Maybe it’s not a stress fracture
Remember how I was saying that my foot doesn’t seem to be getting better? I went to the doctor last week for my 3 week check up since being in the boot.
He took more x-rays and I explained to him that I just feel like it’s not getting better. After talking a bit, he suggested we move on to doing an MRI. His thought is that maybe this isn’t a stress fracture and it could be a Plantar Plate tear.
This actually makes a lot of sense. The Plantar Plate is a ” thick ligament type structure with attachments which inserts into the base of our phalanges (toe bones) in the area of the ball of the foot” (from MyFootDoctor.com).
See that little red line – that is exactly where I’ve been having pain for the last 6 weeks.
The good news is that my doctor said that if it’s a Plantar Plate tear, he can help reduce inflammation and pain with an injection. If it’s a stress fracture, he can’t give me an injection. So – on to an MRI so we know exactly what is going on.
He did make sure to tell me that the initial treatment for either problem is the boot and there wasn’t a need for an MRI right off the bat. I do appreciate that he is conservative and doesn’t just order expensive tests and moves slowly in recommending treatment. He’s a orthopedic surgeon that isn’t totally knife happy
He also had me put an additional little pad in my boot. It is pretty firm and is right in my arch, below the painful spot. It further holds my arch up to alleviate pressure on the painful spot. He said it’s possible that the tear has healed and we’re just dealing with overall inflammation, so alleviating the pressure as much as possible is a good thing.
This all kind of meshes with my chiropractor’s suspect reaction to the stress fracture diagnosis. As someone who is knowledgeable about soft tissue as a practitioner of ART, she had worked on my feet a bit before my first orthopedist appointment and I think she had a good handle on the soft tissue situation in my foot. I bet she would agree with the Plantar Plate tear diagnosis.
So – my MRI is today – Wednesday. I can’t get back to the doctor for results until next Monday, so I’m stuck in the boot for a while longer.
I’m feeling more positive about this all now – the extra little pad is making a difference. Either that or I’m mentally desperate to get out of my boot, so I’m willing my foot to feel better.
And, on the bright side – we have a fancy event to attend this weekend and while I have a boot on one foot – it’s also the foot that has the toe problem which prevents me from being able to wear high heels. So – I can wear whatever shoe I want on my good foot. Okay, did that make any sense?
I’m sure you’re all getting tired of only reading injury updates – but that’s really about all that’s going on around here lately. Although I’m working on a post about how I’ve turned my son into the ingredient label police… did you know that Heinz Ketchup has HFCS in it? Ick.
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