Anybody break their toe?

[ND4SPD]

The wait varies by hospital and severity. And we pay for our healthcare from general tax revenues, primarily income tax, it's not really 'free'.

True, I just felt like saying that because some of the waits are agonizingly slow its starts to get comical. I was in once for severe stomach pain and the wait was severely long, when they finally got to me they told me that one more hour of waiting and things would have started to get ugly and they rushed me to emergency surgery a town away.

 

[dbartucci]

I went to the ER in Kingston once at night and there was no one there. I didn't even get a chance to sit down before they called me in.


But I don't mean to hijack this thread with discussion of ER wait times in Ontario

 

[Solid Lifters]

This thread is worthless without pics....

It looks just like this, but it's the next toe to the left, more black, more swollen and the toenail is almost completely pealed back and is black as the toe. Oh, and my toe is bent to the right, not the left as in the pic.

 

[Gil]

I broke my baby toe when I was sixteen. Of course, I managed to do it 1/4 of the way up my foot.
The doc called it a "dancer's fracture". Though, I wasn't dancing. I was fleeing for my life. (mad young woman with a hockey stick...don't ask)
I turned the foot wrong, and broke it on the baby toe side.
I was in a cast up to my knee!
I still can predict the weather 26 years later...
See a doc, I may not be as bad as you think. But, it just may be a lot worse than you think.

 

[Omnis]

Then paint yourself brown and learn Spanish.

Sorry to hear about your toe BTW.

No, all he has to do is say this to the McDoctor before surgery: "Un cerveza por favor!"

 

[wfooshee]

There's no excuse for not getting this fixed professionally, especially if you're insured. There is no "Theyr'e gonna charge this and it's not covered." There are very rigid schedules of fees and coverages, where hospitals and insurance rates have come to agreements on what is "fair" to charge for what service. What you have to look out for is deductibles and co-pay. It may be that your insurance doesn't kick in for the first coupla thou or so.

Go to a county hospital, they can't refuse to treat. (A "corporate" hospital will almost watch you die while they verify coverage and ability to pay.) I hear people say the corporate-owned hospitals are better-equipped; whatever. That's not the case where I live, and personally, I think medicine for stockholder profit is a bit goofy.

The county place will take your insurance info and file the claim, you don't have to pay and seek reimbursement. If your coverage is short due to deductible or copay and you can't pay the bill at the county facility, they will do what they can to work out an arrangement. Even if it goes to Collections, they'll work with you. (Don't ask me how I know.) Since it's not an emergency of life or limb, a corporate facility can refuse you if they know you will have trouble paying.

If you don't fix this, you'll be lame (in all senses of the word) for a very long time, and as you age, it will only get worse. This, you may ask how I know. . . . .

 

[Gil]

There's no excuse for not getting this fixed professionally, especially if you're insured. There is no "Theyr'e gonna charge this and it's not covered." There are very rigid schedules of fees and coverages, where hospitals and insurance rates have come to agreements on what is "fair" to charge for what service. What you have to look out for is deductibles and co-pay. It may be that your insurance doesn't kick in for the first coupla thou or so.

Go to a county hospital, they can't refuse to treat. (A "corporate" hospital will almost watch you die while they verify coverage and ability to pay.) I hear people say the corporate-owned hospitals are better-equipped; whatever. That's not the case where I live, and personally, I think medicine for stockholder profit is a bit goofy.

The county place will take your insurance info and file the claim, you don't have to pay and seek reimbursement. If your coverage is short due to deductible or copay and you can't pay the bill at the county facility, they will do what they can to work out an arrangement. Even if it goes to Collections, they'll work with you. (Don't ask me how I know.) Since it's not an emergency of life or limb, a corporate facility can refuse you if they know you will have trouble paying.

If you don't fix this, you'll be lame (in all senses of the word) for a very long time, and as you age, it will only get worse. This, you may ask how I know. . . . .

Actually, if you seek treatment, no medical facility can refuse to treat you.
They can inform you that your insurance is "out of network" and you'll be personally responsible for the bill.
But before anyone is "turned away" they are required to be seen by the doc to ensure that they are stable enough to leave. This is also true of someone that has come in, and in the middle of things decides that they are going to refuse to be treated. It also heads off those nasty lawsuits...
You can ask me how I know. It's been a part of my training for many years now. Believe me, Docs and facilities are way more worried about being sued for malpractice or neglect, than about non-payment.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Dude, go and see a doctor, especially when you slammed it twice!

 

[Omnis]

Believe me, Docs and facilities are way more worried about being sued for malpractice or neglect, than about non-payment.

Oh yeah. That's a BIG 10-4.

 

[wfooshee]

It's been a while, maybe 25 years, but I was turned away from a local corporate-owned hospital and told to go to the county facility because of lack of insurance. It was a minor injury, cut my foot on something at the beach, but was not seen at the first hospital. All the things I stated in my post were given to me as the reasons.

 

[Omnis]

It's been a while, maybe 25 years, but I was turned away from a local corporate-owned hospital and told to go to the county facility because of lack of insurance. It was a minor injury, cut my foot on something at the beach, but was not seen at the first hospital. All the things I stated in my post were given to me as the reasons.

You should've sued for malpractice.

 

[Solid Lifters]

I walked in to my doctor's office this morning. But, before I went, I cleaned it up myself. I soaked my foot in the pool and then the hot tub for about an hour. The toenail got soft as a noodle and I was able to clean it up very easily and somewhat painlessly. I was able to cut the damaged part and saved the rest. It's fine, now. I just have a short, black toenail.

Now, for the toe, It popped somewhat back into place twice when I started walking on it after getting up this morning. Didn't hurt bad, but it didn't tickle either. But, it was still crooked. After cleaning up the toenail, I pulled on it and with a slight "clunk" it went straight with a good amount of pain, but not as bad as hurting it before. That's when I went to my doc's office.

My doc taped it up, and sent me on my way. It hurts, still, but soaking it in hot, then cold water repeatedly made the swelling go way down. It's taped up and it should be fine in two months, or so.

 

[Matt R]

Solid Lifters,

My advice would be to tie together your big toe with the toe next to it. If left without care, it'll stay sideways like that. It will just heal that way and you'll always have a sideways toe. If you can somehow manage the pain of buddying it up with the next to, it'll heal that way instead of the worse scenerio, sideways.

I broke my pinky once. They just tied it to the ring finger and let it straghten out and fix on its own.

Edit : Glad you finally sought a doctor. 👍