Nearly 1/4 of All the Bones In Your Body Are in Your Feet

Prevention

To help prevent an injury resulting in a broken toe, sturdy and supportive shoes should be worn.

So, basically, if you actually broke your toe a couple of weeks ago, you might want to reconsider going out dancing in flip flops. If only I had read this last time I broke the damn thing - and it was healing nicely too, with only some buddy taping at home.

So, here's what happened. A friend stepped on my toe. Unfortunately, she sort of slipped across it as well, thus moving the broken bit completely into the wrong position. I decided to try and yank it back into place, which wasn't particularly successful. In fact, it was quite disgusting. It was sort of pointed in the wrong direction and not feeling like the tip was at all attached to the rest of my foot anymore, internally.

So, into a cab I went. I got to the International Clinic of the hospital and was told that I needed surgery immediately. My first instinct was to say, "But don't you at least have to call my mother first?" At that point, no one had any idea I was even in a hospital, much less about to have surgery. I managed one phone call before my phone ran out of credit and the hospital demanded I turn it off anyway.

The surgery was, well, interesting. Korean hospitals are all about the immediate discharge, so I had just woken up and was incredibly groggy when the next thing I knew I was in a cab with a pain perscription and my flip flops in the plastic bag next to me. I had about 25 text messages - my phone was off for about 7 hours and somehow everyone had heard and texted, but I couldn't call anyone back. I've been relying on Facebook chat and people calling other people on my behalf ever since.

Thank god for fantastic friends. They've all been calling to make sure I'm ok - I live on a hill, so running my own errands today was not going to happen. Alex kindly came over with takeout from Indigo, so I didn't starve to death and Jenn's advice has allowed me to open my jar of pickles, which is what I will be eating for breakfast apparently, since I am rather short on food.

One of my first thoughts after I returned home was that if I was a more responsible person, I'd at least be stuck rather immobile in a house with food in it. That and that I wished I had a contact phone.

I have also pondered the effect on the metal bit in my toe on metal detectors, as that might become relevant on a trip to North Korea...

Stress fractures frequently occur in the bones of the forefoot that extend from your toes to the middle of your foot. Stress fractures are like tiny cracks in the bone surface. They can occur with sudden increases in training (such as running or walking for longer distances or times), improper training techniques or changes in training surfaces. Most other types of fractures extend through the bone. They may be stable (no shift in bone alignment) or displaced (bone ends no longer line up). These fractures usually result from trauma, such as dropping a heavy object on your foot, or from a twisting injury. If the fractured bone does not break through the skin, it is called a closed fracture.

Several types of fractures occur to the forefoot bone on the side of the little toe (fifth metatarsal). Ballet dancers may break this bone during a misstep or fall from a pointe position. An ankle-twisting injury may tear the tendon that attaches to this bone and pull a small piece of the bone away. A more serious injury in the same area is a Jones fracture, which occurs near the base of the bone and disrupting the blood supply to the bone. This injury may take longer to heal or require surgery.

Yep. So, I broke my foot doing the Scottish fling in my own bedroom and then dropped an entire bathroom sink on my big toe. Do you think the person who wrote that paragraph thought someone would do those sorts of things, so close together in time?

But it could be worse. I may not be insured right now, which sucks and makes this all very expensive, but I might be able to claim it back once I sort out my alien card...