What Causes Red Painful Swelling Toe After An Injury?
Question: After a minor fracture of the small toe, 3 weeks after the fracture the toe is red, has slight swelling around the joint and is very painful. The pain is sharp and seems to be getting worse instead of better. Could there be infection even though there was no injury to the skin? (The fracture occurred when the toe was smashed when run over by a heavy cart).
Brief Answer:
It could be possible to have a infection.
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for your query.
It could be possible to have a infection even though there was no injury to the skin. Sometime haematoma(collection of blood) around fracture get infected.
I advice you to give you rest to the part affected, take anti-inflammatory drug like motrin 1 tablet with food as and when required (upto 4 tablets daily) to reduce pain and inflammation and consult your doctor for thorough examination of toe and rule out any infective cause.
I do hope that you have found something helpful and I will be glad to answer any further query.
Take care
Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
Dr. Saurabh Gupta
Orthopaedic Surgeon, Joint Replacement
Practicing since :2004
Answered : 5930 Questions