Toe pain

To help ease toe pain, you can rest and raise your foot and wear wide comfortable shoes with a low heel and soft sole.

Overexercising and wearing tight shoes often causes toe pain. You can also get toe pain if you have an ingrown toenail, bunions or gout.

A sore toe is often caused by exercising too much or wearing shoes that are too tight.

Do not try to diagnose the cause of your pain yourself.

If you think you may have broken your toe, do not try to treat it yourself. Contact NHS 111 to find out what to do.

You may be able to treat the pain yourself if your toe is not broken.

• rest and raise your foot when you can

• put an ice pack (or bag of frozen peas) wrapped in a towel on your toe for up to 20 minutes every 2 to 3 hours – this is not suitable if you have chilblains or Raynaud's

• wear wide comfortable shoes with a low heel and soft sole

• use painkillers such as paracetamol or ibuprofen gel (or ibuprofen tablets if needed)

• buddy strap a broken toe – put a small piece of cotton wool or gauze between your sore toe and the next toe, and use tape to loosely strap it up (do not do this for a big toe or a badly broken toe)

• try regular gentle stretching exercises

• do not walk or stand for long periods

• do not wear high heels or tight pointy shoes

• do not put an ice pack on your toe if you have chilblains or Raynaud's

If you have toe pain, a pharmacist can advise you about:

• the best painkiller to take
• insoles and pads for your shoes
• treatments for common skin and nail problems
• whether you need to see a GP

• you think you might have broken a toe
• pain in your toe is stopping you doing normal activities
• the pain is getting worse or keeps coming back
• the pain has not improved after treating it at home for 2 weeks
• you have diabetes and foot pain – foot problems can be more serious if you have diabetes