Metatarsal bone in foot - Foot Problems Message Board

Audrey-B · 04-26-2006, 04:51 AM

A friend of mine broke her metatarsal bone in her foot and then got the run around from doctors saying it wasn't broken go home and rest, all the way to a doctor getting the cast wrong when she put a cast on her leg. Needless to say this bone has taken ages to heal and even after the cast came off she had a doctor massage the foot to bring circulation back and told her to walk around which resulted in a fracture or some such thing and she then had to wear a cam walker. She has been out of action for nearly 3 months now.

One doctor has told her that this bone heals without a problem, while another has told her that this bone heals with difficulty.

She thinks she has been unlucky due to getting very bad care from doctors who have dealt with her. The first lot of plaster she had on her leg, the doctor didn't even know how to plaster the leg and my friend had to help this doctor. My friend is 53 and would like to know what other people's experiences have been with breaking this particular bone.

john the bomb · 04-27-2006, 02:17 PM

Your friend is getting the business from the doctors.The metatarsals(5 in each foot) are the bones in the forefoot.The fracture should have been casted for about 6 weeks and then reevaluated.Is she in a lot of pain?If so,there may be a situation where the bones did not fuse adequately.Keep me informed..I am a podiatrist!

Audrey-B · 05-02-2006, 06:02 AM

Thanks for your reply. Yes she is in pain, but also worries that her toes turn purple at times. She simply isn't comfortable and getting mixed messages from varying doctors doesn't help.

She was in the cast for 5 weeks and has been in a cam walker for 6 weeks. She is going back to the doctor for an evaluation next week.

Her main query was whether this bone should take quite this long to heal. I believe she said that she broke her 5th metatarsal.

mar55 · 05-03-2006, 05:05 AM

I broke my 5th metatarsal last August. The orthopedic doctor was concerned that it would not heal because the 5th metatarsal does not get good blood supply and the chance that it would not heal was possible. If it did not heal, surgery was going to be the next step. I wore a cast for 4 weeks and then went back for x-rays. Mine was starting to heal and I could proceed with my recovery. However, if it did not, I was going to have surgery. So your orthopedic doctor does know what he is talking about, and I would listen to him.

kimann · 05-03-2006, 05:20 AM

I'm curious for the sake of a friend, and wonder if John The Bomb might have a thought? Several years ago, a girlfriend got her foot run over by a loaded pallet jack at work. Many small bones were literally crushed, so there was no effort to repair them. The company, BIG MONEY, paid for xrays in er, a walking cast, a handful of painkillers, and put her back on the line 3 days later, "There is no 'light duty' here." In order to reenter the workplace, she had to get a release, for which she signed off on the tx, as the Docs told her there was nothing they could do.
Nowadays she is better employed, has insurance, and suffers pain. Is it possible to repair some of the bigger bones at this late date? Or is she stuck with the way things are? Kim