Broken Foot Treatment Self-Care at Home
First aid for people with foot injuries is stabilization and elevation of the injured foot.
- Any splint that keeps the injured foot from moving is effective. Often a pillow wrapped around the foot like a stirrup and then taped or tied with an elastic bandage works well.
- Do not wrap the foot so tightly that it cuts off the blood supply to the foot. Any splint that causes the foot to hurt worse, turn blue, or makes it more difficult to wiggle the toes, should be removed right away.
- Elevation of the injured foot reduces swelling and pain. Proper elevation requires the foot to be at a level higher than the rest of the body. Lie flat with the foot propped up on several pillows.
- Ice wrapped in a small towel and applied to the injured foot may also reduce swelling and pain for the first several hours after an injury.
- Do not attempt to walk on an injured foot if walking is painful.
- Injured toes usually heal well even if they are broken. They can usually be treated at home unless the toe seems to be very deformed or pointing in the wrong direction.
- Treatment involves splinting the injured toe to the good toe next to it. This is called "buddy taping."
- Place some padding (usually cotton balls) between the injured and good toe and tape them securely with a wide medical tape. They should be secure enough to provide support but not so tight as to cut off blood supply to the toes.
- A shoe with a fairly rigid sole like a wooden sandal, a clog, or a rigid flat-bottom shoe from a medical supply store is also helpful.