Breaking a bone in the foot or ankle happens quite often since there are so many bones forming the amazing feat of engineering that is your foot. Some foot bones are quite fragile like the metatarsal bones of the toes, which can break just from dropping your phone on your bare foot. Ouch! Larger bones like the heel bone are also subject to breaking after landing hard on your heel after a high jump while playing sports like tennis and basketball.

These types of acute breaks often occur without any warning and can be quite destructive and debilitating with a long treatment and healing process. Other breaks like stress fractures happen gradually from the repeated pressure of work, exercise, and sporting activities.

4 of the more obvious symptoms of a broken foot bone include the following:

• Severe throbbing pain, pronounced swelling and bruising
• Possible protruding bones, cuts, and bleeding
• Feeling extreme pain when you try to walk on the foot
• Intermittent pain or pain that only happens when you move your foot a certain way may be the sign of a stress fracture.

Broken bones in the foot may not always be particularly painful. For instance, a stress fracture in the toe may only involve minor pain while a broken heel or anklebone can be excruciatingly painful.

If you suspect that your foot may be broken, see your foot care professional for the proper care.

At Your Next Step, our team of board-certified podiatrists has access to advanced technologies, along with years of experience, to help diagnose and treat a variety of foot and ankle problems, including sports injuries, joint pain, toe deformities, nail fungus, chronic tendon pain, and skin problems. Dr. Eric Ricefield, Dr. Mark Yagodich and Dr. Aliza V. Eisen provide high quality foot and ankle care to patients in the greater Philadelphia area at our offices conveniently located in Ardmore, Paoli, Woodlyn, and Downingtown. Please contact us for more information or to schedule an appointment.