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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [JimMoss] [ In reply to ]
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That recovery time sounds optimistic. My doc told I'd be in an Air Cast for 6-8 weeks. I had the 5th metatarsal break in addition to an avulsion fracture of the ankle 2.5 years ago. Apparently 6-8 weeks is standard. That being said, I wish you a speedy recovery, and I hope that you can indeed be rehabbed very soon.
I type this as I have an Air Cast on my other ankle now from a break 4 weeks ago. Duh.
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [rroof] [ In reply to ]
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rroof wrote:
Treatment recs will also change whether it is an avulsion fracture

It's confirmed avulsion.
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [JimMoss] [ In reply to ]
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Sorry to hear about your foot, I broke my 5th metatarsal (Avulsion Fracture) last year on a run too. It took 10 weeks for mine to heal. Doc had me only pool running and swimming the first 4 weeks (pushed off the wall with my good foot), after that I could start biking and then start running around week 10. I couldn't imagine it healing in 2-3 weeks (as nice as that would be!) Good luck with your recovery and see what the doctor will and will not allow you to do for exercise.
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [Tri Run] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for the words of encouragement. I have a feeling that the ER doc said "2-3 weeks and you could be back running again" because he wanted me to definitively bag the race and clear out of his exam room. Or, he saw that the severity of the break was less than others. I don't know. Bottom line, I've got an appt next week with an ortho who treats runners and athletes with this thing. I will commit myself to his care and do whatever I'm told.
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [meepx2] [ In reply to ]
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I read your post on begtri. Interested in your thoughts since it's been about 18 months. How's it recovering? Did you really swim and bike on the trainer during your recovery from this?
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [JimMoss] [ In reply to ]
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JimMoss wrote:
I read your post on begtri. Interested in your thoughts since it's been about 18 months. How's it recovering? Did you really swim and bike on the trainer during your recovery from this?

I fractured it back in March 2008, so it's been about 40 months now, and it feels completely normal now. Yes, I really swam and biked during recovery. I remember that two months after it happened, I was jogging/running on the seawall, probably between 10-12 kph, and some random guy came up to me and wanted to race. I told him I broke my foot, but he didn't seem to believe me.

Even up to a year later, it felt like there was a clicking in my foot, so I had it re-xrayed and the x-ray showed the bone was filled in. So if you have this type of injury it may take awhile for your foot to feel completely normal, but it will get there.
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [meepx2] [ In reply to ]
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Just updating this thread with some photos. I'm 13 days post with a 5th metatarsal avulsion fracture. I appreciate all of the help that rroof and sentania have provided thus far as I've been trying to heal. And that's all I can do right now is sit, wait and heal. As far as I can tell I'm on one of the more conservative and strict healing programs - I'm pretty much locked down for 8-10 weeks. Even swimming is questionable until about the 4 week mark.


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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [JimMoss] [ In reply to ]
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Sorry to hijack the thread, not technically a triathlete but definately an elite athlete looking for some help. My daughter who is 11 sustained an avulsion fracture of the 5th metatarsal last week. It looked like a complete break from one side to the next with a gap between both sections of bone. We have a follow up appointment at the fracture clinic tomorrow and I am a bit overwhelmed as to what I should be asking! She is a 2016 hopeful and I am worried because of her age her level of sport won't be taken seriously and she will be treated as a normal kid. I am assuming kids heal quicker than adults and I have no idea of recovery time as doc in A&E was very vague, but if they cast her for 5 weeks as suggested she is going to lose a lot of her fitness and muscle strength and flexibility in her foot during that time. Any help or advice will be much appreciated so I can go in well informed. Reading up on the Internet is freaking me out a bit as people are talking about months of time off before it heals. Thanks for reading and hope you guys don't mind.
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [Aasha] [ In reply to ]
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If you've caught the injury early enough - she should be able to return to pretty normal levels of activity within 3 months or so.

A few thoughts:
While your daughter may be on the track for being a 2016 hopeful - don't second guess the potential for an injury like thi to have lasting problems if not handled properly.
A month to three off of specific fitness building will not make/break things for 2016.
A injury is your body telling you something - don't force yourself (and especially your daughter) through it.

I was shocked by the speed with which my fitness returned.


As a side note - I believe 2012 Olympic Triathlete Gwen Jorgenson had some injury problems recently (2009 or 2010) - and it didn't impact her level of performance much.
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [Aasha] [ In reply to ]
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I'm a 41 yr old male. I'm very healthy and I have all of the lifestyle factors in my favor for healing bone quickly. Having said that the process and time for healing this injury is anything but fast. I'm on track and early healing is evident from my latest xray. I'm nearly 7 weeks post injury and still feel discomfort. Still in a walking boot. I fully expect the rehab process to be lengthy. Meaning getting back to full speed, power and pace will be a year in the making. The advice sentania gave is solid.
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [Aasha] [ In reply to ]
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With all due respect, there is huge difference between a fracture at 11 and 41. My concerns regarding your daughter's condition are this: an 11 yr old will have a growth plate at the base of the 5th met that will be misdiagnosed as a fracture many times by nonspecialists, so make sure you get that straight. Secondly, dont be concerned by the lack of activity, casting, immobility, etc. If, in fact, it is a fracture ( digital xr post would be great ) it must be treated properly. Proper peri and post op therapy and training will insure a rapid recovery.
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [cosimo] [ In reply to ]
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Thankyou all for your reply's.

I have no intention rushing her back into her sport, my biggest concern is if it's not treated properly it may re fracture, or she will have ligament damage that is not given adequate attention or rehabilitation. In Britain you don't have a choice of physician, you see who ever is lucky enough to get you, so no credentials to look at or possibility of asking for someone with a background of sports injuries.

My daughter is a gymnast so puts her body through a fair amount of stress anyway, she trains 25 hours a week and is looking to peak at 16. She hurt her foot falling off the beam and landing on her toes and turning her ankle. (so much for thinking crash mats are safe lol)

Having gone through a number of stress injuries with her I am becoming a bit of an expert on growth plates and docs thinking they are fractures. On the X ray you could clearly see the apophysis slightly on the side and the fracture going straight across the bone. It also looked as though there was a chip or bone fragment floating between the 2 ends. She is currently in a non weight bearing back slab and are waiting to see what plan the doc has tomorrow. I have seen a number of people saying they have been treated with a removable boot and very few having a below knee cast. Is there a reason for one or the other, or is it general practice to treat children conservatively with a cast? Are any of these fractures indicative of surgery (not that I want to go down that route, just want to be prepared).

Sorry for all the questions, but I can't find any other useful forums, it has been great being able to read other peoples experiences. Thanks again for the responses.
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [cosimo] [ In reply to ]
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We went back to the doc today and was told it definately is broken and isn't the growth plate. It has been put in a cast for another 4 weeks then no physical exercise for a further 3 weeks.

I have some photo's but am having probs uploading them to the forum.
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [sentania] [ In reply to ]
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One might pose the question, would a period of rest followed by appropriate rehabilitation have had the same result in treating a fracture that almost never needs surgery?
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [tribike] [ In reply to ]
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I would guess that's a possibility.

However I looked at it as: I did the unwise thing and ignored this injury for ~4 months - continued to train on it. How likely is it that it will heal properly after 8 to 12 weeks off and conservative treatment, vs will I take 8 to 12 weeks off which turn into 16 to 20 - and then maybe still need surgery.

Now that I am 2+ years from injury and nearly 2 years from surgery - my only regret is that I didn't deal with it sooner.
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [Aasha] [ In reply to ]
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Tried to upload x ray hope it works this time. Doc expects this to be healed in 5 weeks and back to gymnastics in 8, does this sound realistic? Wondering if we went private to see a sports injury specialist whether it would be treated any differently.

Nearly 4 weeks in a cast now and still getting swelling and bruising when weight bearing for a while with pain at night requiring pain killers. Does this sound normal or is it worth seeing someone sooner rather than later?



Last edited by: Aasha: Aug 27, 11 14:10
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [Aasha] [ In reply to ]
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Aasha wrote:



Nearly 4 weeks in a cast now and still getting swelling and bruising when weight bearing for a while with pain at night requiring pain killers. Does this sound normal or is it worth seeing someone sooner rather than later?

That sounds about like my experience. I'm 9.5 weeks post-injury. I've started to wean out of the boot. Honestly, at 6 weeks I had no idea how I was going to be able to walk on it but I am. I think it's safe to say that there's a pretty noticeable improvement that takes place during the 6-8 week time period. Even 9.5 weeks I still feel some discomfort (nothing requiring pain medication or aspirin but still some pain). The swelling in my foot didn't start to really get better until about 5+ weeks.

Hang in there.
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [JimMoss] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks Jim, it's really frustrating as got little advice from doc apart from should be ok in 5 weeks! Not holding my breath.
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [Aasha] [ In reply to ]
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Aasha wrote:

Doc expects this to be healed in 5 weeks and back to gymnastics in 8, does this sound realistic?

Nope. I'd be surprised, even with a younger person, if you'd be back doing activities like gymnastics in less than 3 months. But don't have any medical training, just first-hand experience with this kind of fracture.
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [Aasha] [ In reply to ]
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Caveat: Not evaluating the patient.
Opinion: 6 weeks non weight bearing. Weeks 6-9 guarded progressioin to full weight bearing, weeks 9-12 gradual return to preinjury activities. Progression obviously dictated by individual progress.
JMHO
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [cosimo] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks, that sounds far more logical to me! Was told to weight bare after a week, which is painful if done for too long and causes bruising!

Thanks for the advice will try to keep her off it as much a possible.
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [Aasha] [ In reply to ]
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Looks like I'll join in the conversation here. I was running this past weekend and hit the side of the path on my way down (kind of a glancing step), so the full weight of my body landed on my 5th metatarsal. I wasn't specifically told what type of fracture I had (except that it wasn't a jones fracture), but from looking at everyone's pictures, it looks as if it's on the shaft of the bone. So that rules out avulsion fracture. Hurt like hell when I did it, can't put any weight on it right now(haven't tried) and the doc told me "no weight for two weeks". His prognosis was that I had a good two weeks without weight bearing activity and then see where I was at. Possibly take the immobilizing boot off then, and get into a walking boot. Does this sound feasable? Is this being too optimistic? Or is it just a "wait and see" how it is healing type of game? Thanks for any input.

Eric
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Re: 5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture Experience [Aasha] [ In reply to ]
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I am a little concerned that you would seek medical information for your daughter from a triathlon forum. If your 11 year old daughter has olympic aspirations, perhaps you should seek a comparable caliber of medical advice. That caliber of advice is unlikely to be found from a 40 year old triathlete working in finance.
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