Anyone here ever broken their foot?

[gardenista]

What was your recovery period like?

This is not a post seeking medical advice. I've been to the doctor, and have been treated. Just curious as to whether anyone else has been through a broken foot recovery.

Broke my 5th metatarsal, with one little section coming clean off. Dr. thinks that might never fuse back, but that I should be fully recovered in 3 months. That seems like such a long time....

I'm wondering how long others had to be on crutches.

Any experiences out there to share?

Thanks!

[ewagner]

1. Yes, I have

After the cast came off, I was fitted with a "metatarsal bar" on an old shoe...made getting around pretty easy....It wasn't the worst experience I've ever gone through but it was inconvenient as hell.

However...to this day, I can still feel the break in that foot.

[SharonAnn]

2. Yes, not fun with crutches during recovery, but I managed to work

full-time after a day or two at home with my foot (in a cast) elevated to reduce the swelling and the throbbing "discomfort".

I found out how often I pick up something to carry it, even if it'sjust room to room. That's really hard to do when you're on crutches. I carried one or more plastic bags with the string pull tops (plastic grocer bags would do) to carry things. The string handles allowed me to carry things while I was on crutches.

After it was healed and was allowed to walk without crutches, I had Very few problems. Of course, I was uch younger then (in my twenties).

[gardenista]

10. You're amazing! I could not have worked after a day or two, I was too

loopy from the pain killers.

Yeah, I came up with the bag solution, too. And I figured out that my ever-present water bottle can be carried, um, in my shirt. Cracks my husband up!

[livetohike]

3. I had a stress fracture in my foot

so I am not sure how relevant this is. It took a really long time to heal, because I couldn't stay off of my feet (I was an Elem. teacher at the time). By long, I mean it was over one year before I stopped having pain.

I hope your recovery time is much quicker than that.

[gardenista]

12. Thanks! I guess you're back to hiking now, at least I hope so!

I know what you mean about not being able to stay off it. I'm trying my hardest to do just that for the time being, and hoping that if I can stay off it in the next two weeks it will heal enough for me to be somewhat mobile when we go on vacation.

Thanks for preparing me for the pain over the next year. I wasn't really thinking about that, but I know it will probably be the case.

Darn...

[khashka]

4. My experience?

I broke my foot once (don't ask how it's really stupid) and most of my toes at various times. It does take a long time to heal. You shouldn't necessarily require crutches for "the full recovery time".

But you might not consider after 3 months that you are fully recovered. You might still have pain and weakness. When I broke my foot, I'd say it took almost a year before I started feeling like it was normal again. But I was only on crutches for about 3 weeks. Then weeks of favouring that foot because it hurt to walk on it - but I was able to get back to my normal routine with little or no problem

Your break sounds worse than mine.... but people heal at different rates, too. I've known people with worse breaks than mine who were on crutches for shorter than I was. And you don't necessarily have to use them all the time - at least not once the healing gets going. At home alone you can hobble around without them, if you are careful, after a certain point - but still ought to use them if you are going out in public and might get jostled and put too much weight on the bad foot.

Khash.

[gardenista]

8. Thanks, Khashka!

This helps me put it in perspective.

I'm still on crutches, going into week 2. Good to see you are back to normal, even after a year.

I hope that I do as well as you in getting off the crutches in three weeks.

I'm learning many new one-footed skills! Good hint on bringing the crutches when I'm out in public, though I haven't made it there yet.

[bertha katzenengel]

5. my experience is quite atypical, but i'll tell you about it anyway

I had the same fracture, but the part that was so hard to overcome was the severe sprain that accompanied it. I didn't have insurance so didn't get proper care. Ten years later, I've had surgery four times. The ankle is now fused so that I can never sprain it again.

My best advice to you is to do EXACTLY what the doctor tells you to do,* go to all PT appointments and apply yourself diligently, and do all home-PT follow-up religiously.

Good luck!

* especially if the doc tells you to stay off of it -- stay off! -- even thought it's such a huge pain

[gardenista]

9. Bertha, your post made me get it elevated again

Whew! Thanks!

I am so sorry that you had to get 4 surgeries. I will take your good advice and stay off of it, even though that is very hard in my line of work!

Guess I'll be getting all that paperwork done in the next month or so...

[bertha katzenengel]

32. you poor thing, I am so sorry you're living with this

It really sucks, I know it so well. :hug: I hope you have some help around you. Just know that sucking it up now will speed your recovery and help ensure you're back to full use of your foot! another :hug:

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

6. No idea here....

... but wishing you a speedy recovery!

[gardenista]

7. Thanks!

[ulysses]

11. broke my little toe couple of years ago.

Bent it at right angles to my foot on a rolled up carpet. It took a couple of weeks to not hurt any more.

Never done the foot, though.

[gardenista]

13. Ow.Ow.OW.

With toes, I guess they can just tape them together and hope for the best!

I was surprised to get a big cast/splint all the way up to my knee for just a broken foot.

[ulysses]

14. it hurt like a mother.

Yeah, tape's about it.

Sorry to hear about your foot. Did you drop something on it?

[gardenista]

15. Thanks. I stepped onto a floor that was about 10 inches lower than

my foot thought it was. Landed on the side of the foot, and heard a pop. Didn't fall down, but maybe that would have been better, I don't know...

Anyway, it hurt like hell and swelled up hugely. Or, Hughly, as the case may be.

You know it's bad when the doctor at the emergency room feels sorry for you...

[crispini]

17. That's EXACTLY what I did.

I walked around on it for a day before I got to the Dr.

Wow, that hurt.

[ulysses]

18. heh

You know it's bad when the doctor at the emergency room feels sorry for you...

This is true.

[crispini]

16. I broke the fourth metatarsal.

Spiral fracture -- came down wrong on the foot and twisted it. And, get this, this was when I was in training to be a Peace Corps Volunteer. So I had to do my student teaching on crutches, get around a strange country on crutches (buses and trains) and move to a new house on crutches. And believe you me, Thailand is not exactly handicapped friendly. Stairs everywhere, no ramps. And HOT. Omigod, try having a cast on your leg in the tropical humidity. It itched like a MF-er.

Actually, they gave me a walking cast, so I think I was only on crutches per se for a couple of weeks. After that I was able to peg around on the walking cast and just use the crutches when I needed to. Crutches suck! They totally hurt my arms to use. I think I was out of the cast in a couple of months.

Ah, good times, good times. :silly:

[gardenista]

19. Oh Man! Ok, I am going to stop feeling sorry for myself here and now.

I am amazed that you went through with your Peace Corps committment on crutches and in a cast! I can barely make it from the bed to my office to the bathroom!

Ow. Ow. I think your's was a little worse than mine. Yes, the crutches are a total pain. But a good upper body workout, I guess? And they've been handy for threatening my husband when he won't get me what I want, which has included bizarre food requests since the Vicodin makes me so nauseous.

You have my undying respect for making it through that situation on crutches!

:yourock:

[crispini]

21. Yeah, but I didn't have any piece of the bone

come clean OFF. Yours sounds worse in that way. I'm surprised they didn't recommend surgery for you. I mean, surgery for a nasty break is kinda kewl (I had a friend who broke her wrist and had surgery) because when they go in there and put those metal pins to pin the bone together, it's, like, instantly fixed! You can use it and everything! Or at least that's what her experience was like.

And, as far as my experience, well, I whined a lot to make up for it. :P

Hey, if they don't tell you? When they go to cut off the cast? They cut it off with a little zippy saw that only cuts the cast, not the skin. The doctor who cut my cast off neglected to tell me this, and I thought he was, like, using Black and Decker power tools. I nearly wet myself because while he was doing it, I felt something warm against my toe and was SURE he'd just gone and cut it off. That was actually the worst part of the whole experience, I just completely LOST it right there in the doctor's office! Hahahahahaha! it's funny NOW... :D

[gardenista]

23. OMG the SAWWWWWWW!!!!!

Thank God I don't have to go through that! They put a fiberglass splint around the back of my leg at the emergency room, and then wrapped everything in gauze, so I had a soft splint/cast thing. They took that off on Friday, and put me in one of those shoes with the velcro strips and the very hard sole. I have to wear it all the time, even when sleeping.

So I got lucky in the cast department. I guess in a way it's better that it broke off. It's kind of an extra piece that I guess is used mainly for balance, so if it's a few centimeters farther away than the rest of the bone, I guess it doesn't matter.

My main problem with the latest visit was that, as the doctor is showing me this skeletal foot thing, and pointing out exactly where the break is, I'm getting these shooting pains right in the spot he's pointing out, like it's some kind of VOODOO FOOT! It was freaky! Next time I will not allow the voodoo foot near me!

So although I have a dangling piece of bone, I think yours was worse. No real cast for me, even...

It's amazing that people can just go on and use their appendages right after surgery. Incredible!

[benny05]

20. no, but I have a torn up knee at the moment

and I cannot put any stress on the knee or foot until further notice. I had a doctor today who read the results of my MRI, but have to see a specialist next week--90 miles away.

good luck with your healing. Personally, I'd love a real beer right now, but have been sticking with NA beers since I'm likely to have surgery in the near future. Knee hurts and looks like hades though!:yoiks:

[gardenista]

24. Ow, Benny! Wishing you a quick recovery and good news from

the specialist.

90 miles is a long way to drive in your condition. Hoping you have somebody to drive you...

Maybe, like Crispini said upthread, surgery is a better option than just letting it heal naturally.

[Reverend_Smitty]

22. Sounds like you have an avulsion fracture

You probably ripped off the section of your bone where the peroneal muscle attaches, it's actually a quite common injury. My aunt broke her's 2 years ago on Memorial day and I know she had a cast on her foot almost until August. Even now she still gets a little pain if she moves her ankle a certain way. The problem with foot injuries is that they are so hard to keep immobilized like an arm. I wish you a speedy recovery because they can be a pain in the butt to heal.

[gardenista]

25. Thanks, Rev_Smitty!

I'm actually pretty lucky that I'm not even in a cast anymore. Was in a soft splint/cast setup but not plaster, and was taken out of that on Friday. Now am putting a little weight on it with crutches.

Wow, a cast from Memorial Day until August, just sounds very tough.

Hoping that I am somewhat mobile for vacation at the end of the month.

[skygazer]

26. Broke my foot in 1979

When I was 18. I was drunk, and wearing clogs and it was about 1 in the morning and I had the bright idea to challenge a friend to a footrace on a very uneven sidewalk. Didn't work well.

I twisted my foot, went ass over teakettle, got up, kept running, beat the guy and limped back to the bar. Once I sat down, I couldn't stand up so I spent the night at a friend's place who lived next door.

Thought I'd just sprained my ankle badly. The following morning, I could not put my foot down but I had to go to work - I worked at a greyhound track training dogs and you don't just call in sick at a job like that - there's no one else to do it.

So for the next several weeks, I literally hopped around. My foot swelled way up and turned some spectacular colors and it finally dawned on me that I may have done some real damage. By then, though, the pain was actually starting to lessen so I never went to a doc since I had no insurance (I took care of the pain with liberal doses of Butazolin - a pain killer primarily used in animals - and lots of alcohol).

Several years later, I had my foot x-rayed because I'd twisted the ankle (again) and the doc wanted to ensure nothing was broken and he was kind of surprised to see it had been broken before. Eventually it healed but there's a nice calcium deposit on the side of it, it's somewhat crooked and it aches when it's going to rain.

Sorry to hear about yours - at least you had the sense to see a doctor! :hi:

[gardenista]

28. Running in clogs...

Yep, I don't know how many times I've done that, but got away with it.

Wow, it sounds like you were young and a fast healer, luckily, and I'm sure glad the pain killer/alcohol combo didn't backfire on you. Ah, to be young and clueless and uninsured.... I've white-knuckled it through some other injuries, myself.

I guess the aching when it's going to rain thing will be handy for the future...

This time 'round, I had no choice but to get to the emergency room, I couldn't walk at all. Had to wait at the entrance for a wheel chair, which made me feel very dorky, not because I don't like whell chairs, but because I felt like I was over-dramatizing. But I wasn't, turns out.

I guess our bodies let us know what's going on and don't let us get away with ignoring them.

[skygazer]

30. I was definitely young and foolish

And it did hurt like hell and I was not able to put my foot down at all. I'd turn my dogs out in the pen and they'd all crowd around sniffing at my foot because I had it in a large boot since my regular shoe wouldn't fit over the swelling. Just their little noses sniffing made it feel like bolts of lightning were coursing up and down my leg and I'd hold onto the fence so I could hop around - it was all very ludicrous. It was really very foolish of me not to go to a doctor but this is the same person who worked with a case of bronchitis so severe that I had to go to the emergency room between the afternoon and evening race card for an oxygen treatment. Then I went back to the track in time for the night's races.

I know what you mean about feeling like you're over-dramatizing. I fell off a horse 6 years ago and broke my 1st lumbar vertabra. I really didn't think I'd hurt myself badly - thought I'd just bruised my tailbone - but it hurt and I thought maybe I'd get some decent painkillers and a note for work if I went to the doc. Felt a little silly going to the emergency room, though it was very painful. Turns out I'd broken my back so it was a good think I went. :shrug:

I guess I'm still pretty numb...

[gardenista]

31. You are a resilient person!

Wow, that is a lot for your bod to go through in one lifetime, my friend!

You seem no worse for wear, tho!

Now that is dedication, going back to work after the oxygen treatment!

[Sanity Claws]

27. I never even had to use crutches

Maybe my story will give you hope. I broke one bone in my foot. (Forgot which bone.) After a couple of days I was able to hobble around on flat shoes. By the fifth week, I was able to roller blade, although I felt pain while trying to get my foot into the boot. By the sixth week, I was fine, no pain, nothing. The only thing that lingered was that I couldn't wiggle a couple of toes on that foot for a while.
Just a story to let you know things could go very smoothly for you.

[gardenista]

29. Yay, now there is a ray of light!

I hope I can have a smooth recovery similar to yours!

Lucky you! If only I could just be in flat shoes for my vacation!

[William Bloode]

33. Yup,

Back in the 8th-9th grade i laid out of school. Went to the park with a friend who drove. We got all high, and i decided to hold on too the hood while he did donuts in the parking lot.

Good times, good times :headbang:

I was young so recovery was fast. I got a cast and was off my foot for maybe 2wks, then for the next 4-5 i was 1/2 using a crutch 1/2 walking till it was removed.

[dannofoot]

34. How old are you?

I went through the reply's, and didn't see that question asked. Unfortunately, that sometimes plays a big role.

While carrying my six-month old out to the car on an icy January day, I slipped. I tightened my grip around him, and fell on my left ankle. Broke it, blew out the ligaments in my instep.

The ER doc said that if I had been a few years younger (like 30), he could set it and wrap it. But at the age of 36, it required 6 pins, a metal plate, and the rebuilding of my instep. The walking cast finally came off in May.

My advice...keep that walking boot on as long as your docs advise. Gently stretch your foot, and I mean gently. I set myself back quite some time by overstretching. Assuming you have a good orthopod, take your doc's advice, and don't try to hurry your rehab!

[William Bloode]

36. If you are inquiring my age,

I am 38 now, and that was back in the early 80's. I was 14 then, recovery was quick and easy for me back then. I am sure now it would not be so smooth.

[KitchenWitch]

35. My son broke 3 4 and 5 metatarsals earlier this year

Needed pins and was on crutches (but light weight bearing) for about 9 weeks.