How Long Does It Take For A Broken Toe To Heal (And Why)?

Exact Answer: 4 to 6 Weeks

Broken toes are a common injury experienced widely by humankind. Broken toes are a result of either banging the toes hard on a tough surface or falling a heavy object on them. Although breaking bones requires enormous force but since the toes are on the periphery of the body, they break easily.

Broken toes are made up of two to three smaller bones and are quite brittle. Moreover, they face high risk on the account of being on the edge of the body. However, they can be healed at home and surgery is required only in serious cases.

36 4 - Broken toes are a common injury experienced widely by humankind. Broken toes are a result of either banging the toes hard on a tough surface or falling a heavy object on them. Although breaking bones requires enormous force but since the toes are on the periphery of the body, they break easily.

How Long Does It Take For A Broken Toe To Heal?

Type of Broken Toe And Recovery StageTime Taken
Big toes
A. WalkingOne to two weeks
B. Wearing stiff-soled shoesThree to four weeks
C. Ready for Sporting activitiesSix to eight weeks
Smaller toes
A. WalkingA week
B. Wearing stiff-soled shoesTwo to three weeks
C. Ready for Sporting activitiesFour to six weeks
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The time required for a broken toe to heal depends on the size of the toe that is injured. Generally, bigger toes require more time to heal completely than smaller ones. Moreover, the patient does not recover all at once but in a slow process.

For bigger broken ones, the time needed to recover completely is more and extensive. A person with his bigger bone been broken can walk with a relative degree of comfort only after one to two weeks of injury. However, if they plan to wear stiff-soled shoes, it would require some more recovery. Thus, a person can wear them approximately a month after a toe injury.

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In contrast to this, the smaller broken toes recover quite fast and easily. A person would be ready for walking with a normal degree of ease only after a week after the accident. Moreover, wearing stiff-soled shoes would not be a major problem for them since they get fit at a fast pace. They can be worn within two to three weeks of the injury.

However, if a patient is desirous of participating in sporting activities or performing intense physical work, it would call for more time. If the broken time is bigger, it would take them two months, otherwise only a month, in the case of smaller bones.

Why It Takes So Long For A Broken Toe To Heal?

The time needed to recover from a broken toe depends on several factors. The most important among those is the intensity of injury on the toes, the size of the toe hurt and the human self-care that is taken at home. For the toes to recover early, these factors must be positively inclined.

Among all these factors, the intensity of the injury is a major factor. Generally, broken toes can be dealt with at home under self-care. However, if the nature of the injury is serious, the patient may need medical attention. There are also chances of surgery being prescribed by doctors and in such a case, the chances of a complete early recovery are minimal.

The size of the toe injured is also a major determining factor in this regard. As seen above, the larger the toe, the more time will be required for its complete recovery.

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However, if proper care is provided at home, it can result in a swift and speedy recovery. In contrast to this, if care is not taken, there is always the risk of developing infections at the site of the broken toe which may further deteriorate the situation.

Conclusion

A broken toe can take up to two months to recover completely if it is big and a month if it is of a smaller size. Yet a person would be comfortably able to walk in one to two weeks in the latter case, otherwise, one can take two to three walks to restart walking at a comfortable pace.

The factors that influence the recovery period of a broken toe are the intensity of the accident and the toe it affects. Moreover, the trajectory of recovery of the broken toe slowly moves from walkable to sporty. It is a slow process that takes a long time.

References

  1. https://www.jointpainclinic.co.uk/broken-joint-in-big-toe/
  2. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1054773808325226
Nidhi
Nidhi

Hi! I'm Nidhi.
Here at the EHL, it's all about delicious, easy recipes for casual entertaining. So come and join me at the beach, relax and enjoy the food.

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