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5th Metatarsal delayed or non union

Discussion in 'Ask your questions here' started by Unregistered, Jun 16, 2010.

  1. Unregistered

    Unregistered Guest


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    I'm 29 yo female, I fractured my 5th metatarsal in two places, I think in March 2008. I was at work when a heavy load (about 1/2 ton) of stored wood pivoted down on top of my foot over my 5th metatarsal. Visited my GP on numerous occasions to be told that if it was broken I wouldn't be walking on it. I was walking around with a rigid foot and trying to bear all my weight on my big toe side.
    Then in August 2009 I slipped forward down a high kerb stone, my foot was stuck on tip toe against the kerb and I could feel twisting in the top of my foot. I then fell to the ground and unable to walk as a I had been doing, had to attend the medical walk in centre, who then refered me to A & E, where an x ray was taken.
    I was immediately told that the fracture was old and non union, put on crutches and told to go back to the fracture clinic in 1 week where the consultants would decide to plaster or operate. My metatarsal was fractured distal end right across the bone, but had healed, further down was a large triangular shaped fracture at the base of the bone, with a faint line across. This had lots of white growth 'floating' around. I was put in plaster (slipper) for 5 weeks. I had another x ray which showed no sign of improvement, but as I was not in lots of pain the plaster was removed. 6 months later I was told that the fracture was healed, now in lots of pain, including burning, stinging, throbbing and a very weak ankle, I was sent to physiotherapy. 3 months down the line and getting nowhere with the physio, my therapist told me that he and a colleague had looked at my last x ray taken in February and can still see a fracture. I have just been back to the fracture clinic to be told not to believe the therapists, that my bone is fully healed and the pain is idiopathic. He wouldn't take another x ray. I looked at the x ray from February which shows the bone has united along the edge with a thin white line, but in the middle there is still a huge black area, which the consultant claims will fill in over time. My therapist says that it will never unite properly as the ends of the bone are dead. My question is what action do I take now? I live in England, UK...NHS hospital. Do I pay for a second opinion or is my consultant right, and it's just a matter of time?
     
  2. FootDoc

    FootDoc New Member

    Especially with such a convoluted story as you offered, under what delusion could you possibly expect that anyone who has not attended you, examined your foot or viewed your x-rays would or could offer you a response upon which you would be willing to rely?

    I really don't get your UK, NHS medical care deliver system which seems to me to be so fragmented (GP's, consultants, fracture clinics, therapists) without anyone seemingly running the show and taking overall responsibility. Then there's the pay-for-it system when the free care is worth precisely what you pay for it. When something is too good to be true . . . it generally IS.
     
  3. a reader

    a reader Guest

    A delusion is a psychiatric diagnosis that cannot be made without in-person consultation of a professional. No forum posting, regardless of how convoluted, is sufficient evidence on which to base such a diagnosis.
     
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