healed broken center toe rubbing against big toe causing painful blister on center toe

I broke my toe on my left foot next to my big toe.That happen over a year ago.The broken toe healed over time but stayed swollen and is rubbing against my big toe and causing a very painful blister.I do construction for work and there are times Im limping because the pain is bad.The blister will always come back as long as its rubbing against my big toe.Can you please tell me what I can do.It is not a blister that needs to be popped ever its just a painful ordeal.

RESPONSE

Hi,

Not that it matters but I am curious as to whether the fractured toe was medically treated or you just figured you broke it and it healed on its own over time.
In any event there are two approaches that you can take; one is simple, the other is much more involved.
The easy way out is to keep the toes separated. If they are not rubbing together then there will be no blister and thus no pain.
The easiest thing, although you can certainly experiment around with all sorts of devices, is to buy what is known as gel tubes. I think they are sold in drug stores, but if not you can certainly find them on line.
The outside is flesh color and ribbed. The inside portion is made of a gel type substance.
Essentially what you would do is cut the tube to the size that would cover the affected area.
This device can be placed either over the big toe or the second toe. Depending on what diameter you purchase would determine which toe it would fit on.
You might find it better to buy the tube gel wide enough to fit over your big toe because if worn on the second toe, it might aggravate the area where the fracture occurred.
As you can figure out for yourself by wearing this gel device as a "ring" over either toe it will keep the toes apart and you will not have the rubbing that you find so painful.
The other nice thing about this device is that it should stay in place, unlike just placing things like cotton or tissue in between the toes, which would have a tendency to move about during the course of a day.
This is a short term fix but if you find it successful then that is all you would have to do.
If you do not like the appearance of the second toe and/or do not feel like putting pads on your toes for the rest of your life, then you would have to entertain the second option which is a surgical option.
If the original broken bone was not properly realigned after the fracture (that is why I am wondering if you sought any medical care initially) then the toe could be re-broken and the broken segments re-aligned.
Sometimes, depending n the way the toe healed, the toe does not have to be broken, but instead the excess overgrowth of bone that is causing the toe to be swollen can be filed down with a high speed burr.
Neither procedure is a huge undertaking but it would require you to miss some time from work.
So, you certainly can try padding as I suggested but if you are interested in a more permanent solution, make an appointment with a local foot specialist in your area.

Marc Mitnick DPM
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