Can you jam a metatarsal???

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[ninjaqutie]

Hi everyone. I know you all aren't doctors, but I was hoping one of you on here might have experienced what I did and can give me an idea of what is going on. Saturday in class we were doing somewhat free practice. Uke would only attack shomen, but nage could do whatever technique they wanted. Anyway, I was uke and I stepped in to attack shomen and my partner came in and plowed into my foot. It hurt like hell (brought tears to my eyes) and I just figured my toes were jammed and winced my way through the last ten minutes or so of class with tears in my eyes.

Yesterday when I got out of bed I could hardly walk. Today I can walk "fairly" normal. By that I mean, I am limping around, but not to the extent I was yesterday. I have some minimal bruising, swelling and after some poking and prodding, I have decided that it isn't really my toes, it feels like it is actually in my foot at the beginning or shortly near the end of the metatarsal near my toes. The pain can be achieved by lightly applying pressure on either the top or bottom of the foot in a precise location. It hurts to point my toes and it hurts to attempt to stand on the ball of that foot. The pain isn't quite as severe as yesterday, but it is enough to keep me tentative and limiting the weight I put on the foot.

If it is still bad tomorrow, I am going to make a doctor appointment. I don't have a problem with going if something could be wrong. I have experienced where my toes have been jammed, but this is just different since it is actually further up in the ball of my foot instead of the toes. So, II guess my question is.... can you jam a metatarsal? I want to take care of myself, but at the same time I can't really afford to be going to the doctor and get several x-rays to be told I just jammed my foot....

Anyway, thanks for hearing me out. Like I said, I'm not sure what I am expecting to hear from all of you. I'm sure I will get some "Yeah I did that and it felt fine after a few days." and some other people will say "Suck it up and go to the doctor." :D Thanks for humoring me!

[Janet Rosen]

Ouch!
As a nurse I don't even know what you mean by "jammed" a metatarsal. Sprain? Strain? Dislocation?
Clearly from the symptoms you at least have a soft tissue injury, so rest, ice, elevate and then decide if you need a doc to evaluate for a fracture.

[lbb]

Point tenderness on both sides of the bone can indicate a fracture, but isn't necessarily. Remember that things are frequently a whole lot worse the day after. Give it a good day of RICE (and I mean REALLY rest, not "I'll just train lightly") and see if improves, and how rapidly.

[thisisnotreal]

m 2 c: definitely could've. any number of things. for an idea of the variety of (subtle) things that could've gone off; check out some of these vids : for example 1st Metatarsal Manipulation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLarVNljErQ&feature=player_embedded#!)

[ninjaqutie]

Thanks everyone :( I'm guessing that even if I did fracture it, there isn't much to be done except maybe "Wear this hard soled boot for a while." or maybe use crutches.... injuries like this just seem to need time to rest and heal on their own accord.... wah.

Janet, I guess I didn't do a very good job of explaining what I meant by jammed. I have jammed toes before, and it felt like it was more in the phalanges. This feels more like it is in the ball of my foot and the only thing I can guess is that it is a metatarsal. It doesn't feel like it is high enough to be a cuneiform bone issue....

I guess I will just take it easy, go to class (but observe) and if it doesn't get better in a few days then I will suck it up and go to the doctor.

[lbb]

Ashley, I have a non-union fracture in the second metatarsal of my right foot. You don't want that. REST, don't tromp around going to class (even if only to observe) and doing normal activities, and don't assume what the diagnosis and treatment will be. If it doesn't improve rapidly after several days of proper care, see a doctor.

[thisisnotreal]

This feels more like it is in the ball of my foot and the only thing I can guess is that it is a metatarsal. .
..on the off chance this is interesting to you: there is something called a sesamoid bone (http://www.podiatrychannel.com/sesamoiditis/index.shtml) in embedded in the fascia under the first metatarsal. seasamoid bones are not anchored to the skeletal system the same way as all the other bones. Sesamoid bone is embedded in the fascia and floats along with those structures.. it is possible that this has become dislodged from its 'normal position' and/or stuck in a new spot. this can make going up on the 'ball of the foot' feel weird and/or painful. but there must be a bunch of other things i'm sure it could be too. just that i personally learned about this specific thing the hard way...

[ninjaqutie]

Well, I went to the doctor and he has diagnosed me tentatively (just did x-rays) as having bruised my bone marrow in my metatarsal. Anyone ever hear of bruising bone marrow before?

I'm on rest (other then work and grocery shopping), so no aikido for me, and I am taking anti-inflams twice a day for a month. I go back in February and if it isn't better, then he wants to do an MRI to see if I did any tissue damage or if something else is going on.

I have heard of bruising the exterior of the bone, but didn't know you could bruise the marrow. After a little googling, I found some mentions of it, but nothing in great detail. Anyone have any info to share?

[lbb]

Nope, never heard of bone marrow bruising either, but it is living tissue, so why not? I'm sorry this is still nagging at you. Please do the right thing and give it the rest it needs (spoken as someone else who's suddenly on limited activity, dammit).

[Janet Rosen]

Hmmm.....RN for 30 yrs and never heard of it...to parse it out... "bruising" means bleeding into. I suppose one could bleed into the marrow space of the bone....... ok off to research... Good link here:
http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/bone-bruises
Ashley, thank you for teaching the old nurse something new! I'm sorry it comes at your expense... :-(

[ninjaqutie]

Thanks for the read Janet. I figured you might have something to say or someone else may have heard of it. You all didn't dissapoint me.