Spiral fracture of 5th metatarsal and torn ligaments. Just happened, ordinary slip on stairs!
When will I be healed enough to ride?
What did the dr say? Generally speaking bones heal in about six weeks. That doesn’t mean that it will be comfortable to put weight in the stirrup by then though.
Dr said healed in 3 months–I didn’t ask about riding. …figured he wouldn’t get what is involved.
One recommendation - if you’re willing to spend a few hundred $, an Exogen bone stimulator can really speed the healing of metatarsals. I broke my 2nd about 3 years ago - was supposed to take 12 weeks to heal, but it healed in 7.
Talk to your doctor to see if it will be covered by insurance (it might be, since it’s your fifth metatarsal - those can take extra time due to low circulation). If insurance won’t cover, you can pick a used one up off of ebay.
My doctor told me that broken bones start knitting together in 3 weeks when I broke my ankle and fibula. They put a cast on my ankle but left my fibula break out (it was 4" above the top of the cast) and it clicked all of the time in the beginning. And then literally to the day at 3 weeks, it stopped clicking. I gave it a couple more weeks (since I couldn’t ride in my cast anyway), and then started riding the day my cast came off (so maybe 4 or 5 weeks post-break?). Obviously a foot is a different deal, but if you’re okay going without stirrups I would think that the answer would be that you can ride as soon as you’re comfortable getting on a horse. Of course, ligament tears can take a lot longer to heal than the broken bone…so I can’t even guess when you’ll be healed enough to ride with a stirrup and without pain.
The bones are going to be a piece of cake, it’s the ligaments that take a long time to heal. Nothing you can do to speed that up except make sure you don’t cause a setback.
Broke two metatarsals(4 and 5) some years ago thanks to a horse that used my foot as a launching pad. No ligament damage. I was casted and non-weight bearing for 6 weeks, then a walking cast for several more. It was more than 8 weeks until I could get on.
Also note that when you start walking again, it will be very awkward my ankle did not remember how to bend…
Re the riding, it isn’t the sitting in the saddle part that is the problem, mounting was iffy at first due to putting all my weight on that foot. Dismounting was also tricky because it was a long way down from my big guy and for at least a month I landed only on the OTHER foot .
About 5 years ago, I tripped the day before my wedding and broke some bones/stretched ligaments in my right foot. Got married, wore heels all day, went on the honeymoon (kept it wrapped), even rode one day during the honeymoon lol.
A few weeks later, I finally went to the doctor. I had to wear a boot for at least 6 weeks. IIRC, I rode in about 7.
I would give it some time. I sustained a crush fracture in my foot almost 4 years ago and started riding after a couple weeks. Doctor said it would be about 2 months to fully heal. I definitely regret that decision. Rode without stirrups but dismounting was very painful. I still have issues with the foot from time to time. Granted, riding wasn’t the only thing I was doing, I went out jogging several times as well during the course of the couple of months which was definitely a bad idea.
yeah it’s the mounting/dismounting I am dreading. Guess I’ll just be very patient and gentle, knowing that it will probably be healed just about the same time as warmer weather arrives. And my husband can do the barn chores, for now!
I broke my foot, ankle, and tibia a year ago, and despite excellent care (although i was the worst patient ever) and plenty of physio, I still find myself posting like usual and looking down to find my ankle completely folded over in the stirrups. And it uurts all the time and I trip over myself like you’ve never seen before. I’m now riding every day and getting physio 3x a week and I’m seeing a marginal difference. That could just be my messed up body, but do invest in quality physio. I probably started way too late last year. Physio physio physio.
I broke my 5th metatarsal on December 3rd. It’s too cold to ride, but I would say I would probably be comfortable putting my foot in a stirrup starting this week. A year ago in December, I dislocated my big toe, and tore a ligament. I must have reinjured it when I broke my metatarsal, as that has become painful again. The pain from that might potentially keep my foot from being totally comfortable while riding, but I think it would be tolerable.
As someone else said - my ankle was quite stiff when I started walking again, and my calf was VERY tight.
Good luck!
I broke 10 bones in my foot a few years ago, combination of it bending backwards and a horse falling on top of it. I started running and riding way too soon and damaged my knee because of it. WAIT to start back up again. When you do start riding again, check out the endurance stirrups- padded , much more support and they have cages so you don’t have to ride with boots.
I’d try and be patient and not push it too soon. I had a small fracture of my first metatarsal and the doctor did not give clear instructions. It refractured and I ended up with a non union and in a boot for six months. Not fun. That was years ago and my foot still hurts there…
