High Sierra Topix

So during a family RV trip to rock creek canyon (Stayed at East Fork campground), I loaded my fishing gear and camp chairs into the pass-through storage of the trailer in preparation for leaving. When I went and unlatched the door on the opposite side, the ballmount/weght distribution hitch head (about 50 lbs) fell and crushed my big toe, resulting in what i found out the following day was a "displaced fracture of the Distal phalanx on the great toe". Care was mainly relief of swelling/pressure below nail, and advice to "take it easy, manage to your pain, come back to check in 4 weeks".


That said... it is SUMMER... and I am trying to figure out what my prospects are for late season hiking etc... ? has anyone had a similar injury? 8 days on, the pain is still intermittently fairly significant (though the constant pain is WAY less than before the nail-pressure was released). Podiatrist seemed hesitant to commit to "all better" in 6 weeks but did say "significant improvement".

Even if backpacking is out, I am kind of wondering what I should be preparing myself for in terms of camping/dayhikes with kids the remainder of summer and early fall.

Cheers,

Well I've done things like it, but not so severe. I have the perversity to ask-- did it hurt a lot when it happened? Did you hop about and cuss? Did you use the lord's name in vain? Sorry.

Yeah, I've never gotten an x-ray on what I suspect is a toe injury. I messed mine up in late April, took a month off from running & hiking (biked and skied just fine though), and I'm pretty good now. Still hurts, but manageable with ibuprofen. Course, it could have been a sprain of one of the toe joints.

Harlen wrote: ↑Tue Jul 21, 2020 11:15 am Well I've done things like it, but not so severe. I have the perversity to ask-- did it hurt a lot when it happened? Did you hop about and cuss? Did you use the lord's name in vain? Sorry.

Probably everyone between mammoth and bishop could hear profanities in the moments immediately after. and within about 30 seconds I was nauseated from pain.

Yikes, sorry to hear about the injury Ray. Best wishes for a speedy recovery in time to get some kind of outdoors activity in this fall.

Not to pile on with the perverse questions, but what happens with this kind of fracture? Do the displaced bone chips just eventually work their way out? Or do they stay there floating?

windknot wrote: ↑Mon Jul 27, 2020 12:45 am Yikes, sorry to hear about the injury Ray. Best wishes for a speedy recovery in time to get some kind of outdoors activity in this fall.

Not to pile on with the perverse questions, but what happens with this kind of fracture? Do the displaced bone chips just eventually work their way out? Or do they stay there floating?

Podiatrist said there's 3 things that can happen, first two are basically fine.

1. They migrate close enough to rejoin and heal.
2. They remain displaced but end up encased/locked in some type of scar tissue.
3. They remain displaced and can move around causing irritation and pain. Remedy here is surgical extraction.

#3 sounds like a season killer..

My biggest fear is foot damage just before a backpacking trip. I've hit the pinky toe before a trip and it didn't make it fun.
Good luck with your recovery..

rayfound wrote: ↑Mon Jul 27, 2020 8:14 am

windknot wrote: ↑Mon Jul 27, 2020 12:45 am Yikes, sorry to hear about the injury Ray. Best wishes for a speedy recovery in time to get some kind of outdoors activity in this fall.

Not to pile on with the perverse questions, but what happens with this kind of fracture? Do the displaced bone chips just eventually work their way out? Or do they stay there floating?

Podiatrist said there's 3 things that can happen, first two are basically fine.

1. They migrate close enough to rejoin and heal.
2. They remain displaced but end up encased/locked in some type of scar tissue.
3. They remain displaced and can move around causing irritation and pain. Remedy here is surgical extraction.

for those interested, had follow up today, re-xrayed. Looks exactly the same. so with regards to the possible outcomes, Door #1 is closed.

Will see in 3-4 months if discomfort is gone we can assume a scar tissue encasement has formed and I'm "good". if I continue to experience discomfort, we'll evaluate surgery.

good luck! hope for the best..

Ouch! I’ve broken pinky toes literally at least a dozen times each (big feet, far from brain is what I tell my wife), but nothing that bad.

My sob story this year is a broken ankle on Mother’s Day and haven’t hiked a foot since then. Hoping to start this week. Likely no pack trip this year.