We all have our clumsy moments where we accidentally drop something on our foot. The top of the foot lacks a lot of fat or padding to protect vital structures such as arteries, nerves and tendons which makes dropping a piece of glass, metal or plastic worrisome. Pain, swelling, bruising and bleeding are common symptoms of injury to the foot. If you notice the inability to move your big toe up towards the ceiling you may have severed your extensor hallucis longus (EHL) tendon and should come to see one of our physicians at Foot& Ankle Doctors, Inc.
Severing the EHL can be treated conservatively or surgically depending on the severity of the injury. If the EHL tendon ends are close enough to each other conservative care would include a non-weight bearing cast for 6 weeks. This would allow the two torn tendon ends to heal together.
If the tendon ends are far apart surgery will be required to sew the two ends together or a tendon graft may be necessary to bridge the gap and restore tendon alignment and function.