A swollen toe is very uncomfortable for the person affected and can have various causes. For example, the decisive factor in the diagnosis is how acute the swelling has become and what accompanying symptoms occur. The treatment depends largely on the cause. Depending on the cause, the swelling can last from days to weeks.
Causes for a swollen toe
There are several causes for swelling of a single toe.
- Especially when the big toe is affected, a relatively frequent cause can be a gout attack. Gout is a disease that is frequently found in the affluent population.
A too high uric acid level leads to deposits of uric acid crystals in various joints. This leads to an inflammation. The pain is very acute, the affected joint is bright red and swollen as well as painful under pressure.
The most typical site for the deposition of uric acid crystals is the big toe. One speaks then of a Podagra. But knee and ankle joints, finger joints and elbow joints can also be affected in rare cases.
Do you suffer from a swollen toe?
Take our self-test and answer the following 10 short questions. We will create your individual result! Here ́s goes directly to the test: Test Swollen toe athlete’s foot is a widespread disease.
The fungus attacks the skin and toenails. With a simple athlete’s foot there is usually no swelling. The symptoms are a reddening of the affected areas with whitish-yellowish scaling, weeping spots and often distinct itching.
Rheumatoid arthritis is the disease commonly known as rheumatism. It is a chronic joint disease. It is accompanied by swellings of various joints that often occur in relapses.
Typically, the affected joints are also very painful and mobility is often limited. A reddening of the affected joints can also occur. The finger joints (base and middle finger joints) and toe joints are particularly often affected.
Rheumatoid arthritis typically results in a symmetrical swelling. Both hands or both feet are affected. In rare cases, swelling of individual finger or toe joints occurs.
Psoriatic arthritis is a skin disease (psoriasis) that is also accompanied by joint infection. In this disease, for example, a single finger or toe can be significantly swollen. The swelling is caused by an inflammation of the affected joint.
In people with known psoriasis and who also occasionally notice swelling of the joint itself, psoriatic arthritis can be the cause. The accompanying symptoms depend on the cause. In a gout attack, the swollen big toe is very painful and severely reddened.
If the swelling is caused by trauma, movement may be restricted, usually pain is present. Psoriatic arthritis also causes painful swelling. A redness that accompanies the swelling occurs, for example, in a gout attack.
The big toe is strongly reddened, clearly warmed and very painful. The redness and swelling are caused by the inflammation that takes place in the joint. Psoriatic arthritis can also cause redness of the affected toe.
Do you suffer from a swollen toe? Take our self-test and answer the following 10 short questions. We will create your individual result!
Here ́s goes directly to the test: Test Swollen Toe A swelling of the toe without pain occurs mainly in the context of lymphedema. In lymphedema, the lymph fluid accumulates because it can no longer drain off sufficiently. If lymphedema is present, however, all toes are almost always affected, not just one.
The swelling of one toe is usually accompanied by pain. In gout attacks, these occur relatively suddenly and are very severe. Even if trauma is the cause of the swelling, pain is usually present.
Itching of the toe occurs particularly in diseases such as athlete’s foot. Weeping, scaly redness occurs, skin and nail can be affected. In the case of a fungal infection, however, there is usually no swelling of the affected toe.
The type of treatment depends on the cause.In the acute situation of a gout attack, various medications can be considered. These include painkillers which, even in appropriate doses, have an anti-inflammatory effect, such as ibuprofen. The drug colchicine is also often used.
It prevents a progression of the inflammatory reaction. Colchicine must be dosed carefully and should not be taken over a long period of time, as it can otherwise have a toxic effect. The drug is available in tablet or drop form.
Colchicine must not be taken by pregnant women. If trauma is the cause of the swelling, cooling and protection of the toe are the most suitable therapeutic options. Painkillers such as ibuprofen can also help here.
Psoriatic arthritis is probably an autoimmune disease. Treatment is therefore usually carried out with drugs that lower the immune system. These include methotrexate or leflunomide, for example.
Home remedies for a swollen toe are mainly behavioural measures: The duration of the swelling depends on the cause. In the case of gout, the swelling lasts for a few days, but the pain subsides rapidly after starting drug therapy. Swelling that has occurred due to inflammation as part of a rheumatic disease lasts from days to weeks.
If trauma is the cause of the swelling, the swelling also usually remains for days to weeks. Not infrequently, however, a swelling that has been caused by trauma does not disappear completely. A difference in circumference between the affected toe and other toes remains if no further treatment is given.
Therefore, if the swelling persists for a longer period of time or if the cause is still unclear, a doctor should be consulted. Do you suffer from a swollen toe? Take our self-test and answer the following 10 short questions.
We will create your individual result! Here ́s goes directly to the test: Test Swollen Toe
- Another possible cause of an isolated swollen toe is an injury (trauma), for example when a heavy object has fallen on the toe. It is then a bruise and under certain circumstances a toe break may be present.
The trauma leads to swelling, the toe is painful and partially restricted in movement.
- If there is pain, the toe should be protected and kept elevated from time to time.
- Cooling with a cool pack often helps. A lukewarm to cool footbath can also have a soothing effect.
- The shoes should not be too tight, high shoes should be avoided for women at first.
- General information about the foot
- Aching toes
- Inflammation of the toe
- Torn ligament on big toe
Athlete’s foot is a widespread disease. The fungus attacks the skin and the toenails.
With a simple athlete’s foot there is usually no swelling. The symptoms are a reddening of the affected areas with whitish-yellowish scaling, weeping spots and often distinct itching. Rheumatoid arthritis is the disease commonly known as rheumatism.
It is a chronic joint disease. It is accompanied by swellings of various joints that often occur in relapses. Typically, the affected joints are also very painful and mobility is often limited.
A reddening of the affected joints can also occur. The finger joints (base and middle finger joints) and toe joints are particularly often affected. Rheumatoid arthritis typically results in a symmetrical swelling.
Both hands or both feet are affected. In rare cases, swelling of individual finger or toe joints occurs. Psoriatic arthritis is a skin disease (psoriasis) that is also accompanied by joint infection.
In this disease, for example, a single finger or toe can be significantly swollen. The swelling is caused by an inflammation of the affected joint. In people with known psoriasis and who also occasionally notice swelling of the joint itself, psoriatic arthritis can be the cause.
The accompanying symptoms depend on the cause. In a gout attack, the swollen big toe is very painful and severely reddened. If the swelling is caused by trauma, movement may be restricted, usually pain is present.Psoriatic arthritis also causes painful swelling.
A reddening that accompanies the swelling occurs, for example, in an attack of gout. The big toe is strongly reddened, clearly warmed and very painful. The redness and swelling are caused by the inflammation that takes place in the joint.
Psoriatic arthritis can also cause redness of the affected toe. Swelling of the toe without pain occurs mainly in the context of lymphedema. In lymphedema, the lymph fluid accumulates because it cannot drain sufficiently.
If lymphedema is present, however, all toes are almost always affected, not just one. The swelling of one toe is usually accompanied by pain. In gout attacks, these occur relatively suddenly and are very severe.
Even if trauma is the cause of the swelling, pain is usually present. Itching of the toe occurs especially in diseases such as athlete’s foot. Weeping, scaly redness occurs, skin and nail can be affected.
In the case of a fungal infection, however, there is usually no swelling of the affected toe. The type of treatment depends on the cause. In the acute situation of a gout attack, various medications can be considered.
These include painkillers that also have an anti-inflammatory effect in appropriate dosages, such as ibuprofen. The drug colchicine is also often used. It prevents a progression of the inflammatory reaction.
Colchicine must be dosed carefully and should not be taken over a long period of time, as it can otherwise have a toxic effect. The drug is available in tablet or drop form. Colchicine must not be taken by pregnant women.
If trauma is the cause of the swelling, cooling and protection of the toe are the most suitable therapeutic options. Painkillers such as ibuprofen can also help here. Psoriatic arthritis is probably an autoimmune disease.
Treatment is therefore usually carried out with drugs that lower the immune system. These include methotrexate or leflunomide, for example. Home remedies for a swollen toe are mainly behavioural measures:
- If there is pain, the toe should be protected and kept elevated from time to time.
- Cooling with a cool pack often helps.
A lukewarm to cool footbath can also have a soothing effect.
- The shoes should not be too tight, high shoes should be avoided for women at first.
The duration of the swelling depends on the cause. In the case of gout, the swelling lasts for a few days, but the pain subsides rapidly after the start of drug therapy. Swelling that has occurred as a result of inflammation as part of a rheumatic disease lasts from days to weeks.
If trauma is the cause of the swelling, the swelling also usually remains for days to weeks. Not infrequently, however, a swelling that has been caused by trauma does not disappear completely. A difference in circumference between the affected toe and other toes remains if no further treatment is given. Therefore, if the swelling persists for a longer period of time or if the cause is still unclear, a doctor should be consulted.
