Jones Fracture 4 weeks in, still no visible signs of healing
Posted , 5 users are following.
Hello everyone. I'm a 29 year old male in relatively decent health. On December 8th 2016 at night I missed a step going down stairs and landed sideways on my left foot in a pothole. Instant pain and I knew something was bad, but I decided to wait until the next day to go see the doctor since the hospital's ER here isn't alll that great. They took an x-ray and determined it was broken. The first sports medicine doctor who saw me said it was just above the critical zone for injuries on the 5th metatarsal (didn't specify what zone it was at the time). He gave me a large aircast boot and a prescription for a knee walker scooter and told me to avoid bearing any weight on it. For pain he told me to alternate ibuprofen and tylenol.
Unfortunately the very next week was a trip to Disney World, which I rented an electric scooter for but still walked slightly to get onto rides. I also walked (albeit limping to avoid weight bearing) on it some when I got back to my in-laws house only to get from the couch to bathroom or bedroom, but otherwise rested it, elevated it, and iced it. The swelling and pain subsided and my foot slowly started looking more normal. I still slept with the boot on since I didn't want to risk anything from going to the bathroom at night, though I loosened the straps up slightly to allow my foot to breathe better.
About one week ago I finally dsicovered that I could slightly walk without the boot on, which I did at night when I started to try sleeping without the boot on (the doctor I saw yesterday told me this was a terrible idea, but more on that shortly). After seeing this I was pretty optimistic that I was healing fine since I didn't really experience much pain and was going to go back to the sports medicine doctor yesterday.
As expected they took another x-ray but then the doctor (a different one) notified me that it was a Jones fracture and that the x-ray didn't show any signs of healing. He showed me the two x-rays side by side and I couldn't really tell any difference, which was extremely demoralizing. He said it was a problem area due to the bad circulation of that area of the foot. He told me I shouldn't have done any of the walking without the boot on, and because I was an idiot I didn't really ask him about how much walking with the boot on I could do (though he did ask me to come see the x-rays in the other room and knew I'd have to hobble in the boot, so I think I was allowed some walking by that logic). I called the office today to get him to call me back for some additional follow up questions I had, like should I use a heating pad to boost circulation, or how much walking in the boot am I allowed, should I sleep with the boot, can I get a copy of my x-rays, etc.
Anyways, he referred me to an orthapedic specialist whose focus is in foot problems and has been working on them for nearly 20 years now. Unfortunately that appointment isn't until January 17th, though maybe that gives me extra time to show signs of healing. I'm being more cautious in my rest now and working from home since I can't drive my car without taking off my boot due to it being a manual transmission. And I'm keeping the foot propped up during the day as much as I can and trying to keep walking on it limited. I also started taking Vitamin D, Calcium, Magnesium, and Zinc supplement vitamins in additional to a standard multivitamin.
I was wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences of not seeing any improvement after 4 weeks and what happened after. It'll be about 6 weeks when I see the specialist which is probably starting to approach the time of thinking about surgical treatment. I realize I probably did some harm in walking barefoot a little bit in the last few days and then probably doing more than I should have at Disney World. I've read lots of horror stories online and am starting to really worry after yesterday's not so good meeting with the doctor.
1 like, 4 replies
jacqueline08994 chris67449
Posted
Hi Chris
I've got 4th Metatarsal stress fracture and like you I am booted up with an aircast. Mine just went on me whilst I was walking my dog. I was waiting to see Podiatrist anyway with heel pain (plantar Fasiitis) so instead of going to A & E I waited 3 weeks till appoint came through and yes, you've guessed it, continued to try to walk and drive. It was excruciating but became easier over time. The podiatrist wrote to my doctor and said I needed xray. I had this and the radiologists in turn said I needed an MRI and Bone Density and to see Orthopaedic consultant. Had the scans done in Dec and saw ortho and was immediately told to put boot on and raise the foot and rest as much as possible. He said that the fracture had partially healed but it had not done completely because I'd walked on it for 3 months. I was devastated but I've done research on the internet of the best ways to tackle this and I've got a great support team for walking my Labrador so I can concentrate on sorting this out.
You like me are an individual so stop worrying about all the horror stories. I walked on mine for 3 months and it's still done some healing and I am now going all out to rest it and if I walk, it's always with the boot although if I use the bathroom in the night I don't use the boot. They don't always give you enough info at these appointments or tell you how long to wear the boot for or when you can drive and from the research I've done, it's normally 6 to 8 weeks in the cast with plenty of elevation of the foot. You also need to remember to release the air out of the boot if you've got it on when resting. I don't wear mine at night and I don't if I've got my foot elevated. I next see my Ortho on the 23rd March and he will xray at the same time. I am determined that this is going to have a marked improvement and I'm going all out to put this right. I do wear the boot around the house or if someone takes me to the supermarket but after that, I rest. If the very worst happens, I will have surgery with a screw inserted to fix it but I don't think it will come to that. I'm taking calcium and vitamin D, I'm eating plenty of protein and milk in my diet and I'm told that avocados (1 a day) are excellent for bones. Stay positive and you will be fine.
jenzey chris67449
Posted
Chris,
I wanted to ask how if you healed yet or how your healing process is going? I fractured my fifth metatarsal (true jones fracture) along with a small fracture to my fourth metarsal almost 3 weeks ago. I decided to opt for a hard cast instead of a screw surgery and I didn't trust myself enough to do an aircast. I'm a little younger than you so I'm hoping I can heal this naturally.
chris67449 jenzey
Posted
Hi jenzey,
So I actually have pretty good news all in all. On track for a full recovery and back in normal footwear again!
So to give more of an update following the original post. When I met with the Orthopedic specialist he seemed fairly optimistic since I wasn't feeling much/any pain and told me to stick to the boot for another 4 weeks but to walk around as much as I could tolerate. He also offered me a post-op shoe for driving (since I drive stick shift) and said that I should be able to make a full recovery as long as I don't do anything stupid. This was due to the fracture actually only being partial and not fully across the bone (I'd say maybe 75% fo the way through though after looking at the x-ray). He also told me that taking the Vitamin D was a very good idea and if I wasn't already doing it on my own he would've suggested it. He also did say that if I had seen him originally he would've put me in a hard cast with strict non weight bearing for 4 weeks but we'd just work with what we had at that point and by then it'd do no favors to keep off the foot.
During those 4 weeks I used the scooter for the first one and then started walking more and more during the rest. I also slept without the boot and that slowly became more comfortable, though I kept it rested on a pillow to keep it more stable and kept it in a tighter sock.
After those 4 more weeks (the 10 week followup) we were both blown away by my xray results showing no more visible fracture line. He gave me they okay to walk around in the post-op shoe for 3 more weeks before moving on to wearing regular shoes. Also then told me it'd be about another 4 weeks after that point before I could return to higher impact activities, but that walking, swimming, stationary bike, and other lower impact activities would be fine.
It definitely took getting used to walking without the air cast because I could now flex my foot. And even now (I'm currently at week 15) it is still slightly awkward to flex my foot, though on a scale of 1-10 for pain I'd rate it at most a 1 but probably closer to a 0.
Biggest thing I can suggest to you is to increase your vitamin D intake and also incrase your calcium intake. The combo vitamin I took of calcium, magnesium, and zinc seemed to work. Good luck!
Lissad1980 chris67449
Posted
I am about 2 1/2 months into a severe ankle sprain (repeated injury) with MRI taken this week showing 3 and 4th metatarsal fractures....kept telling ortho I knew it was broken.
I went to ER after fall and ortho the next week. Upgraded from crutches to knee scooter for first 3 weeks and was put in a boot and told to remove at night. Was able to walk with only boot after 3 weeks. Dr advised me to use my best judgment so I tried walk without boot for short periods to build up strength. Walking with boot has helped heel spurs develop in other foot.
10 weeks after fall I'm able to fit foot in shoe and walk for short periods with rest. Told by ortho granted he just realized metatarsals were fractured that everything is good and 2 more months styling a boot. Wearing splint at night on other foot. Pain in only noticeable if walking for hours straight.
Suggest stretching out those tendons when anyone can....massagexcept other part of foot and toes as tolerated (actually had 3 toes that were popped out of place but put back with massage.) Good luck in healing...remember it takes time and to follow up with stretch PT.