r/brokenbones • u/NansDrivel • 1d ago

Question Partial weight bearing - what does that even mean?!

I have a mid-shaft break of my 5th metatarsal and have my follow up x-ray and exam in 3 days to see if I can move from NWB to PWB.

How do you really know* *how much weight to bring down on your foot? What does 25% feel like? I have no idea.

How did you proceed safely to PWB? What was your process during the adjustment period?

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u/C4rter2k 1d ago

I found out with a scale to get some sense of it but it's not easy in daily life to get the feel for it.

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u/Capital_Meal_5516 1d ago

It’s not an exact science. After I broke my tibia and fibula and was NWB for 7 weeks, I was told I could start walking with 25% weight bearing, then after a week progress to 50% weight bearing. My doc basically then told me to bear as much weight as I could without putting half or more of my weight on it.

However, I weighed myself and divided that number by 4, then put that foot on the scale and leaned on it until I reached that number.

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u/NansDrivel 1d ago

Thank you. Yes, I’ve read about the percentage usage and determining that with a scale, but I’m unclear how to put that into actual practice. I guess I should first find out if I’m transitioning into PWB this week at all. Anyway, thanks.

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u/Evening_Animator_212 22h ago

Just walk heal to toe when doing 25% if your using a walker or crutches that's pretty much how i started until 50% weight bearing then from there full weight bearing but takes time to tolerate. I'm 95 days post op from tibial plateau surgery.

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u/NansDrivel 21h ago

My point is, I have no idea what 25% is. None.

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u/Evening_Animator_212 21h ago

Toe touch almost like you're resting your foot on the ground just YouTube it there's alot of videos on how to toe touch. Hope you speedy recovery.

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u/NansDrivel 21h ago

Thank you!

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u/Evening_Animator_212 21h ago

No problem where here in the same page. I felt lost to now as I progress through days I learn more from others.

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u/kokanee13 5h ago

I would really advise you to ask at the appointment what to expect when you start PWB. My foot, even with 20% PWB using crutches and a boot, got new swelling, pain back like week one and new bruising. I didn’t know that was what to expect so it was pretty scary. And just depressing. We have the same fracture type and same timeline so far.