Turf Toe Injury- Explaining Its Causes & Proper Treatments!

Are you familiar with the Turf Toe injury? If not, then it is essentially a strain in the soft-tissues surrounding the big toe. Another word for this is metatarsophalangeal joint ache, and it falls under 3 different grades.

• Mild over-stretching
• Temporary Tear
• And, total rupture or tear.

Here in this post; you will learn all about Turf Toe Injury, its chief causes and its appropriate treatments.

Digging Deeper Into Turf Toe Injury:-

Turf toe injury can be painful as the damage occurs around the big toe caused due to hyper-extension. The pain results in swelling and stiffness and makes walking extremely uncomfortable in the long-run. This injury is mainly seen affecting athletes who play on rigid surfaces or artificial turfs- mainly soccer, basketball and football.

Even statistics show that 83% of players who regularly play on artificial surfaces tend to develop toe turf injuries. Also using flexible footwear can greatly increase the risk of developing this condition as they allow the toe area to hyper-extend.

However, turf toe injury can also affect other athletes such as gymnastics, ballerinas and wrestlers.

Its Right Diagnosis:-

Usually, Toe Turf injury will examine your feet and require you to perform an X-ray to check for signs of any toe bone damage- either in the form of a 'Fracture or Tear".

Notable foot clinic experts in Sandringham will diagnose this metatarsophalangeal joint pain by examining the X-ray and determining how it occurred, from which sport it occurred or from what type of footwear did the toe hyper-extend.

Since this common injury is categorised into 3 different grades, the treatment will result depending on the severity of the toe injury.

• Grade 1:- This mainly gets settled in a few days and can be best treated with strapping, doctor/foot clinic approved medicine, and rest.

• Grade 2:- Professionals working at notable foot clinic will recommend using walking boots to help immobilize the joint ache for a week or so. Proper strapping is also something they will recommend. And it will usually take a week or so for the pain to settle down.

• Grade 3:- Turf toe grade 3 injury may need weeks or even a month to settle down. The aim is to keep the toe in a slight flexion position and minimise movement as much as possible.

You can either use a walking boot, a turf toe brace or proper strapping to safeguard your injured toe. But, if the pain is too severe, then it is best to visit a notable foot clinic and get physical therapy from experienced professionals.

Other Precautionary Measures To Follow:-

• Apply ice to the joint area for 10-20 minutes in every 2-hour interval. This will help reduce inflammation.
• Look to use a compression bandage to reduce swelling.
• Raise your toe higher than the level of your heart. This also will help reduce swelling.
• And lastly, take lots of rest.

So, there you have it. A proper explanation as to why Turf Toe Injury happens and how to treat it properly. If you need more information about this common toe injury, then speak to professionals working at a reputed foot clinic in Moorabbin and all other suburbs in Melbou e.