5th Metatarsal Fracture Recovery

I can tell you al what happened to me. I have the same 5th metemarsal bone break but mine has been left intact, still in place and I don't really have much pain. I take tramadol for my back so that's been good. I was decorating for xmas, stepped back at an odd angle on office chair and heard a snap. I drove myself to emergency the next day, my ex boyfriend was in the car in case I needed a cast. I have the xray and they gave me a partial cast but I took it off because it got went and was hurting my foot.

I just saw an orthopedic doc and he gave me a cast/shoe that is like a black tennis shoe but i'd already made my own out of cardboard and memory foam with an ace bandage wrapped around it. This happened over a week ago, the break and my doc is useless, the main doc that is. The specialist told me to stay off it 4-6 weeks but of course I can't really do that because I still have to go to the bathroom. My toes are bruised although it was the side of my foot injured. I stay off it as much as I can but its stressful being cooped up with a negative, angry person, that's the worst of it. I walk on the heel mainly and the doc said to do that if I have to walk and the shoe also feels okay. He said when you walk on the injury it re-breaks it and it will be at least a month before I can return to work..

What did I learn from this experience? To be more careful and to move out of here asap! I broke my other foot and arm a year and half ago and that one was more painful.

I fell on New Years Eve and broke my second martacarsal bone in my right foot. My doctor gave me a boot and a stroller, (I had no balance for crutches.) I went in on Jan 25 for my four week healing check up and he said it should all be healed with in two, defenately three weeks. I should not need any surgery as long as I don't throw the bone out of whack. He said it was a clean break, which helps greatly with healing.  Would I need any special shoes. or exercises to walk with? I was doing very well in the gym before this happened and was wondering how long it would take to return back to normal.  Should I do some therapy to make sure i am walking right?The nurse did not think I would need it.  Was wondering also about hiring a personal trainor to help me get back in shape again. Its been a LONG seven weeks. I go back Feb 15 day after Valentines day which marks the beginning of the third week. I find this a very helpful and useful blog. Thanks

Hi there. Spiral fracture 5th metatarsal mid-shaft w/some displacement. In boot only, happened 3 weeks ago. (went immediatly to ER) Started a bit of weight-bearing/walking a few days ago (DR said to in 2-3 weeks as pain allowed) Anyone else have bruising of thier toes? My 2-4th toes are MORE brusied now than a couple weeks ago (while the foot bruises and swelling are much better) I can move them without pain and they are not numb, but the increasing bruising is freaking me out. Thanks.

I fell exactly two weeks ago and have a fractured 5th metatarsal. I walked in it for about 12 days because I thought it was sprained, it just didn't get a lot better. So, I went to the Walk-in clinic where they did an x-ray and told me what I had. They said to make an appointment with an orthopedic doctor and put a hard shoe on my foot. I was thinking that would prevent further damage. They handed me a piece of paper and sent me out into the world. It took two more days to get an appointment that my insurance would allow - I ended up at a Podiatrist rather than an Orthopedist. And, I had to go back to the clinic to pick up the x-rays they forgot to give me the first night. So, the Podiatrist said I would need to wear a tall boot (a ton of them were stacked on the cabinet in the exam room) and I would need to get crutches - NO WEIGHT on the foot at all. He left and the nurse came back in to tell me I needed to get an appt. with my primary care doctor so he could authorize the boot, then come back. Due to my work schedule, that was impossible. So, they said my other options were to order one from Amazon or see if I could locate one on my own. I'm thinking he just told me NO WEIGHT on my foot, and then they are telling me ORDER a boot. I wondered if I was supposed to sit in their office until it arrived since it didn't seem to me I could walk to my car without it. I did call the doctor back in during the chaos to ask if I needed to sleep in the boot. He said yes for one week. He never told me how long I'd need to use the crutches. I'm not sure if I can remove the boot and stand in the shower for five minutes or if I need to avoid the shower. He told me to keep the boot on for a week but ice my foot 15 minutes at a time, 3 times a day. I am assuming I have to removed the boot for that, but not sure how to get to the freezer to get the ice since I couldn't wander through Wal-Mart to find the crutches. Maybe he assumed that because I am 60, I have dealt with broken bones before. Or maybe he assumed if I screwed up my foot, it didn't matter because I'm old and great fodder for the insurance company. 

I am frightened, frustrated, angry, and very disappointed in our health care system at this point. I really don't know how I'm supposed to function without some sort of medical input. They all seemed to have such a fear of being sued that they don't want to answer any questions.

My foot does not hurt - which is a good thing because I was not given any kind of pain meds. But, is the ability to use it or put pressure on it associated with the amount of pain I feel? Or does one not have anything to do with the other?

I am so confused -- if anyone has any experience, please help!!!!

I'm sorry, I replied with my problem. I am new to using this and thought I was adding a new item. FYI, I feel your pain and I'm tired of being injured. More tired of having no idea what the heck I'm supposed to do or why the people who are supposed to help us aren't. Hang in there - I hope you find some answers soon. 

Hi there folks!  Well, from reading all these threads it seems everyone can have a thoroughly different experience from a 5th metatursal fracture!  I'll start off by saying I'm not a particularly athletic guy, but I'm in reasonably good shape.  However, I'm in nightlife and am no spring chicken (about to turn 50).  I also had some bad habits that I've curbed (particularly smoking which I finally quit cold turkey 6 weeks ago -- pretty sure this has affected my healing time greatly).  I fractured my 5th metatursal bone on my right foot on the February 24.  I was in a hard cast for 6 weeks and it was removed.  Got xrays before the cast and after it was removed.  I was told by my doctor when it was first removed to not weight bear for two weeks and get another x-ray.  Did that and doc said only partial healing and stay off yet another 2 weeks and get x-ray.  Did that and it was mostly healed with bones fusing nicely, but still a crack.  Basically, I've had varying amounts of swelling largely due to not elevating it along the way and during damp weather.  Although now I'm about to get x-ray'd again on Wednesday May 25th and feeling the doctor may tell me I'm ready to start weight bear.  My foot has been looking very normal lately and rarely swells much.  However, it's been damp lately and it swells during that time.  My question is about what footwear, ideal/cheap/affordable/preferably somewhat cool looking sneaker brand is good to wear once I'm ready to weight bear and should I get a half size up from my normal sneaker size?