Anyone recovered from turf toe/sprained toe?

[JohnnyBuddha]

Hey, I know this turf toe has been covered to death on these forums, but I haven't seen many people talk about recovering from it. I've had it for 2 months now. A month in, it didn't feel very painful at all but then when I went back to BJJ, it swelled up and hurt like hell when I got me feet slightly tangled up while having someone's back and the hooks in.

I haven't done much rigorous activity since then, except for running some stairs here and there, which doesn't hurt the toe much at all (it feels slightly irritable for a day or two after, but nothing serious).

So basically I'm wondering to myself when the hell this thing will be fine. I did some kickboxing and grappling on it for about a week after it started because back then I'd assumed I'd just badly bruised it. So hopefully that didn't do too much damage to it. Otherwise, has anyone out managed to nurse their toe back to health? Seems like something that can really get fucked up and stick around if not properly taken care of.

 

[codemonkey76]

expect to always have one or two fucked up toes, it's part of the sport

 

[No Quarter]

expect to always have one or two fucked up toes, it's part of the sport

Yep..my big toe on my left has been messed up for 2 years and constantly hurts. I am always catching it on the mat.

 

[tsunam1]

Mine went away after about a month of inactivity and stayed away for almost a year. It just came back last week though =(

 

[black koala]

i ripped a big chunk off the bottum of my foot surfing tunnels in Kauai that currently hurts like a biatch ,,, will trade for turf toe if any1 is interested.
cheers

 

[hamilton]

during a roll where my buddy pulled a wicked single leg, i drug my foot across the mat and the pinky toe dislocated. took what felt like forever to return to normal where i wasnt favoring it at all, but the reality is it didnt. your body heals remarkably fast if you take care of it. let your toe rest and when it feels good enough to roll or hit pads or whatever, protect it. i kept my toe taped for maybe 3-4 weeks after i returned to training in order to make sure it didnt pop back out.

 

[Aesopian]

Yep..my big toe on my left has been messed up for 2 years and constantly hurts. I am always catching it on the mat.

Same here. Just got it seriously re-injured this week.

 

[Gabicho]

Yeah... having healthy toes seems to be only temporary.

My advice is use Duct Tape. Tape your toes to give them some support, and it helps great to avoid them being bent in strange directions when tangled against the mat or someone's gi.
If badly hurt, tape them together, as to form some sort of semi-flexible cast (just don't put it too tight or you'll hinder circulation). Yeah, you'll have hoofs, and they'll make fun of you, but it helps to prevent further injury. And later on, everybody at your gym will start using duct tape, and you'll be part of the hoof dojo.

Also, switch to open guard, or butterfly, or any other guard aside from closed guard, which requires pulling your toes up to close it tight -and either injuring them further or just not allowing them to heal.

 

[Hammer Time]

honestly resting ur feet will solve ur problem. we all want to be tough and train through everything but sometimes u gotta admit ur hurt. i just sprained my tow very badly last week and its pissing me off so i took a few days to heal it up. take time off then come back strong. no honor in being a walking bag of injuries. trust me resting is important to ur training as well

 

[Eternal Unltd1]

It just doesn't go away...once you got it..you got it! That has been my experience with it.

 

[JohnnyBuddha]

honestly resting ur feet will solve ur problem. we all want to be tough and train through everything but sometimes u gotta admit ur hurt. i just sprained my tow very badly last week and its pissing me off so i took a few days to heal it up. take time off then come back strong. no honor in being a walking bag of injuries. trust me resting is important to ur training as well

That's the way I generally feel about it. I spent years playing through rotator cuff and tendonitis injuries for baseball and wish I'd just rested and done something to heal it.

Thanks for all the replies though. The toe is kind of okay--I can run stairs and shadowbox with little discomfort--but it just hurts like hell when it's bent forward. Here's an interesting link with instructions on how to tape for turf toe:

Turf-Toe Taping

 

[Eternal Unltd1]

It just doesn't go away...once you got it..you got it! That has been my experience with it.

 

[JohnnyBuddha]

I thought I'd rebump this old thread of mine. My old turf toe recovered after about 5 months of solid rest. When I say recovered, I mean fully recovered, no issues playing soccer, grappling, etc. Hopefully someone out there can learn from it.

But I developed turf toe on my other big toe a few months back and recovery has been much slower. For reasons of pride and stupidity, I didn't ice this toe very much after the injury and I have a strong feeling that this may have seriously impeded any healing. It's not terrible right now, but it seems to have hit a healing plateau of sorts. So I'd like to add to this thread: ice your goddamn injuries, 15 minutes on, 15 off (that seems to be the general approach), multiple times a day. There is still hope for more healing, but if it doesn't get much better, I can say goodbye to my lucrative recreational soccer career, among other things. :icon_sad:

 

[jcarp]

I get turf toe in my right big toe. I originally got it playing football on turf. All you can do is Ice it, take ibuprofen to reduce swelling and rest. Once you get it you will always get it.

 

[Thrawn33]

tape tape and more tape

Sucks that something so small and seemingly insignificant on your body can shut down your whole game.

 

[Calibur]

Wow, I thought it was just me. My big toes hurt for almost 5 years straight, no lie. My coach would be telling me to move into combat base, and it would be pure agony.

The toes randomly healed though, I didn't have a rest or anything, just one day they stopped hurting.

I'm waiting for them to give out on me again though.

 

[POPPA ROTZEE]

expect to always have one or two fucked up toes, it's part of the sport

lol no shit. Sucks haha. I Got like a bunion or something on my left big toe that hurts to move up and down or walk on on most days...and the 2nd toe on my right foot hurts to the ball of my foot. -sigh- What we endure for jiu-jitsu

 

[TalkShowOnMute]

I don't think this ever goes away unless you really rest for a long time like the TS said, 5 months or more. I have been out for 2 solid months and although it doesnt hurt anymore it isnt right, it feels weak and pops and I'm sure as soon as I shoot on that foot again it will be in pain again. Seems to really only hurt on shots when the toe is bent back...but it hurts alot.

 

[davejitsu]

Try doing less stand up and start from your knees. This will give it some time to heal up and allow you to still roll.

 

[Thrawn33]

I messed up my baby toe on my right foot one time and I was pretty much physically unable to do Judo for a week. Still hurt for about a month afterward.