I have broken my little toes a number of times each. I like to go barefoot on our sailboat...not a good idea. I've kicked a few winches and they don't budge.
You place the cotton between your broken toe and the next one so that the tissue in between does not get and stay wet(shower or sweat) and then the skin would break down.
So get adhesive tape and put the cotton between toes (keep this dry or change it when it gets wet.) Tape the little toe to the next toe..and change the tape when necessary, but be careful not to pull the broken toe out of alignment. May have to keep the toe taped for 3-4 weeks.
Unless you broke bones in your foot, the docs won't do anything for you.
However, if your broken toe is not straight, then they may have to set it straight so that you don't have trouble with it later. You are supposed to wear shoes (although it always hurt too much for me) so I wore sandals. Keep a shoe or sandal on your foot at all times to stabilize it. DO NOT go barefoot.
Also keep your foot elevated to decrease the swelling. Aspirin when you are hurt is NOT a GOOD IDEA since it just thins your blood and adds to the bruising causing a hematoma (large amount of blood accumulated in an area.) Instead of aspirin, use ibuprofen. This will decrease the inflammation and help the healing process.