Howard Stern teaches a lesson for Broken Toes

Doorways, desk legs, and bed posts, what do these things have in common? As Howard Stern found out, they are all enemies of our pinky toe. Two weeks ago, Howard Stern broke his little toe on the leg of his desk. Every week, I see patients with broken toes that have been stubbed on some object. Many times, they are presenting with some other pain, and the fact that they stubbed their toe just comes up in conversation. Like myself, many people live with an aching toe or foot after they have cracked it on some benign object in the house. The myth is that we cannot do anything for a broken toe, but all fractures should be diagnosed and treated. The fracture could be displaced resulting in the bone not healing properly possibly causing chronic swelling and pain if not surgically corrected. The other concern is that a non-displaced fracture could become displaced if we injure it further. Howard did the right thing by seeing his podiatrist. He had X-rays confirming the break in the fifth toe and confirming that it was lined up together ensuring proper healing. His podiatrist placed him in a fracture walking boot to immobilize it and is taping it to the fourth toe, called a buddy splint. Since bone takes 6-8 weeks to heal, he will have to put his running routine on hold for a few weeks at which time he can slowly work back into it.

A broken toe needs to be diagnosed and treated. If you fear that you may have broken your toe, please follow Howard Stern’s lead by seeing a podiatrist. We may not be able to speed up the healing time of it, but we can prevent it from becoming worse and causing pain years away.