Question:
Hi Forum!
Last year about this time, I stumped my toe on the bead-post real bad one night. I was sure something was broken from the way it swelled, so I went to my doctor. He had ex-rays done, and they said everything was fine. I am a long distance cyclist, just for fun and exercise, and have had problems with numbness and kind of pain; more just discomfort, ever since. It does subside if I quit for a while, but I love to bicycle! Do you think I am hurting anything by continuing? It seems roughly the same as it was a couple of months after the injury. Is there any hope it will get better?
Thanks!
Mike


Answer:
It could be that, just when your toe gets to the point of feeling good enough for you to believe it is healing, you go ahead and resume your normal activities. Some injuries of this type take a long time to heal. Sometimes a couple of years! The reason being that you can't help but bear weight on your foot/toe so it never really gets the adequate rest required for healing. I wonder, did your doctor recommend wearing a sandal for while? I would think that, as long as it is hurting and you continue to participate in activities that aggravate it (even something as innocent as bike riding), you'll continue to have recurrent pain for some time yet. I remember being on a hike once and I accidently stepped into a small hole in the ground. It was enough to pull a muscle (or something) in my knee. It took nearly three years for the intermittent pain to go away. Long time but thankfully, it did. If you can't give up the biking, you could try taking some Motrin before you do so. 800mg every 6 hours works quite well. Check with your doctor (who is familiar with your health history) to make sure that it won't be harmful to you and/or won't interfere with any other meds you might currently be taking.