turf toe

Ever since I can remember, I have either played football or been a huge fan of the game (college more than pro).  I remember as a kid hearing injury reports saying that such-and-such would not be playing this week because of turf toe.  In fact, if I remember correctly, it is the thing that finally caused Neon Dion’s retirement from football.  Because I didn’t know better, turf toe ranked right up there with paper cuts, sprained lips, bruised eyelashes, and other ‘boo boos’ —- at least that’s what I used to think before I really understood the injury and began seeing cases of it. 

Turf toe was named as such because the injury frequently occurred when players got their big toe jammed into the old fashioned kind of artificial turf (outdoor carpet over asphalt).  The injury itself is a sprain of the First Metatarsal-Phalanges Joint (the large ball at the base of your big toe).  This is the joint being used when you get up on the ball of your foot (your tiptoes).  If the big toe gets cranked too much in either direction, up or down (flexion or extension), the ligaments will be injured.  The result is an athlete who can barely walk, let alone use the big toe to push off or make cuts.  Although our TISSUE REMODELING works wonders on turf toe that has had a week or two to heal, rest, ice, controlled motion, and COLD LASER are the best immediate options for the acute injury.

Why did I decide to do a blog on turf toe?  It’s easy.  On the eve before Christmas Eve, Amy was coming down the stairs at my in laws house.  The stair treads are very narrow and there were a couple of winter jackets that had somehow been left on the stairs next to the wall.  She hit one and it took off like a bobsled.  One leg went down stairs, one stayed where it was with the toe folded up underneath.  I knew right away she was hurt.  My wife has learned far more about turf toe than she ever hoped to.