Metatarsal Stress Fracture

[jadabug]

Oh my Cindy....you really do deserve a break...and not of the bone..Hope it heals quickly.

[DBlain]

what bone is broken, I broke the 5th metatarsal about 8 years ago, it is the very last bone on the outside of the foot, sort of on the side. It was clean break and I wore a cast that ended just below my knee for about 6-8 weeks but the bone never started to heal. After two months with no sign of healing the doctor wanted to put me in an EBS(electronic bone stimulator) but insurance made me wait another month. At three months with still no sign of healing I started wearing the EBS patch for 10 hours a day and a was in a walking cast until the bone finally healed, which took a total of 6 months. While it was a PITA walking around in cast and then a big lunky shoe boot it healed so well you would never know I broke it. I went to an ortho foot doctor and was glad he was honest and did not go the pin and screw route that a neighbor who was a podiatrist wanted to do. Eric the Podiatrist told me the day after my fall that I would need surgery and wanted to operate right away, I am glad I stuck to my gut feeling and saw an MD. I was in my late 40's when this happened and as you get older you don't have much blood flow in the foot so that's why healing can take longer, good luck and let us know what the doc says.

[DBlain]

one more thing, my friend around 50 broke her foot this past summer playing tennis, the same thing no healing and insurance wanted to wait to pay for the bone stimulator.
She wound up finding one on EBAY that had several hundred hours left for not much money, she bought that and used it until her insurance kicked in, it probably saved her about 6 weeks of recovery time. LOL I would never have thought you could find something like this on Ebay but when you get them from the insurance company you can keep them and there is usually a fair amount of time left on them when you are finished using them, so that might be something to consider to help you heal faster.

[chattiesmom]

I'm sorry, I forgot to post an update . Went to my favorite ortho, Dr. Terrell who confirmed that I have a closed fracture of the 3rd Metatarsal. It was barely visible on the xray, but there. Dr. Terrell specializes in extreme orthopeadics (Mission: POSSIBLE - William D. Terrell, M.D.) and took care of my leg reconstruction last year which included the Ilizarov technique for limb-lengthening, deformity correction. Part of my treatment was a bone stimulator. Thanks to your idea, I'll dust it off and use it on my poor aching foot.

[DBlain]

sounds like you sure have a great doc, wow that must have been some ordeal with your leg, glad I could give you a suggestion, LOL, it's not often one takes my opinion