Ouch. I broke a metatarsal a few years ago and it was sore for much longer than when I broke my calcaneous (heel bone). YMMV, but here’s what worked for me with the metatarsal break and wearing the boot:
Wear the boot as long as you can stand it each day. The less your foot is moving and the longer it receives the protection and support of the boot, the faster it heals. Taking the boot off feels wonderful, but risks allowing movement. When it's off for at least the first few weeks, keep it elevated to prevent swelling. Depending on where your break is, you may or may not be comfy icing it - I found icing very painful since it pressed on the break; there's not much fat or insulation on the top of your foot between the bone and the ice, so it hurts. Your toes or the ball of your foot may have some numbness now and even for months afterwards - that's due to the swelling pressing on a nerve. Weird feeling but not indicative of a problem.
Being in the water felt great since it was weightless and cool, but just like with the ice, the feeling of the moving water pressing on the top of my foot was painful on that metatarsal break, so I did a lot of the water activities with the boot on. Water did not hurt my boot, but check on your particular boot type before doing that.
I'm pretty active, so not walking, running drove me nuts. There were some modifications I could do to many things, though, so I could stay as active as possible. Be creative. It looked funny, but I kept up with boxing class by doing most of the bag work while kneeling. Body weight squats are another non-pounding exercise you can do - try 100 of those and it's a reasonable substitute for a walk. You can also use the time to get better with floor work like single leg planks, pushups (just prop the cast foot up on the foot on the floor), crunches, vsits, etc. Or use it as a time to amp up the weight lifting; not a cardio substitute but allows you to get a nonpounding workout in.
Depending on how much you actually want to know (sometimes I'm better with denial), ask clarifying questions of your doc. I asked mine what activities I could and couldn't do - he said simply, don't do anything that hurts, try not to pound it but other than that just wear your boot and do your normal stuff. So I did. But when I came back for my follow up appointment, he was horrified at the condition of my boot. There may have been duct tape involved. When he asked what I'd been doing and I described sailboat racing, snorkeling, boxing, little bit of hiking (hey, that vacation had been scheduled for months!) etc. he looked a little nauseous. He took some pics of the boot and explained that only one other person had ever abused their boot so badly - and that guy was an alligator trapper. But - the boot was still working and my foot was healing, so it was (sort of) OK.
Good luck! On the happy plus side, it’s starting to be cooler weather so you won’t have to wear it while it’s hot out. This is a good thing.
Agree that having a sturdy plastic chair to sit in while showering is very helpful. It can be an official shower chair or any totally plastic chair, as long as it is sturdy and ok being drenched with water.
We had a trip to Chicago planned at that time, so I hobbled around in the boot but used clear plastic shower caps to slip over the bottom when outside (I wanted to keep the bottom as clean as possible). There are full length covers made for the boots, but those made my foot really hot.
Be aware that the boot changes the center of gravity in that foot. I was wearing one for a broken foot several years ago and was walking up two steps from the porch into the house. I paused on the bottom step and my boot foot must not have been all the way on the step because I fell backward and broke my arm. What a mess that was!
Most of my doctors give me written instructions and then they give me verbal instructions that aren’t the same as the written ones. It drives me crazy. But I agree you should call, and you might even suggest that they hand out instructions. I have a hard time concentrating at the doctor’s office too and I just don’t in general take in information well orally. I’m just not wired that way.
I am a Podiatric Surgeon. Call your doctor and listen to their instructions. We can’t see what type of metatarsal fracture you have. Yes, there are different types. Treatments can vary. I personally cast my patients for faster healing. Knee walkers are great and easier to use. Patients have to learn that if you are not understanding something then just ask again till you understand what your supposed to do. Hope you heal fast.
I’m in one currently and have been for almost 2 months (even had to sleep in the darn thing for the first few weeks - that was fun ), but am not allowed to weight bare at all - you really need to check with your doctor for what you should be doing. It’s going to be different based on what type of injury you have.
Many thanks for the amazing advice…I ended up going to gym this morning (guy at desk: "Oh no, what happened?! Me: “mayonnaise accident.”) and i feel a bit better…now i’m propped up and trying to work at home today and will figure out the office next week! (and I’ve already called the physician office and they’re going to call me back mid-morning),
I am in a boot now for a stress reaction on top of foot but I caught it before it fractured. I’m able to weight bear and can take the boot off to do elliptical or bike. It’s left foot so I can drive. Except for not being able to run, it hasn’t slowed me down much and the boot is light and pretty comfortable.
@MaineLonghorn I would say with pretty much certainty that yours is a small stress fracture. It would only show up on an MRI. Just means longer in the boot.
RE the “mayonnaise accident” — we should start a thread about stupid stuff we did that ended up hurting us. When I was a newbie lawyer I had to call out sick one day and was too embarrassed to say what I had done (stuck myself in the eye when separating eyelashes with a safety pin)—turned out what they thought I’d done was way worse!
In 2014 right after recovering from a running injury, I slipped on some dog slobber on our tile bathroom floor and hit the ground like a stack of books, according to my husband. Cracked a couple of ribs. The ortho was really questioning my life choices!
Mr. B went to play soccer with the dog in the backyard at dusk… kicked what he thought was the soccer ball… it was a white septic pipe sticking out of the ground (we have not trimmed those because the yard was still being landscaped). Broke his foot. So, before driving out of town to the YMCA regionals, we went to his doc’s office… Mr. got to cheer on kiddo from the best seat in the bleachers.
@MomofWildChild… Stress fractures can show up on normal x-rays, diagnostic ultrasound, etc not just on mri’s. There are some that need to have an mri to see it better or in different stages.
I’ve been told on many occasions that stress fractures will eventually show up on an X-ray but not in the early stages. They have to start to heal before they will show up.
I was on vacation in Africa with my brother. We were going to a museum and had walked quite a way on really awful sidewalks and found there was a deep (but dry) drainage ditch between us and the museum. It was quite a distance down the road to cross and then back. I was tired. I sensibly did not jump across in case I hurt myself. Climed in then out - and slipped back in. Heard a loud pop and when I walked to the museum it felt like something was moving in my foot. (Turns out there was - I had a lisfranc injury and metatarsala were moving about where they shouldn’t though I didn’t find that out till I got back to the US almost 3 weeks later) hurt it July 17th. Surgery and plates August 13th. Hopefully start weight bearing next week.
Sure wish I could have that moment back and make a different and less stupid decision!
I need to change my story though - I was in Africa after all. Running from a lion maybe?
Nope… Sometimes they never show up on x-rays…
Also how can you say with certainty that someone has a small stress fracture just by the posts here… You would need a lot more information then that. People on these forums actually might follow your advise… Always best letting someone with more experience like their doctor give the advice. Lots of time you will just see swelling of the foot and tissues and x-rays would show nothing but the bone will be painful . Clinically don’t really need an mri at that point. 10 - 14 days later it “might” show up on an x-ray. But hopefully the patient was properly treated.
Darn mayo!!