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The response to the question below was authored by Marc Mitnick DPM

trauma to left side foot

by KATHLEEN
(KURE BEACH, N.C. 28449)

I have had no foot pain until I fell from a ladder taking something down from a shelf. as soon as it happened I could walk on the foot, but it was hurting all over. next day, still hurting and when I put any weight on foot to walk it hurt. there was a pooling of blood in my toes, however, my toes did not hurt. this all happened just after xmas 2013. went to family doctor, he said he felt nothing was broken, but to take an x-ray to make sure. the x-rayed showed no break, fracture, or soft tissue damage, whatever that means. I rested and elevated foot, along with icing it. areas of the foot was very swollen, but at this point could not pin point exact location of injury. I let a week go by, and called my doctor to say, I was not getting any better,and putting weight on foot caused pain. basically walking. swelling went down, blood pooled in toes are being absorbed from body. I now have an appointment with podiatrist 2/3/2014. could not get an earlier appointment. I feel I did some tendon damage, but will not get any answers until appointment which again is not until 2/3/2014. I hope I will. I now can pinpoint origin of pain which is left side of my left foot, and some pain on the top of foot. how should I treat this until appointment. I did some research, and it sounds like cuboid syndrome. if I am off the foot, I have no pain, but if I flex the foot, I will feel pain especially if I flex my foot to the right. read your last answer to person with foot pain. you suggested that he ask his doctor for a cortisone injection, which was something I was going to ask when I go for this appointment. what is your take on what I explained?

RESPONSE

Hi Kathleen,

Since there is a history of trauma, until you know exactly what is causing your pain, I would not recommend a cortisone injection. If you have a fracture,

and you may even though the original x-rays were negative, a cortisone injection would be counter-productive. Sometimes small fractures do not show up on x-ray until ten days or more after trauma. (BTW, "no soft tissue damage" refers to every thing in your foot but bone. X-rays are not very good at detecting soft tissue damage.)

Obviously, without examining you, I have no idea what is causing your pain, so I am not going to guess, but I did answer your post because I think you need better advice than what you have received so far.

Your appointment with the podiatrist is way too far off in the future. You sustained trauma to your foot and trauma is best treated as soon as possible. Delaying treatment may make matters worse.

So, as I see it you have a couple of options. Call the podiatrist's office and tell them you sustained trauma to your foot and you cannot wait three more weeks for an appointment. Most offices will accommodate patients who are in pain.

If that does not work, you always have the option of going to the Emergency Room of your local hospital. You can even call the hospital and ask them for names of other podiatrists or even orthopedists on staff who may be able to see you sooner. You may have to travel a bit further for an appointment, but I personally think it is worth it.

If you find that there is no doctor in the area that can see you immediately, the best thing to do would be to go non-weightbearing on your left foot with the use of crutches. Quite simply, every time you walk on the foot, you are essentially aggravating the injury and of course that is counter productive.

Lastly, if your pain is essentially as bad today as it was three weeks ago AND your new x-rays are still negative for fracture, then you may require an MRI or CT scan which will give a better picture of a small fracture, or a displaced bone, or soft tissue damage.

Good luck.

Marc Mitnick DPM
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Comments for trauma to left side foot

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Jan 12, 2014
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RESPONSE TO YOUR E-MAIL
by: KATHLEEN GUTMANNAnonymous

I WAS SO SURPRISED THAT I GOT A RESPONSE FROM YOU RIGHT AWAY. I KNOW SOMETHING MORE IS GOING ON HERE. I WILL CALL THE PODIATRIST AND DO WHAT YOU SAID. I HOPE THEY TAKE ME SOONER. I ALSO ASKED THE NURSE/STAFF PERSON, WHO TOLD ME THE RESULTS OF THE X-RAY BEING NORMAL, WHY I COULD NOT SEE AN ORTHOPEDIC, AND SHE SAID BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THE X-RAY A PODIATRIST WOULD BE INDICATED AS THERE IS NO BREAK OR FRACTURE, AND ORTHOPEDICS DON'T DEAL WITH JUST PAIN. GUESS THIS IS NOT TRUE. I WAS TOLD THE PODIATRIST WILL RE X-RAY AND I WILL THEN SEE HIM. ONE OF MY CONCERNS WAS THAT BEINGS THE APPT IS SO FAR OFF, WOULD WALKING ON THE FOOT AGGRAVATE THE SITUATION MORE. YOU BASICALLY ANSWERED THAT. I WAS READING ABOUT CUBOID SYNDROME AND CUBOID SUBLICATION, ALSO REDUCING THE CUBOID WHICH COULD BE OUT OF PLACE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO AT THIS POINT. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR RESPONDING. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT CUBOID SYNROME/SUBLICATION?

Hi Kathleen,
Although cuboid syndrome is certainly a possibility, I would be more concerned about a fracture at the base of the fifth metatarsal bone even though your x-ray was normal.
If it is a displaced cuboid, it can be manipulated back into place but in order to know for sure if that is the problem, you will probably require a CT scan, so the sooner you are seen, the quicker your problem can be resolved.

Marc Mitnick DPM

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ADDITIONAL REFERENCES

Mayo Clinic

Johns Hopkins Medicine

MedlinePlus

Arthritis Foundation

University of Rochester Medical Center

Harvard Health

Drugs.com

American Academy of Pediatrics

Penn State Medical Center

National Institutes of Health

Columbia University Department of Rehabilitation

ScienceDirect

Stanford Health Care

Illinois Bone and Joint Institute

Mount Sinai Hospital

Institute for Chronic Pain

University of Florida Health

American Family Physician

Cedars-Sinai

University of Maryland Medical Center

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(location unknown)

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(location unknown)

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Regards,

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Placentia, California

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Unknown

Unknown location

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Unknown location

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New Zealand

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Arizona

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Thanks, Kathy

Florida

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Poland

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South Carolina

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location unknown

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location unknown

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Bre

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Dr. Mitnick, Thank you so much for your reply. I did let my physician know and they took an x-ray - all is well! Also, thank you for providing this wonderful site, it is very helpful with lots of useful information! I appreciate your gift of time! God bless.

anonymous

Dr. Mitnick, Thank you, you were 100% correct. The pain finally brought me to the ER. I spent 8 days in the hospital. The Doppler you spoke of was able to show that there was no pulse in that foot. This was an arterial clot that split and traveled throughout my leg. My leg was almost amputated. I am in rough shape but have all my parts intact!! You certainly know what you are talking about. Thank you for taking the time to answer. Yours Truly!

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Poland

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Seattle, WA

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Bonnie

location unknown

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New Jersey

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location unknown

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location unknown

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Evansville, IA

Dear Marc

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Jackie

San Diego, CA

Dr. Mitnick, Just want to say thank you so very much for your quick response and very informative reply! After reading what you had to say, I called the doctor's office and was able to get in and see him the same day as my injury. Toe was x-rayed and luckily, it is not broken or fractured. Very badly bruised and will probably lose the toe nail. And although my toe and toe nail are still very black and blue and very sore, they ARE both starting to feel a little better. So again, thank you! I am so very happy that I came across your website. The service you provide is outstanding and immeasurable!

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Albany, NY

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Jill S.

location unknown

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Whichita, KS

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Boston, MA

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Colorado

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annielou

Colorado

Wonderful advice

by: Anonymous

This is the best site for foot problem info.

Thank you for this information. This description fits my pain and inflammation behind my 2nd toe perfectly.

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location unknown

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Canada

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location unknown

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Wisconsin

Thank you for your response. You have provided some great insight (to my question)....

Julie

location unknown

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Renae

North Carolina

Many Thanks Dr Marc!
Thank you for your response. It sounds like a good plan to me. He did not cut the wart out first ...

KG

location unknown

Thanks again doc for having this website and we STILL need qualified Podiatrists in beautiful sunny Tampa Bay (Bradenton) Florida.

Bessie Mae

Florida

Dear Dr. Mitnick, Thank you so very much for taking your time to answer my question. You have greatly relieved my anxiety related to the continual tingly I feel in my feet. I will share your response with my podiatrist next week. God bless you for having this question and answer page on your website! Most gratefully,

Lynne T.

location unknown

Your webpage is excellent, I commend you on sharing your knowledge to the public.

Robert

New Jersey

Thank you. you were more detailed than what others have told me they finally called from the last xrays and my son is now in a cast for 2 weeks he did have a fracture that was not noticeable.

a mom

location unknown

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Melody

Lenoir, NC

Thank you so much Doc for a quick and thorough response!

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Bellevue, WA

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Jodi

location unknown

trauma to left side foot

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