Broken 5th metatarsal slightly displaced:(

Wonder if I should have rested more.  They also found another fracture so I'm off for another six weeks.  

I hope you find ways of passing the time.  I keep inviting friends round for coffe.  

Hi thanks for responding

I'm so sorry to hear that ! so you think when you were to you could weight bare it was too early ? Were you able to weight bare right away ?

I'm jumping in here because my previous longer post is waiting to be 'moderated' as every post I make here seems to be. Lets see if this one can fly!

I'm 60yrs old and have a partially displaced avulsion fracture to the base of the 5th metatarsal. I was placed in a walking boot and had my foot xrayed privately at the Nuffield Hospital at 3 weeks post injury to make sure I hadn't pulled the bone further away.  The xray shows the gap is no larger and has started to heal. I have transitioned from the Air Cast boot to my trainers but still have 3 weeks of healing to go.  Important information that the Private Consultant told me is DO NOT pull up your toes towards your body. That movement causes a very strong ligament to pull the base piece of bone off. You either pull it off completely during the accident and have a fully displaced fracture or you partially pull it off with some bone still connected but if you continue to flex your foot ,you make the injury worse by continually pulling apart the two parts of bone that are trying to join and therefore it takes longer to heal. I thought due to age I would heal slowly but infact I am healing faster than expected this may, or may not be due to the fact that I have tweaked my diet to assist the healing. Eat plenty of calcium rich food, little and often.  I have a dessert spoonful of greek yohurt, cottage cheese or small glass of milk every two hours and before bed.  You need lots of calories (of the right type) to build bone and good circulation to take the oxygen and nutrients to the injury. so even if you are sitting with your foot elevated, keep the toes wiggling and exercise your arms/upper body to keep your circulation moving. It's worked for me.

good luck everyone. x

Thanks so much for your response !!

It seems that we have the same exact injury but I'm 22 and I'm not healing as quickly as I should be so I'm going to try your tips! Are you able to walk around normally ? Did you have surgery ? I also did not know about the harm in pulling my toes towards me, was not warned by my doctor and I did it a few times last night !

Sarah, you are exactly one week ahead of me. I did my fracture on the 8th of September.  I initially went to our National Health Service hospital but they don't have the time or money to continually monitor or give advice, they told me to wear the boot wb for 2 weeks then change to my normal shoes and I'd be ok in 3 weeks, no more xray, no follow up! Errrr no! So I decided to have this treated privately where I get to speak to the Orthopaedic Surgeon without being rushed. 

I didn't need surgery and what the consultant wrote on his report on thursday, after re-xraying and examining my foot at exactly 3 weeks was:-

"Clinically this fracture is uniting as one would expect and she no longer requires formal immobilisation in the walker boot.   She can wear normal shoes and start a gentle range of movement exercises.  She should avoid vigorous active pull of the peroneus brevis tendon and therefore should avoid active eversion for a further three weeks"  

So that is the statement saying not to actively pull up and flex the foot or turn it in or out.  Google it for a better idea. I go to see a foot physio who works with baller dancers on tuesday, so I will report on what exercises she has given me.

Just to let everyone know this injury happened because my foot had gone to sleep/numb and I got up on it not being able to feel it properly and rolled my ankle. Never stand up on a foot that's gone to sleep, I've heard of several other people who have fractured their foot in this way.

Eat to nourish bone Sarah and all will be well x

 

I really wish I had known this a few weeks ago.   I was told by the first consultant, about 2 weeks after my injury, that I should take the boot off when sitting with my foot elevated and flex my ankle up and down to keep it mobiie.  As the gap has increased in size since the first xrays, I wonder if that's why.  I've actually made it worse by doing this.

I already eat plenty of dairy and am taking magnesium and calcuim daily to try and speed up recovery, obviously completely negated by flexing my ankles.

Hope you are soon fully recovered,

 

Hi Sarah,

I was put in an air cast, given some crutches and sent home.  They muttered partial weight bearing when they remembered that I had torn ligaments in my other ankle.  2 weeks later the only advice, other than 'yes' to my questions of whether I could weight bare, was to take my cast off and flex my ankle to keep it mobile.  Having read jack56's post, I now think this could be the reason the gap has actually increased.  

The information, or lack of it, from hospitals seems to be a common problem, leaving us all to do out best and hope we are doing the right thing.

I would suggest asking for a second opinion - if I had known what jac was told earlier, I would certainly have questioned what I had been told.

Good luck.

 

hi jh115,

my understanding is you can keep your ankle still and you can curl your toes forward and bring them back to normal position. That will keep mobility in the toes. You can move your ankle to point and flex back to normal position to keep the ankle mobile.  What you don't want to do is flex the ankle backwards, pulling up forcefully as in a hyper flex or worse, imagine your ankle elevated on a cushion, keeping the ankle still but moving your foot like a windscreen washer going left and right, or imagine keeping a still ankle but your foot is a musical conductor with a baton conducting an orchestra, this movement is what disrupts the bone. I followed instructions I'd read on the internet saying draw the alphabet with your big toe, but for this injury in the first weeks it's not the right thing to do. 

Some movement is good to keep mobility but some bad if it enlarges the gap in the bone that you're trying to fill.

Happy healing.  I'm having my first physio session tomorrow with a physiotherapist who works for my Consultant so I'll see what light she can shed on this. If you have any questions ask me now so I can ask her tomorrow. 

 

Thanks for all of your info it's very helpful. I am just confused as to how we have the same brake and both slightly displaced and I've been non WB for 4 weeks and my doctor still wants me to non WB for 2-4 more weeks but you are walking in a normal shoe after 3 weeks ?

I understand your confusion and frustration Sarah.  I have a private Consultant who can look at a new x-ray and examine my foot and do different tests i.e. determine that I had no tenderness along the peroneal tendons and minimal tenderness over the fracture site itself and on active eversion, this is where he held my foot firmly and wanted me to press against his hand, this provoked very little discomfort, therefore he said i was ready for my shoes and to try to walk without a limp which means lead with the heel, roll through the arch and push off with the toes.  I can't do it well at the moment but I am getting there. Going privately means he has to earn his money and give me his time to do a proper examination and answer all my questions.

Before I went to the fracture clinic at my local NHS hospital and I got the same standard procedure that everyone else is getting, wear the boot for 4 to 6 weeks and no questions answered. If I hadn't got the private Consultant I would not have known what exercises to avoid and therefore am sure I would have delayed my own healing.

 

Are you located in the US? I'm not sure this type of treatment is widely available here but I would love to go to one ....... The normal diagnosis of 4-8 weeks non WB seems skeptical to me if you are able to walk right now and we have the same injury!

I'm in the UK Sarah and I'm being treated privately by an Orthopeadic Consultant at the Nuffield Hospital. He does 2 days private medicine and the rest of the time he's at NHS Hospital.  If you go to an NHS hospital you probaly don't get to see him but he will oversee the junior doctor treating you, who will give you standard treatment as you are having him.  To be treated privately, you either pay yourself or pay for health insurance called BUPA here.  It costs £200 for an X-ray and £200 for the consultation but at least you are getting individual care depending on your situation rather than a one size fits all. 

Sarah,

I'm not sure which country has the best healthcare.  My insurance in the USA, as I'm sure yours covers almost all medical.  Also none in UK knew about the bone stimulator and it's widely used to repair broken or surgical bone repair here in the USA.  I do see a great doctor here in Texas and can get into to see him at anytime.Sometimes an hour wait, but he's there.

I wish this was available here because I would pay that in a heart beat to be able to walk. Getting a second opinion tomorrow, thanks so much for all of your help !!

Sarah,

Did you say you lived in the USA?  What state? Do you not have health insurance? I see a doctor who has two locations, does surgery and stiil has time to call me and ask how I'm doing. I can't pay $500 USD for an X-ray and consutation.  I pay a monthly insurance premium and have only had to pay for compression socks that help me with pain. The bone stimulator was picked up by my insurance after the original 60 days of being in a cast. 

Hi Jac,

Thank you for that information.  I hope you are finding the physio helpful.  I have another three and a half weeks to my next appointment but from this Friday, I can start standing without the boot and progress to walking around the house without it.  I assume I still need the boot to walk around outside but no clear instructions.  I have been told I will start physio on this, and my other foot with torn ligaments, after my next appointment so am wondering whether I am likely to be signed off again until I have built the strength up in my foot.  

Like Sarah, I find it confusing that we all seem to have the same injury but are being given very different information.