well about a year ago i had someone fall on my foot and crush it, my leg was lying flat on the ground and his body landed on the top of my foot (like the tip of my toes and squished down hard, mainly on my big toe) anyways it hurt bad for a few weeks and then got better, however whenever i put any pressure on it, do things such as play soccer or push off my toe to roll someone in bjj or even stand on it for a while i start to get some serious pain. this happened a year ago and its still hurting and seriously hindering my martial arts and other activities. i had an xray done and there is no fracture or anything. does anyone have any clue what i could do to help this, its messing with me bad.... thanks, spencer
I had something similar doing mat work, my big toe got caught under me as I was stepping and it rolled underneath my foot as I stepped. It took a long time (a year and a few months) to get it better. I would recommend some Dit Da Jow and gentle stretching. If there is no bone problems you know it is ligament and joints so slowly getting the strength and mobility back seems your best bet.
Good advice. I damaged the ligaments in my ankle a couple of years ago and still have problems with it. It appears to be OK, then fails me again. The sad fact is that broken bones heal fast, but when it comes to this type of injury it is a long haul. I rest up when it is sore and also use Dit Da Jow and gentle massage. Time is the ultimate answer.
Might be a trigger point problem i.e. some small muscle got overextended or stressed and knotted up, resulting in a pinching a nerve or some sort of imbalance, get yourself this book: "The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment for Pain Relief" by Clair Davies & Amber Davies. Alternatively, try a foot massage, make sure you cover evry square inch, if you find a point which is more painful than normal, massage that point intenisvely a few times a day for a few days and see things improve, i.e. the most painfull point will be the trigger point. I fractured my thumb once, and despite it healing up I still kept getting a pain in it, I later found a small muscle connected to the thumb, after a few massages it was all sorted.
Most likely the damage you have isn't going to show up on a X-ray as they primarily only capture damage to the bone. From the sounds of it... what you have is soft tissue damage. All the soft little bits in the joint and connective tissue. All of which can take ages to heal and gain something resembling it's original flexibility. In both Muay Thai and BJJ I've come down vertically on the tip of my toe with all my bodyweight.. it's a nightmare. Just one of those akward injuries that just happens sometimes. The only thing that got me back on the mat was a heavy regimen of massage and keeping the joint warm at all times. Right after the joint hurt too badly to even be massaged but eventually I got around to it. I mean seriously... who'd have thought that something like a big toe joint could hurt so badly and for so long?!?! But if you have any free moments.. then you should be massaging the joint and working the flexibility back in. But whatever you do... don't let that joint get cold.... work to keep it warm at all times. You want to increase circulation to the joint areas as much as possible. If it begins to hurt worse or begins to swell... back off and see a physio right off. I know it can be expensive... but toes are key in everything you do in MA. No one ever realizes just how much until one of them is out of commission. Good luck.
If its still hurting over a year later. Go see a doctor. Maybe they missed something last time (it happens) maybe given that its still hurting they'll do a better scan. Maybe they'll identify it as muscle/ligement damage and refer you to a good physiotherapist.
No worries, I definatelly recommend it! I think Adam from H&F first persuaded me to get a copy, its worth it!
