HELP! Safe pain relief (if there is such a thing)? « Back to Group Discussions

[tropicana74]

So last night I walk in the closet and accidentally kick a box. When, I finally stop seeing stars and look down my foot is already swelling and my middle toe is no longer facing the way it was just moments before (OUCH). I find I can not walk on it and scoot down the stairs, DH carries me to the couch where I stay the remainder of the night...in tears. I am not a wimp. I really have a high pain tolerance but this is killing me. 

We iced it but I eventually asked for Tylenol so I could get out from under the pain (I feel so guilty). I have had a broken toe/foot just like this, about 20 years ago. I remember going to the ER and them doing an x-ray (which  I am not willing to do....I already know it's broken), taped my middle toes together so it healed straight (I did that last night) and gave me crutches...those I could use right now as this limping and crawling thing is just not going to work. I HAVE A FAMILY TO TAKE CARE OF!!! I don't remember if they gave me pain meds or not but either way I do not want to take them while pregnant.

So, what would you do for the pain? Arnica seems to do nothing for me. I have the topical and tablets and they have never seemed to make much of a difference in pain for me. I kept it iced all night and didn't need to take anything but now that I am up I had to take another dose of Tylenol (more guilt).  Feeling a little torn about what to do....

[cieloazul]

Ouch! That sounds really painful :( Hope you have a speedy recovery.

I sprained my ankle a few weeks ago and went to urgent care to make sure I didn't hurt baby when I fell down. The advice I got was "RICE" - rest/ice/compression/elevation. Hard as it is with a family to take care of, you have to stay off that foot, ice it, wrap it, and elevate it whenever you can. We didn't do any X-rays, as neither me nor the doctor were comfortable with that. Instead he told me if I could walk 5 steps on it, even hobbling, that it's not broken just sprained. (Not sure if that holds true for toes vs ankles.) He also said he wouldn't recommend using crutches for two reasons. First, because when you're pregnant your center of gravity is all off so it's more likely that you'll fall while using crutches and end up hurt even worse. And also that you need to walk on the foot a little bit at a time to help it recover its strength.

I took arnica tablets immediately after the fall and every few hours for the several days, and also applied the gel topically. Hard to say if it reduced the pain or swelling since there's nothing to compare it to, but it couldn't have hurt and the swelling/bruising wasn't as bad as I'd feared it would be. Some Rescue Remedy was nice that first night and the following day. And I did take Tylenol at the lowest dose, skipping it at night, spacing the doses out further and further each day, and stopping it entirely within a few days. IMO, a little pharmaceutical pain relief is humane in this situation. SO NO GUILT! You deserve to be comfortable. I tend to think the stress hormones that course through the body when it's anxious and in pain are probably not great for baby either. If a little Tylenol can take that edge off, that's a good thing IMO.

Get well soon!

[Lilac11]

Ouch!  I wouldn't feel guilty about taking tylenol for a painful injury!  Feel better soon!

[esp831]

That sounds incredibly painful!  I agree with all of the above.  Definitely the RICE method to promote healing and reduce inflammation so that you can take minimal Tylenol.  That being said, I would not feel guilty about taking Tylenol in this type of situation either.  I would also explain to the older kids that Mama is going to need help for a few days and see how that goes over

[lulubikes]

Wow, that sounds painful. I agree with all the advice so far. I just wanted to say about Arnica tablets - first, it doesn't directly reduce pain, but will help reduce inflammation and bruising, which in time will help reduce pain. There might be a more appropriate homeopathic for a broken bone, but I don't know what it is, maybe someone else does. For the arnica would suggest a high dose in this situation as high as you can purchase 200c if you can get it. The topical arnica gel may help some too.

Take it easy mama, do you have some friends/family you can call on to help with taking care of the family?

[Mamabeakley]

If you do decide you want to try crutches (and I think *trying* crutches could be a good idea - yes they can be unstable, but moving around is really important when you're taking care of kids - I broke my ankle when DD was 6 months old and not mobile yet and I did some crutching with her in the Ergo - not much, but enough to enable functioning) try a thrift store. They often have them and they are a lot cheaper than a trip to the ER or urgent care! I take tylenol while pregnant for migraines. I also take it if I get a fever. I think it's a cost-benefit thing - yes, it might not be great to be 'giving' it to the baby, but giving the baby all the pain/stress hormones or exposing babies to high temperatures is dangerous, too, in large enough 'doses'.

[tropicana74]

Originally Posted by cieloazul 

 Instead he told me if I could walk 5 steps on it, even hobbling, that it's not broken just sprained. (Not sure if that holds true for toes vs ankles.) He also said he wouldn't recommend using crutches for two reasons. First, because when you're pregnant your center of gravity is all off so it's more likely that you'll fall while using crutches and end up hurt even worse. And also that you need to walk on the foot a little bit at a time to help it recover its strength.

Yeah, that's when I knew it was broken. Not only because my toe was pointed the wrong direction but because I can put zero weight on it. I hadn't thought about the center of gravity being off with pregnancy. The more that I thought about the crutches the more I realized they wouldn't help much anyway because to get to anything in this house I have to take the stairs and crutches and stairs don't mix. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by lulubikes 
I just wanted to say about Arnica tablets - first, it doesn't directly reduce pain, but will help reduce inflammation and bruising,

Take it easy mama, do you have some friends/family you can call on to help with taking care of the family?

You are SO right. I haven't had to use anymore Tylenol (yet) today because I do think the Arnica is helping a lot with the swelling. When I don't take it my toes/foot look like fat sausages. I see a big size difference with the Arnica. When the swelling is down I can at least walk on the very outer edge of my foot as long as my toes and bottom of my foot don't touch the ground. This is REALLY good news because in order to get to the bathroom I have to go upstairs or downstairs and crawling up the stairs with my 7 month belly was so hard!

Thanks for all the advice and relieving some of my mommy guilt about the Tylenol. It has been one heck of a day around here. We already had scheduled a carpet cleaner to come this morning so not only do we have damp carpets still but half our things are stacked in the bathrooms and kitchen until the floors dry. On top of that our area is having a huge outbreak of stink bugs. It was on the news last night. Some people had thousands of them on the outside of their houses (we are very lucky ours is not near that bad). My kids were standing at the kitchen window last night counting how many of them were on the window and somehow a few of them always manage to get in the house. Plus I have all the windows open to dry the carpets and I think a few of them managed to wiggle in around the screens......AAAAAH!!!! What a day. At least I can entertain myself with the different shades of purple and blue my foot is turning!  DH is at work and I am ordering my kids a pizza for dinner and keeping my foot up....

Mamabeakley, I have been so thankful ever since this happened that it was when I was pregnant and not when I had a newborn! That must have been a challenge!