If you kick a soccer ball on an unfamiliar surface, such as artificial turf, you may accidentally snag your foot on the hard surface and jam the toe, causing what American football players, gymnasts and dancers call "turf toe." "Soccer toe" can refer either to this sort of turf toe injury or to a toenail bruise that results after another player's cleats land on your foot. These uncomfortable injuries to the foot require treatment to restore you to your unimpaired game.
Turf Toe Cause
You can sprain the joint where the big toe meets the foot, called the 1st metatarsophalangeal joint, either by jamming the toe during a kick -- sometimes called reverse turf toe -- or simply by pushing off as you change direction. If your big toe gets pushed too far upward as you push off the ground, this is called hyperextension. Stubbing your toe on the turf as you kick is called hyperflexion, as the toe pushes too far downward; hyperflexion can also occur if you stop short, jamming your toe inside your shoe's toe box. This sprain is more common among players with flat feet, those who play on artificial turf and players wearing shoes with flexible soles. Symptoms include swelling and pain that gets worse with walking.
Turf Toe Treatment
Wrapping the toe with an ice pack for regular 20-minute sessions, taking anti-inflammatory medications and decreasing weight-bearing activity -- in other words, rest -- can help you address this condition, note physicians Josh Kilpatrick and Daryl A. Rosenbaum on the US Soccer website. A trainer can tape the joint or add an insert to limit extension of the joint as you push off, they suggest. Playing on natural grass can help prevent a recurrence, according to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Toenail Bruise Cause
The medical term for a toenail bruise is a subungual hematoma. The injury to the blood vessels beneath the toenail causes the nail to go purple or black and creates pain. Kicking the ball with the toes rather than the laces area of the shoe can also create a subungual hematoma on the second or third toes, while being tromped by another player's cleats tends to injure the big toenail.
Toenail Bruise Treatment
A doctor can address significant pain by drilling a small hole in the nail to allow blood from the damaged vessels to leak out. This process works best when performed within the first 24 hours of the injury; although it sounds painful, it is not. The nail may fall off and require padding until the new nail returns, Kilpatrick and Rosenbaum note.
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