Anyone here have experience with injuring their big toe? (thin cracks)

The problems started this winter when I was climbing this thin hand crack repeatedly at the climbing wall here at CMC. It started as a pain on the bottom corner of the pad of the toe towards the first joint, on the inside (going towards the other toes). I think it was from jambing my toe in there then twisting and standing on it. I stopped climbing the crack (months ago) and it wasn't really healing though I did continue climbing.

Last week I made things worse as I tried to hurtle jump a concrete wall and clipped the toe, kicking the wall full force in the process. This time it seems the toe has sustained damage on the top, somewhere there below the first joint. It never really swelled up too much or changed colors, and I'm walking on it fine, but it does seem there is a little bit of a lump that's pretty tender (IE I'm avoiding the climbing shoes now).

I'm not going to see a doctor as I have no medical insurance but I do seek any insight or advice that anyone might have. Thanks.

Bump. This really sucks, I'm not sure what to think after reading the thread about the sesimoid bone problem that other guy was dealing with. Starting to worry that I may have a bone chip in the toe that could cause me problems for a long time to come. Am I gonna have to give up free climbing because I can't wear climbing shoes, can't jamb cracks thinner then hands or stand on small edges with my one foot now? Good thing I like aid climbing I guess...

Nah bud, sounds like yer giving up free climbing because you don't want to fork out a few bones for a consultation just to see wtf happened.
Sounds like it hurts a ton.
See someone (professional) and see if they can offer you some inexpensive options. That kinda busted bone business can fuse together in a bad way and potentially haunt you the rest of your life.

A few bones for consultation? X-rays and MRI's are alot more then a few bones last time I checked. Perhaps a foot doc could tell what's going on and offer advice, but it seems like a waste of money if you have no idea what's really happening in there. If anything is real messed up in there I would have to have surgery which I deffinately can't afford if an MRI and an X ray would bankrupt my un-employed self (considering being a strait A college student isn't paying any bills) . Good ol' american poverty, too bad I don't live in a country with free health care, maybe then I could get fixed.

Anyone else have an opinion? If I really should see this specialist, what's it gonna cost and where is there one out near glenwood springs?

I have broken and dislocated many toes including my big toe. All I can say is that they take a lot of time to heal because you use the damn things everyday.

Have you tried slamming ibuprofen, 600-800 3x a day for a couple of weeks coupled with icing it 2x/day ?

But unfortunately for you, it sounds like you may now be dealing with two seperate injuries.

There's a DO out there, Kim Spence, who I used to know.
He's a fair guy. Go see him and explain the situation.
If he can't help (he's in a practice so has partners so....)
he at least won't order unnecessary tests. And he might know of a free clinic somewhere in the area.
Certainly Denver must have some free clinics.
Healthcare for the Homeless type of places...

Dude, if you don't clear this up, it could be bugging for a very long time and come back to haunt you big time down the road. Like it was said, find the scratch somewhere man.

There used to be an indigent care place in blackhawk, I paid $20 for an x-ray there. It would be nice if they had something like that out here.

X-rays out of pocket will probably cost you $30-50. With 1st MTP joint problems, X-rays are valuable and probably should be taken. (Then again, I am not FOR SURE your problems are here because your anatomical description is very difficult to follow, not to mention you said you have new symptoms in a totally different place as well).

MRIs are not necessary, so forget about thinking you are automatically going to pay the cost if you see a doctor. I have had two long term foot problems and no doc wanted or required me to get an MRI. (Not to mention you can refuse films like that anyway.) Diagnoses should not be made just by films like MRI either; there are a lot of false negatives and false positives with MRI.

You underestimate doctors' training to have some clue of what is "going on in there" without imaging or scalpels. Docs first use things like a medical history of the injury, manual tests, gait analysis, etc. to help determine what might be wrong. A doctor will probably come up with an initial diagnosis, prescribe a (conservative) treatment and see how your foot responds. Follow-up treatment will be determined by what happens. I doubt a doctor will just say, "Oh you need surgery." Especially when you have no insurance.

Your symptoms are too complex (and vaguely described) for anyone on the Internet to go "oh, it's this, do this."

Nobody knows how much a specialist will cost out of pocket. You have to ask the specialist. They will often have set fees for non-insurance situations. I would just ask for referrals to a good doc and go from there.

A friend of mine had to get an x-ray a couple weeks ago because he sprained his ankle, cost him $180. That's a pretty big setback to me considering I'm trying to camp out and live off my tax return until I find work. Guess I'll try to track down Kim Spence as recommended, hopefully it won't cost too much and will be a one time thing.

I just figured there was no way I'm the only person to ever mess their toe up from the very specific movement of jambing your toe in a thin crack. Sorry I can't explain it technically well enough for anyone to understand what I'm talking about. It's like if you crossed your big toe over the top of the toe next to it and then squeezed the hell out of them, the pain comes from that zone where they contact. It's as though that happened in my shoe as I was twisting my foot in the crack.

Oh well, guess I'm paying the specialist.

I've injured my big toe before due to a climbing related over-use/ impact from coming off a highball boulder issue. The pain was at the base of my big toe and would radiate to the first joint and even into my arch when climbing or hiking. My income was based on being on the rock several times a week and the pain worsened until it hurt when I wasn't even on my feet. Thinking it would just "go away" did not work. I bit the bullet after awhile and got it looked at and they could'nt pin point a specific problem with x-ray and watching me walk. So I was told to stay off it and wear supportive shoes/boots. So I forced myself to stay off the rock for an entire summer and would wear my ice boots if I were to hike or do anything active. So after a year of avoiding rock shoes and climbing I finally went climbing a few weeks ago and was able to haul my very weak (but extremely happy) ass up a few routes including cracks completely pain free and have been climbing as much as possible since with none of the pain I had before. This is obviously my experience and your's could be completely different, but bottom line stay off the rock and let it heal (or get it looked at) before it turns into a two year ordeal like mine. good luck

one day you will have bucks in a savings account. And one day you might have a life long injury because of your passive stance on your health. I bet in the future you would trade all those bucks not to have a jacked up foot.

Go see a doctor. You're investing in your future.