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Date: 28 Oct 2006 12:12:40
From: Marcus Holmes
Subject: recovery time for metatarsal fracture?
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Hi all,
I fractured my 2nd metatarsal during the Chicago Marathon this year.
The doc said I likely had the beginnings of a stress fracture during my
taper (which I didn't notice because I didn't run long enough in the
taper for it to become a problem) and then over the course of 26 miles
it eventually gave out.
In any event, the doc has me in a walking cast for 2 weeks, at which
point he'll take another x-ray and see if we can continue recovery in
normal shoes. He's optimistic that the cast can come off after only 2
weeks.
Has anyone gone through this before? Any thoughts on the recovery time,
particularly once the cast comes off? It'll nice to be able to do some
cross-training!
Thanks,
Marcus
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Date: 28 Oct 2006 23:12:36
From: Dominic Shields
Subject: Re: recovery time for metatarsal fracture?
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On 28 2006 12:12:40 -0700, "Marcus Holmes"
<marcus.holmes@gmail.com > wrote:
>Has anyone gone through this before? Any thoughts on the recovery time,
>particularly once the cast comes off? It'll nice to be able to do some
>cross-training!
Wayne Rooney of Manchester United broke a metatarsal on 29 April 2006
and came on in England's World Cup Finals match against Trinidad and
Tobago on 15 June 2006, I make that 47 days to return to top flight
Football.
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Date: 28 Oct 2006 13:49:49
From: Al Bundy
Subject: Re: recovery time for metatarsal fracture?
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Marcus Holmes wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I fractured my 2nd metatarsal during the Chicago Marathon this year.
> The doc said I likely had the beginnings of a stress fracture during my
> taper (which I didn't notice because I didn't run long enough in the
> taper for it to become a problem) and then over the course of 26 miles
> it eventually gave out.
>
> In any event, the doc has me in a walking cast for 2 weeks, at which
> point he'll take another x-ray and see if we can continue recovery in
> normal shoes. He's optimistic that the cast can come off after only 2
> weeks.
>
> Has anyone gone through this before? Any thoughts on the recovery time,
> particularly once the cast comes off? It'll nice to be able to do some
> cross-training!
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Marcus
I've had three of them at different times. One was a complete fracture
because I kept running on it. I gave them two weeks before walking and
a third week before running. I had no cast, only duct tape. Those
injuries never returned.
One of mine was due to stepping on a sharp rock with badly worn shoes
and the two others were caused by home made orthotics. Try to identify
what caused the problem to begin with and if there is any doubt, run
with different shoes.
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Date: 28 Oct 2006 12:45:04
From: Marcus Holmes
Subject: Re: recovery time for metatarsal fracture?
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> I know people who've done this. Without knowing anything about your condition,
> I'd wildly guess 6 weeks minimum, probably more like 8-10 weeks. It will improve
> more quickly if you immobilize it, my friends had a plastic cast on it for
> several weeks.
Thanks for that tidbit. I might ask for a removable air-cast or
something similar to keep it immobilized as much as possible once the
walking cast comes off. I'll just take it off to shower, exercise
(non-weight bearing obviously), and stuff like that.
At least this injury happened after the marathon when I'm supposed to
be resting anyway!
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Date: 28 Oct 2006 19:30:29
From: Elflord
Subject: Re: recovery time for metatarsal fracture?
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On 2006-10-28, Marcus Holmes <marcus.holmes@gmail.com > wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I fractured my 2nd metatarsal during the Chicago Marathon this year.
> The doc said I likely had the beginnings of a stress fracture during my
> taper (which I didn't notice because I didn't run long enough in the
> taper for it to become a problem) and then over the course of 26 miles
> it eventually gave out.
>
> In any event, the doc has me in a walking cast for 2 weeks, at which
> point he'll take another x-ray and see if we can continue recovery in
> normal shoes. He's optimistic that the cast can come off after only 2
> weeks.
>
> Has anyone gone through this before? Any thoughts on the recovery time,
> particularly once the cast comes off? It'll nice to be able to do some
> cross-training!
I know people who've done this. Without knowing anything about your condition,
I'd wildly guess 6 weeks minimum, probably more like 8-10 weeks. It will improve
more quickly if you immobilize it, my friends had a plastic cast on it for
several weeks.
Again I don't know about your circumstances, but you'll have some way to go after
those 2 weeks.
Cheers,
--
Elflord
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Date: 29 Oct 2006 06:28:04
From: Marcus Holmes
Subject: Re: recovery time for metatarsal fracture?
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> I had an acute fracture on the neck of my 3rd metatarsal. This
> happened in the turn of a tight indoor track, where I'm told the inside
> foot encounters higher forces. Combined with being a new runner, the
> cause was determined to be "too much too soon".
That is very interesitng. As it turns out, during my taper week I did 3
miles at a new indoor track (a small one, 8 times around for a mile),
because I thought the cushoning would be good for the taper.
Maybe all those turns turned out to be the straw that started to break
the camel's back..
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Date: 29 Oct 2006 06:16:22
From: Al Bundy
Subject: Re: recovery time for metatarsal fracture?
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mk_reef@yahoo.com wrote:
> Marcus Holmes wrote:
>
> > I fractured my 2nd metatarsal during the Chicago Marathon
> > this year. The doc said I likely had the beginnings of a
> > stress fracture during my taper (which I didn't notice
> > because I didn't run long enough in the taper for it to
> > become a problem) and then over the course of 26 miles
> > it eventually gave out.
>
> I had an acute fracture on the neck of my 3rd metatarsal. This
> happened in the turn of a tight indoor track, where I'm told the inside
> foot encounters higher forces. Combined with being a new runner, the
> cause was determined to be "too much too soon".
>
> > In any event, the doc has me in a walking cast for 2 weeks, at
> > which point he'll take another x-ray and see if we can continue
> > recovery in normal shoes. He's optimistic that the cast can
> > come off after only 2 weeks.
>
> Wow, that sounds like a great diagnosis. My doc told me 6 weeks and it
> ended up being 8 weeks. I had a soft cast/boot.
>
> I was told it wouldn't heel properly and I would reinjure it unless I
> kept the boot on for at least 6 weeks. Then when I finally got the
> boot off and we took more x-rays, my foot had major osteoporosis, which
> wasn't there 8 weeks prior in the original x-ray. So I had to use the
> foot and put my weight on it and start building the bone density back,
> but be careful because the osteoporosis had weakened all the bones in
> my foot. Doc was surprised at how bad it was from just 8 weeks of
> inactivity on that foot.
>
> > Has anyone gone through this before? Any thoughts on the recovery
> > time, particularly once the cast comes off? It'll nice to be able to do
> > some cross-training!
>
> I didn't get cleared to ride a bike until 6 weeks. And after 8 weeks,
> I was in no shape to run. I couldn't stand on one leg and left my body
> weight up by flexing my foot and going up on my toes. It took another
> 3-4 weeks to get that strength back and only then was I able to start
> some slow jogging.
>
> Basically the whole injury took a lot more recovery than I had
> expected. I thought I would be running again in 6-8 weeks. Oddly, my
> dor didn't recommend any physical therapy. I was told there were a
> lot of exercises I could have been doing to build up the strength in
> that foot and lower leg (my calf muscle visibly gone).
>
> Good luck!
I think your experience only confirms the more current theory and that
is that the less time off, the better. There are cases where a bone
just won's mend, but these are rare and I'm guessing more rare among
active runners. A dor has nothing to lose and everything to gain by
telling you it will take 6-8 weeks. Generally, more time should not
hurt, but in fact it sometimes does. You as patient are the one in
charge. You can decide to go by how you feel and find what works for
you. A stress fracture is not life threatening. My feeling is that a
dor works for me. I'll weigh what he says and make my own judgment.
Most of the time, I won't even see a dor in the first place because
these things come along too often and you can learn how to cope.
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Date: 28 Oct 2006 22:53:27
From:
Subject: Re: recovery time for metatarsal fracture?
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Marcus Holmes wrote:
> I fractured my 2nd metatarsal during the Chicago Marathon
> this year. The doc said I likely had the beginnings of a
> stress fracture during my taper (which I didn't notice
> because I didn't run long enough in the taper for it to
> become a problem) and then over the course of 26 miles
> it eventually gave out.
I had an acute fracture on the neck of my 3rd metatarsal. This
happened in the turn of a tight indoor track, where I'm told the inside
foot encounters higher forces. Combined with being a new runner, the
cause was determined to be "too much too soon".
> In any event, the doc has me in a walking cast for 2 weeks, at
> which point he'll take another x-ray and see if we can continue
> recovery in normal shoes. He's optimistic that the cast can
> come off after only 2 weeks.
Wow, that sounds like a great diagnosis. My doc told me 6 weeks and it
ended up being 8 weeks. I had a soft cast/boot.
I was told it wouldn't heel properly and I would reinjure it unless I
kept the boot on for at least 6 weeks. Then when I finally got the
boot off and we took more x-rays, my foot had major osteoporosis, which
wasn't there 8 weeks prior in the original x-ray. So I had to use the
foot and put my weight on it and start building the bone density back,
but be careful because the osteoporosis had weakened all the bones in
my foot. Doc was surprised at how bad it was from just 8 weeks of
inactivity on that foot.
> Has anyone gone through this before? Any thoughts on the recovery
> time, particularly once the cast comes off? It'll nice to be able to do
> some cross-training!
I didn't get cleared to ride a bike until 6 weeks. And after 8 weeks,
I was in no shape to run. I couldn't stand on one leg and left my body
weight up by flexing my foot and going up on my toes. It took another
3-4 weeks to get that strength back and only then was I able to start
some slow jogging.
Basically the whole injury took a lot more recovery than I had
expected. I thought I would be running again in 6-8 weeks. Oddly, my
dor didn't recommend any physical therapy. I was told there were a
lot of exercises I could have been doing to build up the strength in
that foot and lower leg (my calf muscle visibly gone).
Good luck!
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Date: 29 Oct 2006 23:48:45
From: Tim Downie
Subject: Re: recovery time for metatarsal fracture?
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"Marcus Holmes" <marcus.holmes@gmail.com > wrote in message
news:1162062760.612112.19000@e3g2000cwe.googlegroups.com...
> Hi all,
>
> I fractured my 2nd metatarsal during the Chicago Marathon this year.
> The doc said I likely had the beginnings of a stress fracture during my
> taper (which I didn't notice because I didn't run long enough in the
> taper for it to become a problem) and then over the course of 26 miles
> it eventually gave out.
>
> In any event, the doc has me in a walking cast for 2 weeks, at which
> point he'll take another x-ray and see if we can continue recovery in
> normal shoes. He's optimistic that the cast can come off after only 2
> weeks.
>
> Has anyone gone through this before? Any thoughts on the recovery time,
> particularly once the cast comes off? It'll nice to be able to do some
> cross-training!
I never had x-ray proof but I had all the symptoms of a stress fracture in
4th metatarsal in the run up to a race earlier this year. I did lots of
cross training but I couldn't run a step without the pain recurring (&
escalating) until 8 weeks after the onset of symptoms. (I didn't have a
cast).
I have heard of people returning to running after 6 weeks but I think that's
atypical. I should think that age will have an influence though. I was 49
at the time. Younger folk should recover faster.
Tim
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