big toe injury

anderfo

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Hey, 6 weeks ago I was setting a boulder problem in the gym, standing on a jib with most of my weight on the big toe while fixing a hold. Suddenly it started hurting; a strong pain around the big toe joint. I stopped climbing, and the next day it was hurting when walking or putting my shoes on or off. A few days later I tried to climb but it was too painful. Even walking was quite painful. I thought it would get better by itself so I didn't do much except not climbing and not walking too much, except some ice climbing (in stiff boots). Ice climbing was fine except it hurt a lot to enter the boots and to pull them off afterwards. After 2 weeks I decided to see a doctor, and he said it was probably "sprained" but he sent me for X-ray anyway. He would call after a couple of days to tell me what he found. Too bad that it was suddenly a Friday and then March break (!) at the Student health center, so first more than 2 weeks after the X-ray did they have the results. But the pictures didn't show anything (i.e. no fractures). The doctor also told me to visit a physiotherapist, but I decided it was too expensive and that I think it would not help...it's a soft tissue damage and probably I should not do any exercises that can destroy it even more. Yesterday I went to the doctor again and told him that my toe is still just as bad as right after the injury. It hasn't improved at all in 6 weeks! He told me there was nothing to do, and I should go to a physiotherapist to get some exercises to do... However, a couple a weeks ago I took some photos of my toe joint from different angles, showing how it looks and how swollen it is. I sent it to Norway and today an orthopedic surgeon said it is probably a partial rupture of the "hallucis longus" tendon, apparently a famous/common injury among climbers. Going to a physiotherapist to do exercises would just make it worse! The advice was to "remove the load" on the tendon by using clogs (wooden shoes) with a stiff sole, and stay away from climbing. Now I wonder if I should keep ice climbing (as long as the ice lasts, we already have +15 degrees in the sun...) and I wonder if you have any advice for treating the injury or for doing any kind of climbing training - I'm very restless after 6 weeks without rock climbing and just 5 trips with ice climbing! Cheers,   Anders

8 replies

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Herman Srebgne

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you should get a proper diagnosis. go see a fysiotherapist. He should be able to do an echo and giagnose your problem

Bjoern Alber

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Hi AndersI think the diagnosis is correct and that the unloading of the tendon (clogs) is nessecary, use an antiinflammatory drug for 2-3 weeks, exercise the tendon without putting to much stress on it - crumble papaer with your toes etc.after a couple of weeks start increasing the load succesively.Best of luck Björn

anderfo

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Thank you for feedback. I feel no improvements yet but I'm doing what I can...I've tried going to the bouldering gym in mountaineering boots and it works "OK" although it's not very cool. At least I get some kind of exercise when I combine it with biking.

Leon van Helden

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I think I have a similar injury: when spotting a friend on a boulder he stepped onto the problem and unexpectedly immediately back off again. Unfortunately he stepped on the top of my right foot, on the joint of the big toe. Rest, fysiotherapy, CT images and corticosteroid injection, nothing helped for long and I still have pain when climbing. It's now been almost two years... Any tips are very welcome!

Bjoern Alber

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Hi LeonTry to get some skilled dr to inject hyaleronic acid into the jointIt will heal the proably abused cartilage in the joint, also try taking Glucosamine as it also have been proven to heal cartilage damage Good luckBjörn

anderfo

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Hey, now it has been more than 5 months and my toe is still hurting, but at least it hurts a little less and I'm able to climb. I can only stand on pretty big holds, i.e. no smearing or toe crimping on small jibs, but as long as I can climb I guess I should be happy?In 6 weeks I'm flying back to Norway, hoping that they have a better solution there...I notice that the joint is still swollen.

Bjoern Alber

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Hi Again Anders Yes by now it should be healed so get a specialist to ultrasound the injury and then decide on proper action Björn

anthony guagliano

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Gout... an excess of uric acid in the blood can crystalize in the joint of the big toe...making it VERY PAINFUL... If nothing showed up on the X-Ray you might want to have the foot tapped...and or have your uric acid level checked...It's crazy but I know many climbers who have had this because of their diets...certain foods are high in purines and when eaten at excess they can result in this...Check it out...it won't go away unless you change certain things in your diet..I should know I have dealt with it for years...