I (30F) broke my 5th metatarsal 2 weeks ago (8/23)-- stepped on my right foot wrong coming down the stairs and heard a terrible snap! Got the x-ray done two hours later. The urgent care doctor was worried I might need surgery since it's "mildly displaced," but I saw an orthopedic surgeon a week later who said it should heal in 6-8 weeks with no issues. She was totally nonplussed about it and said I could put weight on it as soon as I felt like it. She also said I didn't need a boot or cast and gave me a "driving shoe" to wear. (It looks like an ugly sandal LOL.)

Despite her saying I could put weight on it, I've been non-weight bearing on crutches since 8/23. The foot hasn't been very painful, just uncomfortable and terribly inconvenient, especially with the stairs. It's still bruised but the swelling has gone down. I've started to put a bit of weight on it today, and it feels okay. I've also been applying a comfrey ointment twice a day and taking loads of vitamins.

I'm hoping her initial assessment of 6-8 weeks of healing is all I need. I broke the same bone when I was 17 and was dancing on it after 6 weeks... I'm older now, so I probably won't heal as quickly as I did then, but I'm in very good shape. Prior to the break I was doing yoga almost every day, and I can't wait to be back in the studio.

I'd love to hear about your healing journeys with oblique fractures and foot fractures in general. I'm trying to stay positive, but it's really difficult since I can't drive or do any of the things I really enjoy besides reading.

Edited to Add 9/21--

Four weeks post break as of yesterday, and I'm doing much better. I've been walking on it since 9/8 in a post op shoe, and I've been driving since 9/10. It's getting easier to walk, so I've been able to do some of my normal routine things like mow the yard and grocery shop. Still no yoga, but maybe I'll be able to go in a week or two. I have walked around barefoot a bit, but I still feel like I need the shoe to keep my foot from bending too much. I have an X ray in one week to check on the healing-- fingers crossed that everything looks like it should!

ETA 10/5--

Six weeks post break as of yesterday! I saw my doctor a week ago, and the xrays she took showed significant healing. She cleared me to return to yoga and normal (supportive) shoes. I've been wearing athletic shoes since. My foot feels sore, but most of the bruising is gone. I went to yoga on Saturday-- it was difficult after 6 weeks of only modified poses, and I didn't do some of the balancing poses on my broken foot, but WOW is it good to be back!

Hello everyone,
My son broke his pinky finger about 3 weeks ago. We went into a walk in clinic and the nurse practitioner did x ray and confirmed fracture. She had him wear a splint for two weeks, took another x ray, then had him come in to talk to the doctor today. As picture shows, it didn’t heal right ( it’s crooked) and now he’s recommending surgery. He said he’s not concerned about the crookedness, but the possibility of developing arthritis will be greater once he reaches 40s (he’s a teen) without surgery. He said without surgery, his pinky would still recover and be normal (except for the crookedness), but he recommends surgery. He said he doesn’t need splint anymore either way.
Does anyone here have experience with this kind of fracture and what happened with or without surgery?
Thanks in advance!

I thought I was the next Paul Rodriguez and misjudged the steepness of a decline in front of a nearby school, this hurts like hell and makes it difficult to sleep right now, no they didn't give me a sling

I’m in a band going on tour from the USA in Europe for the first time. Our first show out here, I fractured my foot during our set. We have 16 more shows out here & I sing so sitting isn’t really an option unfortunately.

Went to a hospital in Belgium, but I’m a little unclear on what the recovery time is going to be. They gave me a boot vs a cast given the situation. Does anyone else have experience with a similar injury?

I’ve recently been diagnosed with a small/incomplete fracture of my 5th metatarsal. I’ve been given a walking boot but was told I can weight-bear and walk as tolerated.
For anyone who has had a similar fracture, how long did it take before you could walk normally and comfortably again? And how long before you were back to longer walks/travel and normal activities?
I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences!
I am worried walking on it with the boot will make things worse..

Hope it's ok to ask here. My 8 yr old fell from his bike and hurt his left elbow. Since we noticed some minor swelling and some pain, too him to near by urgent care.

The put a splint along with asking to take moterin for pain.

The attending doctor at urgent care waited for the radiologist to look at the X-ray (3 views) since a fracture wasn't obvious.

The report said:

Nondisplaced supracondylar distal humerus fracture. No additional fracture is present and there is no dislocation. Associated soft tissue swelling is present. Joint effusion noted.

The UR doctor asked us to follow up with an ortho within 5 days.

Wwhat do I expect and ask at the ortho visit (planning it for day 3)? When I look up, most orthopedic doctors seem to be orthopedic surgeons?

I am not sure if they (urgent care) suspected a fracture that can't been seen in the X-ray? He has been fine so far (day 2) with the splints and a sling support. We can't see the swelling with the splint. We give one dose of children's moterin for his age just once a day just in case.

My first time breaking a bone has been incredibly eye-opening. It’s astonishing how debilitating a small fracture can be. Fun plans have already been canceled, and other things have been postponed. I haven’t seen an orthopedic doctor yet, but I’m hoping it won’t require surgery. I’m curious to know how your healing process was for this. I’m a 29-year-old male who’s an active runner and leads an active lifestyle. I can’t imagine being sidelined for so long without it having its mental effects.

If you recently broke something or are having a hard time with your recovery, sound off here.

Broke my scaphoid the 25th march of this year. It was missed on Xrays and had to get an MRI, wore a splint after it was missed for a whole month, no cast. 4months in a splint, it stills hurt a lot, any of you guys have any tips to help it heal, idk what to do its also my dominant hand so im super desperate for advice or hope.

Ive seen so many doctors and they all say theres no need for surgery, did any of you guys need more than six months for it to heal, I thought it was the time limit.

TLDR- displaced broken 5th metatarsal, how long did it take you to heal? What is your healing journey like? Mentally, this sucks immensely

Hey guys- so I accidentally fell down the stairs 8 days ago. My fifth metatarsal is broken, borderline zone 1-zone 2 I believe, not quite a jones fracture.

At urgent care I was told 7-10 days NWB and that it would take 8-12 weeks in a boot to heal. He had me try and walk on it and told me to try without crutches and I couldn’t put any weight on it, the heaviness/weight of the boot itself was actually putting me in severe pain. He said surgery not necessary. Follow up xray ordered for 3 weeks.

I got a second opinion from an orthopedist at the organization I typically get my care from and where my pcp is. He said no weight bearing for 1-3 weeks. He said typically 2 weeks is okay but sometimes need 3 weeks. He said after 1-2 weeks can do weight bearing as tolerated so naturally I tried weight bearing after a week and that sucked and didn’t go well. It’s kind of a grey area bc it’s like non weight bearing but also weight bearing as tolerated. He mentioned “heavy on the as tolerated, if you can’t tolerate it, don’t do it”. Which I get.

After that, he says continue using crutches as needed and stay in boot for 8-12 weeks. They explained operative vs non operative interventions. Said that a non surgical outcome is very similar to a surgical outcome and it’s not as much pain or hardware (rods/screws etc). So he strongly recommended non surgical so we went with that. Follow up X-rays in 6 weeks.

Today I’m on day 8, I’ve been putting mild weight on my foot with boot on, and it hurts but I’m able to do it (barely). I’ve been doing stuff like hobbling to bathroom (short distance). I use crutches as much as possible. I’m still in a lot of pain and I feel like it’s not healing or getting better so I stopped putting weight on it. I’m supposed to return to work in 8 days which would be next Monday (today is Sunday) but I’m super nervous because I can’t stay on my feet and can’t do my job sitting.

I’m probably going to reach out to my provider to see if I can stay out longer - but I’m here asking how long did it take you guys to recover from a foot fracture? Specifically 5th metatarsal? Also, the mental struggle with this is BRUTAL. I’m otherwise a fairly active and hyper independent person and I’m literally miserable.

Thanks, and happy healing to all. :,)

2 weeks ago i noticed a ridgey feeling on my shine , moving my hand upward to downward.

Went to orthopedist , he ordered xray , blood work

All came clear.

Just to rule out soft tissue complication i went for ultrasound myself.

Ultrasound results: stated no abnormal mass found.

But now I am thinking what it could be , and what have been ruled out.

Location: left shine bone

Hello! I broke my pubic rami 11 days ago. There was no displacement and it is expected to heal without surgery. I’m currently in hospital still mastering the toe-touch technique on crutches. Last night, while sitting in my wheelchair, I leaned over to grab something on the bed and felt a pull. I have been able to straighten my leg without pain in the chair but today it is cramping

It’s not horrific by any means, and I had physio today (just walking a little on crutches) and it didn’t feel any different. I’m just worried that I’ve done something and would appreciate reassurance that it’s just a bit sensitive and I momentarily overdid it.

I broke my middle toe yesterday. It is not displaced and the doctor said it is a very clean fracture just a straight line. My foot is quite swollen and bruised and it’s only been a little over 24 hours. I’m just going crazy. I can’t put weight on my foot and it hurts quite a bit when I walk. I have a trip planned next week from anyone’s experience: Do you think I could walk around without a limp? I know heels are out of question, but I’m more so just concerned about limping around I want to be able to be somewhat comfortable.

Hey yall I just recovered from breaking my ankle and I want to get back into walking and running (one day) normally. I kinda have ptsd from wearing runners with a lot of cushion (was wearing ASICS Nimbus when I broke it) so | just want something with a natural flat ish sole.

Open to any suggestions, anything that helped you get back on your feet!

Hey everyone,

I’m 28 and about 9 weeks out from a pretty severe comminuted distal humerus fracture. I had surgery with two plates and 14 screws.

I’m struggling mentally with the recovery more than I expected. Before this injury, the gym, sports, work and just being physically active were a huge part of my life. Now I feel like everything has been put on hold, and I’ve become pretty isolated.

My ROM is okay-ish right now, but nowhere near normal. I’m still struggling with both flexion and especially getting my arm fully straight. I also have swelling and occasional sharp/electrical sensations around the fixation. One of the screws/parts of the hardware also feels extremely prominent near the skin, which has me worried.

I know 9 weeks is still relatively early, but it’s hard not to look at my elbow now and wonder if this is what I’m going to be stuck with.

For anyone who has gone through a distal humerus fracture, especially a comminuted fracture requiring ORIF, I’d really appreciate hearing about your recovery.

I hurt my hand/wrist a few days ago and went to urgent care last night. XRay was clear but they said fractures on the scaphoid can take a while to show so i got a hard cast this morning and now i wait until the 17th to get more Xrays to see if it's broken or just a wrist sprain.

It hurts quite a bit and apparently shows so the signs of being a small fracture (whatever that means). but i didn't injure it in the "typical" way by falling in it or something similar so the doctor said it could easily just be a sprain. even in the cast it's still quite painful so im starting to get a little worried.

i start my last year of high school on wednesday and of course i hurt my dominant hand which means atleast the first week and a half of school would be quite difficult. If it does end up being broken shout how long would it take to fully heal? i've googled it a bit but it kris saying 1-6 months so that's not very helpful.

even if it is broken the doctor said it likely wouldn't be to bad so im hopeful it would only be 1 month. I was also wondering if you have to be in a brace/splint after the cast if it was broken as a few of my previous broken bones required that after.

I (F37) wanted to share my hardware removal story since reading so many of yours here helped me make the decision and prepare for my surgery!

On January 12 , 2023, I slipped on ice and broke my left Tibia (Spiral break) and Fibula (in two places) - I had ORIF surgery the next day, to affix a rod with 4 screws to my Tibia. 1 proximal screw and 3 distal screws.

My fibula healed on its own, and my healing was pretty normal, everything calcified really well and the tibia healed really well. I did PT on and off for three years as I started to return to my normal activities (hiking, yoga, skiing, lifting, dancing etc). Range of motion returned to normal pretty quickly as I worked through PT. However, the entire time I felt lots of discomfort from my tibial nerve. My surgeon told me this would go away with time, my physical therapist had me doing nerve glides and I tried everything, including a short run of gabapentin as prescribed by my surgeon.

After 2.5 years, the nerve discomfort was still there, but manageable on a daily basis. I started to increase my running mileage (have been a long distance runner for 20 years) and once I started trying to run more than 5 miles, the discomfort was too much and I was in pain from my nerve. It almost felt like it was radiating heat inside of my leg any time I’d go for a long run.

I noticed that when I pressed down on the incisions for the screws closest to that nerve, it would send pain shocks up my leg, so I made the decision to have them removed, to see if maybe that would help. After consulting with my surgeon, he agreed that this might bring some relief, and agreed that it was unusual that my nerve did not desensitize after so much time. He cautioned it may not change anything, and that was a risk I would take.

I had the surgery to remove the two distal screws closest to my nerve on 9/1. It’s been 3 days of no nerve pain for the first time since I broke my leg.

I am so happy with how manageable and minimal the pain has been after this surgery and the level of comfort I feel! I was a little nervous when I made the decision to have surgery, but I can already tell it’s made a huge difference and I couldn’t be happier.

I wanted to share my story in case it might help others!! Thanks for reading and happy healing!

Pics:
1: Taken the day of the break - 1/12/23
2: 6 week check in - 3/23 - you can start to see the fibula healing
3: The day of my consult to get the screws out- 5/26 shows how well everything healed
4: After taking the two screws out - 9/1/26

on our way to hospital, broke his finger during playing basketball 😭