctor approved) and I can tell you for sure you cannot run nor even walk properly. (Broke about 1 week ago) Very misleading- although I usually love your content!!

    • RunToTheFinish

      100% understand your point. I didn't feel an xray would change anything so I didn't do that. I did talk to a number of other runners who had previously broken toes and got lots of advice before proceeding.

    • adrienne

      I think it depends on the type of break. I had my toe x-rayed and there’s definitely a fracture, but little to no pain. I can walk normally, but was told by the doctor not to dance/run. It’s hard to stay off of it because it doesn’t hurt. Everyone is different . . .

  13. Leslie Sorrells

    My advice would be to see a podiatrist with sports medicine. i did the same thing and let the first one heal without seeing anyone. When i was finally able to run “comfortably” again I set a short distance pr for myself and was amped! Not even two weeks later I charged into my bedroom with laundry and slammed the SAME toe into my dresser so hard I went down. Let me be totally honest here. Over a year ago I fell while sprinting when “the sidewalk changed” (it did though! as it had new concrete on that spot) however I should have been looking closer! I fractured bones in my right 3rd and pinky finger and the palm of my left hand. I went down but got right up. I saw both fingers going backwards over my hand, reached over and pulled them straight and kept running for about five minutes until I thought to myself, THAT was not normal for a person to do. After all it was training run, not the BM. I am not a wimp but this toe has not been evaluated. I have done everything I know how to do ( i’m a reg nurse) and now I am beginning to realize that I may have a forefoot fracture that has set wrong so I am going to the above physician next week. The MAIN REASON is so I CAN return this time with no gait change. You do not realize what a small injury can do over time to every other muscle that is protecting it. Over time you will see or feel other muscles being used that does not “feel” right. We all know to take care of our core, our hips, glutes, quads, knees, and every ligament gets equal treatment. I know that my biceps got some extra definition with two casts on my arms but I wasn’t depending on them to keep my body level. Your feet are the most important thing in our arsenal. Don’t waste time when you have it. It may take a lot longer than you would like “in the long run”. Sorry this is long but I really needed to say that.

  14. Jessica

    Oh my gosh, I am so glad I googled running with a broken toe, because what runner doesn’t search this, Right?
    I jammed my middle toe so bad last night, heard a crack and crumbled! I’ve broken my pinkie toes many times before so I knew instantly it was broken. But… I have to run! I’m set to run a Ragnar next Friday! Like, this can not possibly be happening! Ice, Motrin and rest for the nxt 6 days and then I don’t care what happens! I’m packing tons of ice, relacing my shoes and hitting the road!
    I never even thought like this before I became a runner. What the heck is wrong with me. Lol

    • amanda

      Yes we are indeed a crazy bunch!!! FIngers crossed you can enjoy that Ragnar!!

  15. Julie

    How long did it take for the tie to not bother you? I broke my second toe at the tip two weeks ago, continued to run and now it’s aggravating me. I think I’m going to take a few days off to see if it settles down.

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