Why is your toe red and swollen? This is a common complaint that Podiatrists hear regularly. Generally speaking, a red, swollen painful toe is one of a couple of issues. Below I will discuss the most common diagnosis and conditions that can cause a painful red swollen toe.
1. You broke or severly sprained your toe– In this condition there will be an accompaning trauma that caused the toe to break or sprain. You may have dropped something on your toe, or stubbed it in the doorway. Save yourself a trip to the doctor. The treatment for a broken toe is just buddy splinting it to the adjoining toe. Generally speaking with a broken toe the redness with be spread diffusely over the entire toe, the redness will not be warm, and the entire toe will be swollen. These would indicate a break or sprain. The only way to tell the difference between a broken toe and a sprained toe is an X ray at your local Podiatrists office. But a sprained toe and a broken toe are treated the same way.
Video on broken toe treatments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxCbRHJo7gk
2. Ingrown Toenail– In this condition the redness and swelling will be concerntrated next to the toenail on the toe, sometimes concentrated to the side that the ingrown toenail is on. If the redness is localized near the toenail, this is the most likely issue. Also, if your toenail is draining puss, or any fluid. you most likely have an ingrown toenail. Ingrown toenails are easy to treat, and seeing a Podiatrist is what is recommended for treating an ingrown toenail.
3. Hammer Toe, Corns or callous– I threw these all together because they are caused by generally the same thing. What occurs is either a bone spur or a contracture of the toe, causes portions of the toe to rub against your shoe. This rubbing against the shoe can cause an irritation that leads to the redness. The signs of this is hard dead skin (callous), or the redness being localized to the knuckle region of the toe. Additionally, your toe maybe contracted or showing the beginnings of contracture. This can be easily treated with pads and padding to off load the area causing the pain.
4. Athletes Foot– This can cause redness on your toe as well, via a fungal infection. Generally, this presents with symptoms of your skin peeling, concentrated with the skin peeling in between the toes. This can generally be treated with antifungal cream, and good foot hygience such as drying between the toes well.
Video on athletes foot treatments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcbI9bE9mno