Posted awhile back - sustained a small cuboid fracture (not seen on xray but on mri). been in boot for 6 weeks ; this coming sunday will be 7 weeks. i am getting another mri next week to see if there has been healing. questions: how do you know when you can begin weaning out of the boot; start using the ellipitical, cycling and when to start a return to running program? i have been using a bone growth stimulator as well. it doesn’t hurt at all in the boot. doctor pressed on the spot this morning and it is still only a tiny bit tender. will the mri show that there has been healing - xray did not show anything two weeks ago (though first and second xrays did not either). i am ready to start doing things but don’t want to rush. will the 8 week mark be a good time to start and/or wait for mri results.
Posted awhile back - sustained a small cuboid fracture (not seen on xray but on mri). been in boot for 6 weeks ; this coming sunday will be 7 weeks. i am getting another mri next week to see if there has been healing. questions: how do you know when you can begin weaning out of the boot; start using the ellipitical, cycling and when to start a return to running program? i have been using a bone growth stimulator as well. it doesn’t hurt at all in the boot. doctor pressed on the spot this morning and it is still only a tiny bit tender. will the mri show that there has been healing - xray did not show anything two weeks ago (though first and second xrays did not either). i am ready to start doing things but don’t want to rush. will the 8 week mark be a good time to start and/or wait for mri results.
thanks so much. the boot is driving me batty.
A foot doc with sport experience would be better placed to advise on your plan for a return to training. It’s an unusual bone to fracture, requires quite a large force (like foot getting run over by a car wheel).
When I had same fracture (due to a pedal failure in a track match sprint right at point of applying maximal power) it was 6 weeks before being permitted to train lightly on a bike, and 12 weeks before I was permitted to put full force efforts down. I didn’t use a boot, I just used crutches until I was able to weight bear and walk unaided.
Wait to see your MRI and discuss with your treating physician. However, this will probably be tender with activity for a while after X-ray or MRI radiographic “healing” has occured. Just FYI there. Develop a sensible plan to return to swimming, then simply walking without boot, then spinning, running, etc.
I’ll assume a stress fx since no acute trauma? and overuse and/or cuboid syndrome since nothing on plain film X-ray
thanks RRoof. I was running on a trail and I turned my left foot over. it was quite painful had to go to ER. nothing showed on xray in ER. but it was killing me for a week so doc recommended MRI. showed stress reaction but doc relooked and called radiologist and they decided it was a fracture so it must be small. I have been swimming and aqua jogging for 6 weeks. have not touched the wall on a push off in all that time. been very very compliant about being in the boot so I am not even sure if it will hurt when I walk. yes my dr. and I discussed slow comeback. my plan is no running until January 1 and December to hopefully spin some and elliptical some. I just hope mri is decisive so I can go back to training with a clear head that I am not making things worse.
I think next week mri - and then following week will be 8 weeks so do you think that is enough time to start weaning out of boot and sensibly returning to weight bearing?
I had a small fracture in my cuboid 3 years ago. It healed up pretty nicely after 6 weeks in a boot non weight bearing, and hasn’t given me a problem since. Unless you’re low on calcium and magnesium or your bones aren’t healing for some reason I don’t see why the MRI won’t show that you’re good to go. Good Luck!
So have they actually seen anything yet or are the doctors still guessing that it’s a fracture? Sorry if you’ve already said, but I didn’t read that anything was definitively identified.
Are you sure that you haven’t just dislocated (or subluxed) the cuboid? I did that while I was running a few years ago. I went to the doctor and they didn’t know and couldn’t find a reason, so I did the research on my own and found a demonstration of something called a cuboid whip. My wife’s chiropractor also validated that I’d done the correct thing when I spoke with him about it a few weeks later. If you aren’t positive it’s fractured, you might read up on. Once this was done on my foot, it was instantly better and I haven’t had any problems since.