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Sunday, June 25, 2017

Metatarsal Fractures: Email Advice

I broke my feet (age 54 female with a great diet raw and grass fed only) and walked on them for four months orginaly at Christmas building fence using my feet in a way I should not have.  (lever)

 Upon x-ray last week after resting weight free for three weeks it showed the breaks and white line on my fifth where it was said to have started healing.    Broken: 5th and 4th metatarsals on left and 4th on my right foot.  My  Chiropractor  took the xrays and put me on a vibation machine for a bit but it was a killer.  I think I re-injured them with that or at least it felt like it.   Then I got the great idea to swim just the next day.  Not moving them but a bit. Then the next morning did a stretch a couple of times touching my toes and it felt like my tendons were going to pop out of my feet. 

My feet were in cam boots but that squished them too much. The pain is right at the tendon attachment on both feet. Right where the  Peroneus Brevis tendon inserts into the 5th matatarsal bone on the outside of the foot.  So i ordered the flat shoe you wear next and that is far more agreeable.  I have no insurance and live in a small town with no podiatrist I trust. I was just wondering since I walked on them so long after they were broken could i have also damaged this tendon on both feet?
Dr Blake's comment: Possible yes, probably no. Usually only with a severe fall. When the tendon is injured, it hurts back to the ankle, and sometimes, up the leg. Usually no localized. 

 I probably only had stress fractures as I only had pain on the right the lesser break but I did not know until it got to the point I could not walk then I gave in and figured they must be broken...Then the x-ray after three weeks with them up.  I have been doing the hot and cold baths and have a used Exogen on they way.  How long should i stay non weight bearing.  
Dr Blake's comment: You want to create the 0-2 pain level, but gradually weight bear to build bone strength. Inside the shoe you can take 1/8th adhesive felt (like from mooremedical.com) and build a base that has a float for the fractures. Need alittle experimentation, but important for weight shifting and gets you walking faster. 

A second hand exogen dealer gave me your blog and I have read about the hot cold stretching.  How soon can I do that?
Dr Blake's comment: You can use ice pack for 10 minutes twice daily now, and begin each evening with one minute hot one minute cold alternating for 20 minutes. It is not stretching, but range of motion in the hot water with your foot. You can start that now. 
   Also the good pain bad pain I am so unsure at this point.  can you please help with some advice?  It has been six days  since the x-rays and vibrator machine.  a couple since stretching. 
Dr Blake's comment: Bad pain is pain that is above level 3 that you ignore and push through. An occasional sharp pain that last 10-30 seconds is nothing. If you start doing something that starts to hurt, you have to listen to your body and stop. If you do something that does not hurt until later or the next day, you have to wait to the pain subsides for a day, before you can do the same activity. Since this is a bone problem, at some point consider a Vit D blood test, and a Bone Density Screening Test. Hope this helps some. Rich

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Thank you very much for leaving a comment. Due to my time restraints, some comments may not be answered.I will answer questions that I feel will help the community as a whole.. I can only answer medical questions in a general form. No specific answers can be given. Please consult a podiatrist, therapist, orthopedist, or sports medicine physician in your area for specific questions.