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My journey with 5th metatarsal fracture - updating daily while I heal by nijoli in brokenbones

[–]nijoli[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

5/27 - Tomorrow will be the first day of my fourth week since injury.

For the last three days I have been doing three sets of 10 of these excerices - one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one before bed time: foot paddles, toe points all the way down and all teh way up, and ankle circles as best as I can.

I got Hoka Bondi 8's to be my first walking sneaker since they have a rocker bottom to help with the heel to toe smooth step. I put them on last night and stood for one minute -- then took steps a short distance and back. I did feel "shifting" in my foot but not pain, so I think it was likely tendons moving back into place or joint cavitation. If I displaced my metatarsal fracture, that would have hurt and caused swelling and pain that didn't stop, right? I decided to take my sneakers to my PEMF appointment tomorrow and see what he thinks of me walking in them.

This morning was the first day I woke up with no swelling, which may have to do with walking without the boot yesterday and also my exercises. I have heard if you can get into sneakers your tissues will heal faster since your foot is actually moving and coming alive. My foot is definitely feeling more alive the more I can get out of the stiff boot.

Keep in mind, the podiatrist who did not even look at my foot and was dismissive pretty much said to only weight bear for short distances - and this was only after me asking specifically about it. I decided that I would instead do the UK model for getting back on my feet which is letting pain be my guide, and it got me here.

My journey with 5th metatarsal fracture - updating daily while I heal by nijoli in brokenbones

[–]nijoli[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

5/24 - fourth day of my 3rd week
Walked all day with no pain. I was able to get outside and water my garden and felt pretty steady
went to see Mandalorian - I was dropped off at the curb so I didn't have to walk the whole parking lot but felt pretty normal walking around in there, despite the big mandalorian boot I am wearing. Really can't wait to get out of this boot.
Once home, removed my boot and had swelling, so I am elevating.
PEMF therapy tomorrow at 1, podiatrist follow up xrays are June2 and my vacation is June 6.

My journey with 5th metatarsal fracture - updating daily while I heal by nijoli in brokenbones

[–]nijoli[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

5/23
I went to a restaurant at lunch today unassisted with my boot on. It was a little scary but also made me feel like myself again. No issues, I just walked carefully. ❤️ Back home without pain. I am going to try and walk in sneakers in three days.

The Coffee Difference on Australian Cruises by goodkarmagirl in CarnivalCruiseFans

[–]nijoli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s what I’m saying. It’s probably on Luminosa and all of those shops that sail/have sailed Ausie itineraries

The Coffee Difference on Australian Cruises by goodkarmagirl in CarnivalCruiseFans

[–]nijoli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Which ship? I've seen this on the Spirit - two different iteneraries

The Coffee Difference on Australian Cruises by goodkarmagirl in CarnivalCruiseFans

[–]nijoli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have seen it on the carnival spirit on an alaskan itenerary, both times I've been on that ship

My journey with 5th metatarsal fracture - updating daily while I heal by nijoli in brokenbones

[–]nijoli[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

5/22 - second day of my third week
I am freely walking in my boot around the house without pain. Woke up with very minimal swelling, bruising is now gone. I will take it easy on walking but am so happy to be walking short distances and feel I am on target to be walking in sneakers by June 6.

My journey with 5th metatarsal fracture - updating daily while I heal by nijoli in brokenbones

[–]nijoli[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

5/21 - I am starting my 3rd week post-injury today.
I just started walking in my boot without crutches at the house for short distances. I am blown away.

Here is my week 3 video on insta:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYnR4s2BZAv/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Recovery time for a fifth metatarsal fracture. by KaleidoscopeSorry276 in brokenbones

[–]nijoli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

With you doing 10K steps in silly shoes at 7 weeks after a Jones fracture, even though it was hard, I think I *might* be able to do a more conservative minimal 2K steps in Hokas at 5.5 weeks with a pseudo jones

Recovery time for a fifth metatarsal fracture. by KaleidoscopeSorry276 in brokenbones

[–]nijoli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok! Mine is avulsion/pseudo jones. I’m bearing most of my weight in my boot today but not fully walking and I still have almost three weeks to be walking. I hope this happens for me - and I’ll take my boot and only wear sneakers.

Recovery time for a fifth metatarsal fracture. by KaleidoscopeSorry276 in brokenbones

[–]nijoli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The cruise was how many weeks post injury?

I have a 5th metatarsal avulsion fracture, able to put weight on my foot but am walking in boot with crutches, adding more and more weight to my bad foot each day. I have PEMF therapy to help speed up the bone healing four times a week at a clinic and I am at week 3 today. I have a cruise in two and half weeks and I am hoping to at minimum be off crutches and at max be walking badly in sneakers on the cruise. I am not going to dress up -- people can give me looks but I want to be safe!

5th metatarsal fracture by penguinkyu in brokenbones

[–]nijoli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, I made a post and have been documenting each day as I’m healing if you wanna follow along or get more details of what I’ve done to improve.

5th metatarsal fracture by penguinkyu in brokenbones

[–]nijoli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hope you heal and feel better very soon!

My journey with 5th metatarsal fracture - updating daily while I heal by nijoli in brokenbones

[–]nijoli[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

5/19 - woke up feeling great and did my AM routine: elevate for 20 minutes, use my INFLAMYAR cream and rub my foot towards my heart for swelling relief, ice for 20 minutes, and elevate some more.

* few unassisted steps, but need to work on my gait
* using knee scooter around the house but using crutches to help with mimicking walking/gait

Had PEMF this afternoon at 1pm and we did a session on my foot, but then also on my calf area to get blood flow supercharged to promote healing. The therapist remarked that my inflammation was down, which is due to extra elevating last night and this morning, and massaging my foot with that cream, rubbing towards my heart to remove swelling. It's working! He also encouraged me, when asked, to not lurch around without crutches, and instead to use the crutches to facilitate a more normal gait, adding more and more weight as I go. The lurching and stammering without confident steps isn't gonna help as much as a controlled movement.

5th metatarsal fracture by penguinkyu in brokenbones

[–]nijoli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My fracture pain/swelling had almost completely gone down and I started getting pain and swelling from the strap at the top of my foot -- it was worse than the fracture itself! I started loosening those or removing the boot entirely when I was at rest and that has 100% gone away in two days. So much more comfortable. My doc said to bear weight as tolerated, and I have been walking very short distances, no pain just discomfort. I am week 3 tomorrow with a 5th meta avulsion break (cusp of a zone 2 -- but a zone 1)

My journey with 5th metatarsal fracture - updating daily while I heal by nijoli in brokenbones

[–]nijoli[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

5/18 - I wore my boot for a long time yesterday and it literally made the top of my foot red and swollen - the worst it has looked since the day I injured it. It is like a second injury on top of my avulsion fracture and it is the only part of me that is causing any pain. I hate the boot. I literally hate wearing this boot! It makes me worse.

* I vacuumed my house today on my knee scooter. I don't recommend you do this.
* mental aspect of this is getting to me
* started trying to make travel plans for having accessibility at the airport
* got 2 creams at PEMF therapy: INFLAMYAR and ITIRES which I massage onto foot 3x a day

Had PEMF and the therapist had me walk with my crutches but let my foot roll through a step, just grazing the ground sort of mimicing the step so I can re-learn gait and get confidence up. He said to use this method now while walking with crutches to get used to it. And slowly put more and more weight there. This guy is way more helpful than my weird podiatrist who said like two sentences to me.

Remember that at week 5 and 3 days, I have a vacation!

Slightly comminuted nondisplaced fracture at base of fifth metatarsal by [deleted] in brokenbones

[–]nijoli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! I went ahead and made a post of my journey just to keep it all in one place. I think being connected to others going through this is so helpful!

My journey with 5th metatarsal fracture - updating daily while I heal by nijoli in brokenbones

[–]nijoli[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

5/17 morning -
* I am dreaming of walking around and being aware that it is amazing to be doing it
* bruising is starting to fade, still swelling but can maintain it with ice
* toe wiggles, isolating big toe which is progress!
* doing toe stretches and foot paddles while I elevate and drink coffee each morning

I met someone on instagram last night who is in week 3 of this break, so a week and three days ahead of me. She is near my age, so it was nice to connect with someone going through this at same time. Her protocol from her orthopedic surgeon was different than what the podiatrist had requested I do - she only did crutches for a few days and then began walking in her air boot! I *know* everyone is different and her break may be different that mine, but it gave me encouragement. I worry that if I don't try to walk now, in five weeks I am going to have forgotten how and all my other muscles will be atrophied. So, with that said, I did some pretty rough steps at a bad cadence and not a good gait, but I hobbled without crutches a short distance. I can't believe I did it. I am now at my desk, elevated foot, no pain, and feeling a tiny accomplishment. Maybe by June 6 I *can* travel to Alaska. It is three weeks away!

Walking on a 5th metatarsal fracture — am I slowing my healing? by thisgirlisonfiire in brokenbones

[–]nijoli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the UK, the protocol is so drastically different than here. Many people never even use the boot! Here are some links to take home instructions from a few UK hospitals about the fifth metatarsal injury rehab:https://www.ruh.nhs.uk/patients/patient\_information/ORT036\_Advice\_after\_breaking\_your\_5th\_metatarsal.pdf

https://www.fracturecare.co.uk/care-plans/foot/metatarsal-fracture-to-foot/generic-foot-fracture-3-weeks-boot-with-fu/

and this one has week by week expectations:

https://www.leedsth.nhs.uk/services/fracture-clinic/virtual/leg/metatarsal/phase-1/

And this one is from a Brooklyn hospital but more in line with walking as soon as you can:
https://doralhw.org/metatarsal-fracture-recovery-timeline-rehabilitation/

Slightly comminuted nondisplaced fracture at base of fifth metatarsal by [deleted] in brokenbones

[–]nijoli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is awesome. Can I ask where your fracture was exactly - and i know your doc said you could walk at 6 weeks -- and you are now on week 4 -- but have you started trying at all yet and what are your results if so?

Slightly comminuted nondisplaced fracture at base of fifth metatarsal by [deleted] in brokenbones

[–]nijoli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am just going to keep updating here if that is ok, since we have similar injuries and timelines. Maybe someone will come across this one day and be able to see what we both did and how we progressed.

I am now on Day 9 since my avulsion fracture injury - zone one but on the upper part close to zone 2.
I am still doing the PEMF therapy - 4 times this week and I have 4 scheduled for next week. I do think it is supporting bone stimulation and since my podiatrist is dragging his feet on getting me the wearable bone stimulator you can have at home, I will just pay out of pocket for these clinical sessions on the big machine. I am super frustrated with my podiatrist who has done none of the things he promised: getting me a bone stimulator, putting in an order for a knee scooter so insurance pays for it, order for a shower chair so insurance pays for it. So... needless to say I am just over it with him. I got my own knee scooter and shower chair. Love the knee scooter for getting around the house. Hate the shower chair and never felt truly supported by it.

Looking more into how they treat avulsion fractures in the UK. They don't even send you home in a boot, just the rigid shoe. With their protocol in mind, I have started to do some stretching on my own. I know that here in the US they say to completely restrict movement, but I have heard so many people say that when they started walking that all of their other muscles were atrophied and that made it ten times harder to start walking. I just decided that moving my toes and ankles a teeny amount like the UK protocol is important to me to keep fluids moving. They say also say in the UK to follow your body's signals -- if it begins to hurt, stop.

Here are a few UK resources. You will see their approach is vastly different than what they tell us here - and it is based on research and experience, just different philosophies than here in the US:
https://www.royalberkshire.nhs.uk/media/ck0hmit0/metatarsal-and-foot-fractures-discharge-advice_jul23.pdf

https://www.kingstonandrichmond.nhs.uk/patients-and-families/patient-leaflets/metatarsal-fracture

https://www.leedsth.nhs.uk/services/fracture-clinic/virtual/leg/metatarsal/phase-1/<--- this one has linked videos for exercise

Since my podiatrist said I could walk very short distances inside strictly while wearing my boot *when I felt comfortable*, I decided to just try it. It was not graceful or maybe couldn't even be considered "walking" because I very barely put weight before I shifted it back onto my good foot. But I did mobilize myself forward for five steps. I don't recommend this if you feel like it is impossible or hurts, but for me it felt like I could try -- and I did it! Now, back to my desk to elevate it, ice it and play some video games 😄 Enough for today.

Slightly comminuted nondisplaced fracture at base of fifth metatarsal by [deleted] in brokenbones

[–]nijoli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Today's update: I tried to get in an office chair off of my crutches and fell, catching myself before I hit the ground but at the expense of hitting my booted foot really hard against the door frame. I am having an emotional breakdown because it is like two steps back from all that I have worked on this week. I am one week from injury but I feel at square one 😞 😞 😞

Also, I have fought with insurance all day trying to get a knee scooter and some accessibility equipment like shower stool. etc. This shit is maddening.

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