I broke my 5th metatarsal on Dec. 26, 2008 also called a Jones Break. I was in a cast until yesterday - non-weight bearing. I am still not allowed to put any weight on it. According to my orthopaedic doctor they are tricky to heal and the longer you stay off of it the better. You should follow up with an orthopaedic doctor. The crutches have been interesting. However, after a couple of weeks you will be amazed at what you can do on them. Good luck

Thanks for the post. I dont put that much weight on my foot, just small steps now and again. I guess I an wondering what would be the best for me but I know not to try anything which will make it worse

I broke my fifth metatarsal on Tuesday morning this week. Going to the fracture clinic tomorrow to get it sorted. It sounds like I will be in a cast, at the moment I'm in an aircast but it's so heavy and doesn't support my foot properly, I can feel it moving around and that's when it hurts! Any advice gratefully received.

Hi Sooty1, they will put you in cast and give u a walking boot. I had that til 3 weeks ago and I was given a walking slipper! It will be hard but in time u will be able to walk. I will warn u that the mucsles will ache like hell when u have to put weight on the foot.

My daughter broke her 5th meta in November and was in plaster for 6wks. When she had the plaster off her foot went a crimson colour and was badley bruised for over a week even though when they first took the plaster off there was no bruiseing untill she put her foot down. It has now been 15 wks since she broke it and her foot is still hot, swollen and goes purple when its put down. I have took her back to the hospital who said that it has gone hypersensitive and will correct its-self. I took her to a private hospital for a second opinion and they said that it is because she was in plaster to long and it has restricted the blood flow returning up her leg. Plenty of excersise will help but every time she does PE at school they have to put ice packs on her foot due to the state of it. Has any one else had this problem or have any advice. She is only 12 and the school are as concerened as I am

yeah, my boyfriend has broken this part of his foot too. It has been 9 months now and his foot is STILL broken. =( At first, the doc told him to just get a boot and thats all. Later on (about 4 mo's later) he suggested to get surgery since it wasn't healing. Now it has been 2.5 mo's since surgery and still is not healed. Now the doctor is saying that the foot is not healing because he has gained too much weight and hasn't done any exercise for his foot when the doc never even suggested walking on it. My bf told him that if the doc had told him to walk on it, he would have been walking on it since surgery! Do you guys think that he should be walking on it since it is "almost" healed, but not fully healed???

i broke my 5th metatarsal 4 weeks ago it has been in a cast which i will get off on friday at first it was very painfull but i am a fitness instructor and have continued to teach my classes througout although i have had to get lifts to work i think it will feel weaker when the cast comes off but i was told by the consultant to bear weight onit if i could handle it, all my toes were black at first but they have gone back 2 normal colour,when i have been on it all day it swells very tight inside the cast but i sit with it up for an hour and it seems fine, hope this helps i think it depends alot on where the break is mine was in the middle it snapped clean in half

I broke my 5th metatarsal on June 8 - it is an avulsion fracture. They put my foot in a fiberglass splint for four days until the swelling came down a little. Then the doctor put me in a plaster cast. It seems to continue to swell some and I am keeping it elevated. Amazingly, I can take small steps and put my weight on it for a mini-second. Is this OK to do or am I ruining my chances of healing by doing so? Had a fractured fibula 12 years ago and the recovery was much worse than this has been!

I broke my 5th met a week ago and have a plaster cast on. I am experiencing some slight pain and it feels like the cast is rubbing against the heel of my foot. Also, some pins and needles sometimes. Has anyone experienced this? Im hoping in 4 weeks i will get the cast removed. All opinions welcome..

I broke my 5th about 5 weeks ago. The podiatrist took x-rays and put me in a fiberglass cast. It was not a complete Jones fracture, he said something similar to it. Now I'm in a air boot but it hurts real bad when I am not using the cast. I try to stay in the wheelchair as much as possible. I can't imagine what the recovery will be. Naturally I'm hoping for the best, but I guess from the posts it is normal for a long recovery time. He said it's healing, it's not really swollen, but it hurts like I said, real bad when I walk a few steps without the cast.

I broke my 5th and extending to the 4th on Monday and it continues to swell. I've been told to wear a supportive shoe but don't have one to fit. I can't put any weight on it at all and don't understand why some sort of cast hasn't been offered. I have crutches but all my muscles in my arms, shoulders, and sides of torso are so painful I stuggle using the crutches now.

Hi, missclumsy. Can you see another doctor? I have a semifracture in my 5th & I have been wearing a cast for 4 weeks, now I'm in an airboot. At first I couldn't walk at all ... I think it's beginning to heal up now, but call your doctor immediately and ask him why he did not give you a cast ... a "friend" told you you need a cast ...anyway, I would see another doc. Immediately. By the way, I got a wheelchair for this. And a walker.

Thanks eCindi, I am taking your advice and will go back to the doctor. How long did it take before you could put any weight on your foot?
I have an office chair at home and I use that to wheel myself around now. I haven't been out the door since my trip to the doctor last Monday.

First of all, I got a wheelchair from a freecycle board in my area -- I used a chair on wheels at home before I got the wheelchair, but it's easier with a wheelchair. I am JUST BEGINNING to stand on my foot but only for about 5 minutes without the air boot, a very clumsy apparatus, but one that holds the foot immobile. That is extremely important, according to what I understand. Secondly, I was in the hard cast for 4 weeks and it was very clumsy. The doctor gave me a hard shoe to put over the cast, and I had to wear another shoe on the other foot to at least balance it out while I walked (limped). You can sometimes get cheap wheelchairs on craigslist, I recommend it.
So -- to sum it up, mssclumsy, I was in the hard cast for 4 weeks, no driving & hardly any walking. Now I'm in an airboot, but the benefit of it is that I can take it off to shower. This is my 5th, going on 6th week, and I'm just beginning to walk. With the cast on. MAYBE 5 minutes without the cast. He says I'm going to need therapy after the cast comes off next week, assuming it's healed enough. He'll take xrays to make sure it's mending.
Thirdly, did the doctor take an xray of your foot and tell you it was broken?

Here is a summer bummer - I broke my 5th metatarsal on June 8th. I was in a fiberglass cast for five weeks and then in an aircast for nearly three weeks. While in the aircast, my broken bone shifted and is in a worse position than when I initially broke it. I had surgery on July 29 to insert two screws into my bones. I am now recovering from surgery and my foot burns and is uncomfortable. On August 3, I will get a fiberglass cast for the next seven weeks. What a big disappointment, but I am staying positive and thankful for the little things in life.

Hi all,


The world is wide open thanks to Google, even when youâ??re stuck home nursing a broken foot.
Glad I found you all!! Iâ??m 6 weeks into a 5th metatarsal avulsion on my right foot same as a pseudo jones fracture and I was assigned none weight bareing for 7 weeks. The worst part of this is that 3 years ago I had (elective)surgery on my left foot, trying to releive pain in the ball of my foot. It wasnâ??t the quick fix I was hoping for â?¦so now my good foot is my bad foot!!!!
I live in New York, but went to Miami Beach for a wedding and vacation. On June 21st, my hubbyâ??s birthday, I slid off of a curb and caught my fall but twisted my right foot while catching myself. I thought it was just bruised, no big deal. At 5:00AM the next morning , when I couldnâ??t step down , I figured Iâ??d go to the ER and rule out a fracture. Guess not!!! I went to that wedding in a wheel chair.

One of my closest friends is a podiatrist, so when I came home he was overseeing my foot.
I went for a follow up x-ray after 2 weeks and found that the fracture of the bone worsened from a 1.5 mm spread to a 5.8 mm spread. Based on my x-ray, he and a colleague, who is an orthopedic surgeon concured that surgery was necessary. The Surgeon had a cancelation the next day in his OR schedule. I was thrilled because every day that I wait , the clock starts again for the NWB healing process.

The next morning after not eating from midnight, I get to the hospital (A top hospital in NYC) and do the whole pre-op; Chest x-ray, Foot x-ray, EKG, Blood drawn, Urine, IV line inserted, etc. Finally the surgeon comes in, introduces himself and starts pushing and prodding my foot. â??Does this hurt?â?? â??Does that hurt?â?? I promised him if he hurt me Iâ??d SCREAM. He couldnâ??t make me SCREAM!!! He stepped back and said â??If you were my â??motherâ?? (Now that made me SCREAMâ?¦cos I really donâ??t think I was old enough to be his mother)I would advise her NOT to do the surgery at this time. Since you have minimal pain, no swelling and youâ??re physically fit, I canâ??t say for sure that you will heal any better with the screw in your foot as you would without. We can always do the surgery later if necesaryâ?? (But that would start my NWB clock againâ?¦Yikes!!!!!!!!!!)
I listened to him and went home, with an EBI bone stimulatorâ?¦that I have to wear 10 hours a day!! I really hope it was the right decision. My friend, the podiatrist still thinks I should have gone for the surgery. Time will tell!! Iâ??ll report back how all this ends!!! My next appointment is August 7th. Feel good all!!!

it depends on where you broke the 5th metatarsal. If it was a tubercle fracture than bearing weight with the boot should happen around the end of the first week. It did for me. Crutches seems very dangerous and I was glad to get rid of them. You still hobble with the boot, but much easier than crutches! If the fx is in the shaft then I believe you have no weight bearing.. But if they gave you a boot that it typically for weight bearing. Ask your doc to be sure. I have to keep this sweaty thing on for 8-10wks! Good thing I can take it off at night.

machstr -- how long have you been wearing the boot? Is your foot feeling any better? I wore a cast for 4 weeks, then the podiatrist decided w/o taking x-rays that it was somewhat better and he gave me the air boot. He told me I can do a little bit of walking in the air boot but I feel just as well, or bad depending how you look at it, without the air boot. He said I can swim, but not drive. He intends to take xrays next week to see how it's healing, but the foot still hurts when I stand on it or try to walk on it, I hobble, not walk.

Can't wait to get my cast off this friday! I broke my 5th metatarsal on the last day of school, and got surgery 7 days after. They put in three screws, and gave me a plaster cast for 2 wks, then an aircast after that. My summer has been pretty boring, but at least I'll have some of it left to enjoy. I was wondering...is it okay to walk on my foot now? I have been for the past couple of days, and it feels fine..just a little weird since I haven't used my calf/foot muscles in awhile.