anyone cracked their sesamoid bone?

victoriavoodoo

So much for my short lived running kick =[ just went to a doctor about foot pain and some tiny thing in my foot called a sesamoid bone is cracked clean in half, like two pieces of it are in there not touching. I thought it was going to be a joint problem.

He says no gym at all and I'm in a boot for a month to see if it heals but I'll probably need surgery.

Anyone have any experiences they can share about healing this weird bone I didn't know existed until today?
I'll probably lower my calorie allowance I guess since I can't do anything. He says even the elliptical is bad =[

Tommy_Valentine

Your sesamoid bones are two small round bones on the bottom of your big toe (you also have them in your thumb and your knee caps are actually large sesamoid bones) that help distribute the weight and pressure of your body. It's a fairly common place to get stress fractures. But, good luck with your healing! It's tough staying away from exercise when your injured but it's the best thing for you!

victoriavoodoo

Thanks, it's really bumming me out heh. I have never in my life been excited to work out until this past year and now I don't know a) what to do with my newfound spare time three days a week, b) how I'm going to keep losing weight without all the working out and c) how I'm even going to get to class on my lovely walking campus.


The doc thinks I'll probably need surgery if a month in the boot doesn't help, because the fracture happened last July. I just thought i had joint pain from being so much more active so I didn't see a doctor until this week =[ lesson learned. It was bearable though; I worked out with it broken and everything.

Having never broken a bone before I always thought there would be unimaginable pain so it never occurred to me something could be so wrong with minimal(at first) pain that I could still run through.

nomayo

I hope you get well soon.

Hbazzell

Those stress fractures are really common. In boot camp several gals got them becuase their feet were not very strong from wearing heals a lot.

victoriavoodoo

Those stress fractures are really common. In boot camp several gals got them becuase their feet were not very strong from wearing heals a lot.

That's good right? If they're common they probably heal ok? Every time I google it I see some horror story about someone three years into healing.

I worry because I worked out on it at full speed for seven months before even knowing it was hurt.

rduhlir

I never got those...my stress fractures came in my heel and on my smaller toes....yeah...got stuck in Cape Hell for another month longer than I was supposed to be....luckily I was in PTSP...*snickering laugh towards bazzell*

rduhlir

Those stress fractures are really common. In boot camp several gals got them becuase their feet were not very strong from wearing heals a lot.

That's good right? If they're common they probably heal ok? Every time I google it I see some horror story about someone three years into healing.

I worry because I worked out on it at full speed for seven months before even knowing it was hurt.

While yes they heal, you will have to be careful from now on...taking things like running much much slower and allowing your feet to adjust gradually. This is what I have been doing and it is working for me. Stress fractures can cause problems later on, and actually weaken bones (this was from my corpmen here and I trust them). Having good shoes is a HUGE thing...I can't run in regular tennis shoes...I need shoes that support my foot structure and the way I step.

longtimeterp

haha so now i know what has been hurting in my foot ever since my 17.5 mile run...thanks!

meagan_42

It's hard being on a roll with you exercise routine and then having an injury slow down your progress. I was recently in an accident and fractured my ankle plus done some bad bone bruising to my foot (a foot doesn't enjoy being run over by cars I have discovered). I'm off my right leg for 1 month, on crutches for 6-8 weeks and 3 months until i can return to regular exercise

The thing with all types of foot injuries is to stay positive and figure out alternative solutions to get regular exercise plus continuing to eat well. I made the decision that this could be an opportunity to work on my arms and midsection while confined to bed rest and crutches. Dream up some alternative exercise routines and you'll be back to running again before you know it, stronger than before

Good luck and heal quickly.

victoriavoodoo

haha so now i know what has been hurting in my foot ever since my 17.5 mile run...thanks!

Dude if you really think so get off it right now and get an X-ray...they're telling me if I went in when it happened I probably could have had a much easier and shorter recovery time.

Thanks for the info everyone.

longtimeterp

Dude if you really think so get off it right now and get an X-ray...they're telling me if I went in when it happened I probably could have had a much easier and shorter recovery time.

if only i had health insurance, i need multiple joints xrayed and mried lol

Hotspur2001

Just been diagnosed with this. Luckily mine is not fractured into two, just a large crack, and won't require surgery. Noticed pain on Monday morning, after playing soccer on Sunday. So even though pain was still present later in the week, I played Thursday and again on Saturday. Yesterday my foot was swollen, and figured I should go to the docs. Good thing I did, or else I'd have still considered running or playing soccer. Hope it heals quickly :-(
I do have a 10 mile race coming up in two weeks......

Pinkranger626

As far as the exercise bit.... there are still some options, although a bit more limited. Check in some gyms around you and see if any of them have what's called an arm ergometer. It's basically a stationary bike for your arms! This is a great way to keep getting cardio in when you can't use things like an elliptical or arc trainer. If you have to stay off your foot completely then this won't help you, but if you can at least hobble around a bit you could always train your upper body and abs. Many uppder body exercises can be done seated, same with abs exercises. You can also check with your doctor but things like leg extensions and leg curls may even be possible. Since it's your toe you basically don't want to do anything that requires it to pivot as they want it ad immobile as possible to heal. Just a suggestion, I know for me I wouldn't be able to stop completely and if I could figure out a way to at least modify things so that I could still get a little bit of benefit from exercise it would help me with my mood etc. immensley.