Spring ends certain sports as others pick up steam. While baseball is off to a great start, basketball and hockey have ended their regular seasons and are finishing their post-season series. The end of a season is always a bittersweet time for athletes, whether for a professional team or a school one. What’s worse, though, is ending the season early. Injuries can force you to stop playing well before you’re ready, and keep you out of the game for a while. Turf toe is one of those painful problems that many athletes and other active people tend to overlook, but shouldn’t. This toe sprain could end your season prematurely.
There are many different causes and symptoms of turf toe, which is a type of sprain in the biggest toe’s joint at the ball of the foot. Athletes are prone to it because they put so much pressure on that joint by running, jumping, and rapidly changing directions. Accidents are bound to happen and sometimes they cause injuries.
Turf toe is caused by your big toe suddenly and sharply being forced to hyperextend backwards. This is most common among athletes who play on artificial turf or use shoes that are relatively flexible through the sole, but it can happen to anyone. Usually it develops when the foot sticks to the artificial grass and gets jammed, or another player trips or falls on someone else’s bent foot.
The symptoms are pretty simple. You feel sudden, sharp pain when the hyperextension damages your ligaments. Your forefoot swells and may bruise, depending on the severity of the injury to your connective tissues. Your joint will stiffen and become difficult to move, so pushing off the ground to walk will be uncomfortable, if even possible.
If you’ve sprained your big toe, you’re going to need prompt and invested treatment. This injury can become chronically uncomfortable and contribute to other complications if it doesn’t get appropriate care. Don’t wait! Let the Carolina Podiatry Group team help you address the causes and symptoms of turf toe. Just use our website to make an appointment at any of our South Carolina offices. You can also call us directly: (803) 285-1411 for Lancaster or (803) 548-FEET for Indian Land.
