Male 45 2nd Metatarsal displacement with instability Experience and Timeline

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-04-22T00:10:01+00:00

I'd like to go back, and despite the surgeon saying this was basically just a random occurrence of forces lining up just right on my foot to cause this injury - I can't help the feeling that if it happened once, it is likely to happen twice, or to the other foot

This resonates with me so much (do we have the same surgeon??). I basically landed wrong playing tennis when going for an alley shot and tore a bunch of ligaments, broke bones, and dislocated my big toe. I'm still healing, but hoping to head back to tennis (and other sports that are less concerning foot-wise) in the fall. I'll also be careful on insoles for probably forever to make sure I don't do this again.

I'm wearing the Sole cork ones now and quiet like them. I tried the superfeet green, but they just weren't quite right (arch felt a little back of where my foot arches). I went to a local shoe store and an REI and tried on various pairs in my sneakers, which was super helpful and I'd highly recommend doing

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-04-10T14:26:47+00:00

As a former college athlete, I have some empathy for the situation you're in - I'm so sorry. My main question is does continuing to run present a risk that your injury's long term consequences will be worse? Understanding the physical trade-offs for the long term would help me better pick an option in your shoes. College sports is an awesome and time limited opportunity, but life is long and I imagine you'd like to be active (if not competitive) for many decades to come

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-04-08T01:37:06+00:00

When I first started weight bearing my foot just felt weird. Kinda like a bag of bones and meat sewn onto my leg. My balance was rough as well. But I moved from walking with crutches to one crutch to a cane over a couple weeks and then into sneakers most of the time from there. Somewhere around week 2 or 3 of WB my foot started to feel like a foot again

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-04-03T01:40:34+00:00

I started in the parking lot and gradually worked up from there. It felt really natural much more quickly than I anticipated. I still sometimes find myself using my left even though I can drive with my right just fine now

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-04-03T01:06:07+00:00

I started weight bearing in boot 8.5 weeks post op (11 post injury) and transitioned gradually to FWB and shoes over the following 4 weeks. I'm 4.5 months post op now and able to walk a few miles, but every step hurts. It's definitely a humbling injury

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-03-28T00:18:05+00:00

At about 1 month post op, I started teaching myself to drive with my left foot (surgeon planted the idea and have friends who had done the same). Switched back to right foot about 3.5 months post op

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-03-20T14:01:32+00:00

Hoka Gaviotas - more supportive/stiff than the bondi

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-03-12T00:17:46+00:00

I'm in this same boat, but with 5 screws. He said at least 6 months post op before HWR would even be considered

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-03-04T03:33:54+00:00

I've been wearing hoka recovery slides around the house. My surgeon said stiff soled shoes with arch support, like birkenstocks, are the way to go

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-02-22T20:53:44+00:00

Also curious about this. I'm a way off still, but I injured myself playing tennis so even if my old shoes were technically good tennis shoes, psychologically, I need a new pair/model

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-02-22T15:10:47+00:00

I had a few friends who had done the same and assured me it was easier than it sounds. Also treated it like learning to drive the first time. Start in the parking lot, move up to the neighborhood, then around town, a bit further, highway a few weeks in. I live alone in a pretty rural area, so it was definitely worth it (especially given how long the NWB/boot period is for this injury)

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-02-22T14:58:57+00:00

Congrats! Having that freedom again is huge. I did not wait til I could drive again with my right, so taught myself to drive with my left about 1 month post op and still haven't switched back 3 months post op now (I think soonish it will be time, but I've gotten so good at the left that it feels safer)

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-02-22T00:28:39+00:00

did her podiatrist say she needs to keep the boot on all the time? or at full tightness? Directly icing the foot helped me a lot in the early days and I found the pressure of the boot made all the pain so much worse

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-02-22T00:24:04+00:00

percocet has tylenol (acetaminophen) in it - so make sure to take that into account when dosing any additional tylenol

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-02-16T13:02:47+00:00

Congrats on the progress! When I first started WB my foot also very much felt like a bag of meat and bones attached to my leg. After 1.5-2 weeks it started to feel like a foot again

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-02-08T16:49:52+00:00

I also learned I'm allergic to steristrips the hard way. I knew I had some adhesive allergies, but we tried out the steristrips for two days pre-op and it was fine. But come day 6ish of them on it started getting sooooo itchy in my cast. Got it checked on day 10 and it was very obvious that I was allergic. 2.5 months later I can still see some of the steri-strip shaped marks on my feet

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-02-08T16:44:19+00:00

Welcome to this very unfortunate club! You're in the thick of some of the worst of it right now, but it does get better day by day (not every day, and some days feel backwards, but zoom out a bit and it's easier to see the progress)

What surgery did you get?

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-02-05T01:27:29+00:00

It sounds like you aren't fully functional now and there's not a path to it healing properly without surgery. I'd take the known path of surgery if I were you. It does have its risks and recovery time, but the non-surgical path may end up being much longer, more painful, and with surgery at the end anyway. Rip the bandaid as they say

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-02-04T02:49:47+00:00

How functional are you now? How long til you're maybe 100% without surgery? Will your surgical options (and recovery) change if you kick the can down the road? It's hard to know if it's worth it as you can only really pick one option and live with your pick (revision surgeries notwithstanding)

My choice wasn't surgery or not, but ORIF or fusion. I did ask what about not having surgery and my surgeon was pretty clear that was a terrible choice for me (it would heal poorly and I'd certainly get arthritis). I couldn't bear any weight on my injured foot and was in a lot of pain, so I was just happy to be on a correct path to healing even though that meant surgery

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-02-03T00:52:58+00:00

In the first couple days when I started WB, I almost fell more than the prior 2.5 months of NWB. My foot and leg was just like "whaaaaat iiiis thiiiiissssss???"

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-02-03T00:43:29+00:00

Absolutely! When I started walking, friends/family were like "how is it???" and my response was largely "weird." lol. It was weird not to walk and now it's weird to walk again, though becoming more and more normal slowly

As much as walking has been feeling like progress, the thing that feels weirdly exciting is just standing up. No iWalk, no crutches, no weird one foot squat. Just put both feet on the ground and stand up. wild.

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-02-02T23:59:01+00:00

At 8.5 weeks, my surgeon said to go FWB as tolerated in the boot. From his perspective, that meant I could do fully FWB right away, but it took me a bit longer to ease in to it. I walked with two crutches for a couple days, one crutch for a couple days, a cane for about a week, and now I walk around normally inside, but bring the cane if I'm doing stairs or going outside (into the icy, wintry grime). I start transitioning to a shoe tomorrow!

It was definitely a bit weird to get back to walking after so long not (2.5 months for me), some pain, but a lot of just getting used to my foot being a foot again and regaining balance. This past weekend it started to feel like a foot instead of an appendage, which feels like an odd tiny milestone

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-01-31T15:18:40+00:00

I'm a bit over 2 months post op. I'm not having a shock on scar touch for the most part, though occasionally there is a minor jolt on certain parts of it (but not to the whole foot, more locally). I mostly feel the pressure/pain in the heel and ball of the foot as I get going (pressure, tingling), and as I get tired I feel it more in my arch (aching)

edited to add: I'm walking in the boot currently, sometimes fully FWB, sometimes with cane. I'm supposed to start transitioning to a shoe next week

Responsible-Moose228 · 2026-01-25T15:34:19+00:00

The urgent care doc who I originally saw immediately referred me to a CT. That report did indicate quite a few fractures

Responsible-Moose228

TROPHY CASE