If you are stepped on during a football game or drop a heavy object on your foot, you’re going to feel some pain emanating from the top of your foot. Depending on the force that was exerted on your foot, this discomfort may be mild and fade within a few minutes, or it can be severe and call for immediate medical attention. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at what can happen if you experience a blunt trauma to the top of the foot, and how Dr. Silverman and his team can help treat the issue.
Trauma To The Top Of Your Foot
The most common way for someone to experience a blunt trauma to the top of their foot occurs when a heavy object is dropped onto the area. If you’re carrying a heavy object and misjudge where to set it down or it slips out of your hand, or something falls from a great height and lands on your foot, you’ll know what it feels like to experience blunt trauma to the top of your foot.
This action can lead to a number of different issues and symptoms on the top of your foot, including:
Pain – Pain will be the first thing you’ll experience after absorbing the force of trauma. How much pain will depend on the size of the object and the force it exerted on your foot.
Bruising – After a little while, don’t be surprised if some bruising or discoloration develops in the area. This is the result of damage to the blood vessels underneath your skin.
Swelling – Swelling occurs soon after trauma as fluids and white blood cells are brought to the area to aid in the repair process. This excess fluid also helps to protect against additional movement that could cause more pain or injury.
By assessing the severity of these symptoms, you can typically begin to chart a course for recovery. If symptoms are moderate or mild but show improvement over the first 24-48 hours, you may be able to get by with conservative care options like RICE, which stands for Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation, as well as anti-inflammatory medications and some activity avoidance. Most foot contusions or bruises respond well to non-operative treatments over the course of a few days or weeks.
However, if symptoms are severe or you have reason to believe that you suffered a fracture, you’ll want to head to the emergency room or to a foot specialist. They’ll ask about your symptoms, examine the foot in person and then attempt to pinpoint the location of the fracture or fractures with the help of imaging devices. Oftentimes an X-ray will suffice, but an MRI or CT scan could also be ordered.
If a fracture is present, it doesn’t mean surgery is a given. In fact, many foot fractures heal just fine with rest and other conservative measures. To keep stress off the foot while it heals, your foot will likely be placed in a cast or walking boot to limit weight bearing on the area. Depending on the specifics of the fracture, you may be able to make a full recovery in anywhere from 6-12 weeks.
If the fracture is unstable or is breaking through the skin, surgery may be required to stabilize the area. Hardware will likely be used to hold bones in the correct location for healing to take place, and then you’ll follow the same treatments as above, with casting, RICE and being non-weight bearing until enough healing has occurred.