I broke a toe.

5 weeks ago I had my middle toe pinned at the hospital after breaking it in training. My training partner went to do irimi, but on the wrong side of me, so my foot went straight into the front of his calf.

The pin was removed a week ago, but a month not using much of the muscles in my left leg has left me feeling like the last 2 years of my training has evaporated. Other than stretches, rehabilitation massage, and exercises like squats, I have begun, slowly (very slowly) doing taisabaki, and sat in seiza again for the first time today. I probably wont be back to normal for another few weeks, especially as my toes are still swelling up.

It's quite depressing, all the more so because just before the accident, I had solved a long-standing issue that turned out to be muscular rather than a joint problem, and could train and receive ukemi more easily. Not to mention I was looking forward to doing a demo at one of the embukai that frequently occur here.

Any suggestions on how to deal with the swelling would be welcome.

Patience... Having the pin removed implies (to me) that you've had surgery.

If you just had the pin out a week ago your skin will still be recovering from being opened up. Give your body a chance to heal.

When you're not on your feet, try to manage situations so that your healing foot can be elevated.

After a lot of sports time doing the "suck it up" thing, I've learned that I should have given a lot of little injuries more time to recover before returning to full-on training. Almost everything hurts, almost always.

Patience..

Sorry to hear that. It sounds like one of those freak accidents that happens from time to time. I don't have any specific recommendations for swelling. I had "bee venom balm" recommended to me after I tore a tendon in my finger a while ago, and I used it, but I have no idea about whether it helped much. It's really hard to do a controlled experiment with that sort of thing. I also had some stuff prescribed by my doctor at that point, but I don't remember what it was, and again, I have no idea about how much it helped.

Rest, ice, elevate; don't overdo it when you train. As said before, let your body heal. Keep your ki polished.

Listen to your Doctors and give your body time to heal.

I have been sidelined and slowed down by a number of injuries over the past 9.5 years of my training. The worst was when I tore a meniscus just two weeks before my 4th kyu test. It delayed the test by a couple of months and I was not 100% on that knee for the best part of a year. It was depressing to not be able to train for 2 months but I went to the dojo anyway and watched. You can get a lot out of watching the class. Sometimes you see things you would not have noticed otherwise.

Over the years I;'ve broken a toe, broke my foot, torn a meniscus and had any number of sprains and strains. Mainly not aikido related.

Keep in mind that aikido is a lifetime study and this little set back is just one of many you will likly face. Don't rush the process.

Go to the dojo and watch classes. Do what you can, can you get on the mat for warm ups minus the rolling? Can you do basic Kihon exercises with the rest of the class. Can you do techniques and not take falls.
I have had several injuries over my 9.5 years of Aikido also, broken collar bone two months into my training that required two surgeries for a plate fixation, several broken toes, and a bone broken in the top of my foot from pivoting on some super soft sticky mats.. (my body turned, my foot didn't)
Each time I got on the mat and did what I could and if I couldn't do, (as the case with the collar bone) I went and watched and took notes. You really do notice a lot of things when you watch.
Currently I am sometimes sidelined by Gout Flair-ups, I do not let this stop me, I am allowed on the mat to do what I can and if it gets to be too much, I am allowed to sit down for a bit and get back on the mat when I can. We all if studying Aikido long enough get injured or our bodies age and are limited more than when we started. The point is to not let it get you down and realize what you can do and learn.
I feel working through these situations is what Aikido is all about, mental randori, overcoming limitations and preforming to what you can do at that moment.
I plan on continuing my aikido journey for many years to come, there is plenty of time, why rush yourself!

Joan Dehnert wrote: Go to the dojo and watch classes. Do what you can, can you get on the mat for warm ups minus the rolling? Can you do basic Kihon exercises with the rest of the class. Can you do techniques and not take falls. I have had several injuries over my 9.5 years of Aikido also, broken collar bone two months into my training that required two surgeries for a plate fixation, several broken toes, and a bone broken in the top of my foot from pivoting on some super soft sticky mats.. (my body turned, my foot didn't) Each time I got on the mat and did what I could and if I couldn't do, (as the case with the collar bone) I went and watched and took notes. You really do notice a lot of things when you watch. Currently I am sometimes sidelined by Gout Flair-ups, I do not let this stop me, I am allowed on the mat to do what I can and if it gets to be too much, I am allowed to sit down for a bit and get back on the mat when I can. We all if studying Aikido long enough get injured or our bodies age and are limited more than when we started. The point is to not let it get you down and realize what you can do and learn. I feel working through these situations is what Aikido is all about, mental randori, overcoming limitations and preforming to what you can do at that moment. I plan on continuing my aikido journey for many years to come, there is plenty of time, why rush yourself!

Thanks Joan. I've been doing just this. I mainly have to get the muscles strong again, which involves activities like scrunching a towel with my toes. Since gripping the mat requires the same muscles, I've been doing pretty much any movement, at a cautious pace, that doesn't involve falling. When I pass on doing a technique I help junior people instead, which senior people have encouraged. Everyone at the dojos have been greatly helpful, which has been fantastic.

Best way to reduce swelling is not to just use ice. You want to alternate ice and heat for 20 minutes each. You want the swelling to go down buy you also want to keep it there as the swelling is your body healing.

At present the swelling is just excess fluid build-up from the foot having swollen while it was immobile. Ice and heat is for just after an injury.