Fractured Metatarsal

[RefereeX]

If it’s still swelling, I’d personally be getting an X-Ray as a first port or call to check the bone has definitely healed.

After that it’s up to you, physio or rest. Money for physio may seem a lot, but if you get it wrong, you could end up like myself & @RustyRef

I did get a second xray after the initial 6 weeks was up. (I stretched the truth to get a referral from the docs). The radiologist didn't look at it they just said the xrays would be sent to the doctors, who told me 'no further action required'. But that's all I have to go on.

 

[Archer]

If you get it wrong, you could end up like myself & @RustyRef

 

[santa sangria]

Probably shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted here, as I completed my first match on Saturday post injury... but... inspired by @KentRef to start a thread... I'm wondering if any medical experts or on the off chance someone has had similar can offer some advice...

I was out running in the dark mid December, landed funny and turned my ankle. My right foot went down on the outside of the foot basically. I thought it would just be a sprained ankle but I had a big egg appear on the side of my foot further forward than the ankle and the pain was in my foot, not my ankle. I went to get an x-ray after a day of hobbling around and was told I'd fractured the base of my 5th metatarsal

As a keen runner who was targeting a 2:50 marathon in April and also a level 3 referee... this wasn't ideal obviously.

I was given a 'beckham boot' and told to wear it for 6 weeks. Full disclosure and at the risk of sounding like a moron... I wore it for 2 weeks and then it felt fine to walk without it. I was at the stage where i only got pain if I put my full weight on the front right hand side of my foot. Even during the 2 weeks I had the boot on I took it off to do some cycling at the gym to try and maintain my fitness level.
4 weeks after injury, it felt okay to do a gentle run, but after 2 gentle runs I had a lot of pain in the other side of my foot which made me think I'd adjusted my gait subconsciously, so I stopped the running and waited 2 more weeks, then some horrible illness kept me off it for almost another week.

I also got another x-ray which I was told no further action was required on.

I then returned to running. relatively pain free. But then after a couple of runs I noticed swelling and discomfort where the fracture was again. And basically that's been the case since. I can do a couple of days worth of good intensity exercise no problem, but then I have to rest for a couple of days while the swelling and pain goes.
I got through my first match back on Saturday with no issues on a very soft pitch, then ran just over 15km at 3:52/km yesterday, so fairly high intensity, but this morning I couldn't do a recovery run because my foot needed resting.

My question is, is this as a result of trying to come back too soon / not following doctors advice properly, or is this a case of this is something that's gonna take a very long time to settle down and I'm just going to have to manage it for a while? Dr Google said I could have discomfort and swelling for up to a year post-injury, but nobody from our NHS has told me anything like this.

Ah dude I feel your pain. I have had serious metatarsal aggro. I didn’t fracture but I damaged my 4th metatarsal from repeated impacts (crazy intense ping pong training- true!).

Swollen metatarsal head and officially “metatarsalalgia” complicated by the swelling trapping the nerve between 3rd-4th toes (also known as Morton’s Neuroma and common to climbers, cyclists, racket sports types etc.)

Anyway, very painful. Went to foot specialists. Got plenty of advice on gait and recovery exercises. I lost nearly a year. I got back via plenty of running in the pool. After 3 years still noticed some pain after exercise or wrong shoes. This last year fingers crossed no pain.

Key though is the experts advised shoes with rocker designed to take weight off the metatarsal pad - so I now have 5 pairs of Hokas (mostly Clifton wide) and I have worn little else for four years now. When I put on some other “nice shoes” always pain later.

I highly recommend reading up about Hoka’s “early stage meta rocker” and getting advice from an expert

 

[santa sangria]

Just to throw in… on your x-ray quandary… it took my guys three goes with different scans to work out what was wrong and finally work out I didn’t have a Beckham/Owen break but rather the stress fracture AKA swelling AKA metatarsalalgia.

 

[RefIADad]

I'll add my own best wishes to you and my personal story as another data point (and recognizing this is a dead thread, so I'll keep it quick).

I had a cyst on my foot last spring. Went in to get the cyst removed, and the cyst was actually growing out of the nerve on the outside of my foot. The surgeon actually had to cut the nerve to remove the cyst. I've had numbness on my foot since then. I've tried to keep officiating, but I have had some consistent hip pain on the same leg as the foot.

In other words, issues can work their way into other areas of the body. Be careful. I've actually decided I'm going to take the fall off from officiating except in emergency situations. I have other factors (new job, last year of my son's high school), but I'm hoping a fall of avoiding the toll officiating takes on the body will get my foot back to very close to 100%.

 

[RefereeX]

Good luck! I've decided to do the total opposite to resting as it seems to be getting better with running, so on Sunday I'll be doing a marathon (my 2nd ever) but thanks for the advice anyway all!

 

[JamesL]

This thread is more dead than your metatarsal...



Ps... Good luck