Metatarsal Stress Fracture Not Healing?

each setback will be a bigger hole you dig for yourself. you need to be much more patient with this kind of stress fracture. i'm gonna guess and say you need to stop running for about 6 months. then you'll need to ease back gently.

also, wear appropriate shoes for the surface you'll be running on. flats are fine on grass, but are destructive on the road. if your shoes are excessively worn - to the point where the foam is compressed - you'll need to switch them out for new ones. i think it's in your best interest to waste a few bucks on shoes and remain a runner, than to cheapskate your way back to the handicapped life.

I’ve had metatarsal stress fractures before so here’s my anecdote.

Calcium pills, take them daily with vitamin D. I spent 10 weeks in a boot(air cast), which I would hardly ever take off. Don’t even think about putting weight on that foot. No cross training that causes impact, avoid elliptical. Opt for the pool instead. High cushion shoes, I wear Hoka Clifton’s now. Also training on softer surfaces more often.

I’ve been lucky and haven’t had any stress fractures in about 4+ years now but I had a bad stint of getting them annually for about 5-6 years in a row throughout HS and college. Be patient and think about ways you can reduce the risk of you getting them again going forward. Good luck going forward!

Thanks guys! I appreciate the input. Would biking be a good alternative for the next few months, or might that put too much stress on my foot?

sometimes depending on the injury there can be benefit to putting the heel on the pedal biking. possibly to protect toes or ankle.

i healed fine from stress fractures in small 2 toes when i shifted over to a slow tap dance season for a few months etc. after some rest. i couldnt get anywhere near as high a heart rate as with running but i was doing it in basketball shoes. and i kept the impact light enough that the toes didnt have to feel it. in these shoes they were protected at that intensity. they didnt move or at least didnt have impact force . it was light at first. also i was able to do step aerobics. also swimming but have to be careful with force of pushing off a wall. also it became ab season... doing push ups i put the injured toe foot up in the air hanging over the strong foots leg so their wasnt force on the toes.

water aerobic exercises, min trampoline, and soft surface land stuff bridged me back . seem totally heeled. but one of the fractures, from a different thing, not the 2 small toes but near them, had signs longer than a year. it also finally heeled. i rested it a few months initially. i also started taking the calcium and vitamin d. and did strength exercises. and eased way back and climbed back up gradually.

since my first stress facture on toes i modified my stride so minimal force was applied with toes while running. these later 2 toes. i got those from hopping laps around the tennis court. after that i put my hopping onto softer sufaces and did it for shorter distances and things are fine. while they were heeling it was possible to jump in basketball shoes on a soft surface. for example even 3000 jumps at 2 per second. which deosnt really get the heart up to runnng intensity. and would be stupid to try without a plan i would guess.

This thread is outdated, but I'm hoping you might see it. I'm experiencing something similar with my metatarsal. It's been 3-4 months (in a boot for 2 months) still hurts to walk. Not even thinking about running. How long did it take for your metatarsal to fully heal?

BUMP