Joe A Shaw PA-C - 3/23/2008

Question
Hello, I am 19 years old, I have a non-displaced Jones fractured on my left foot that happened Dec 13, 2007 playing soccer. I went to the doctor right away and I was told that it would take 8-10 weeks to heal.ok?Every two weeks I went to the doctor to take x-rays and every x-ray seem to be same to me. The doctor only told me to keep resting it and to avoid pressure on it, which I did. The healing didn抰 seem to be happening. After 10 weeks the fractured still hasn抰 healed half way! I can stand on both feet but I can抰 walk on it...why is this taking so long? Is been 13 weeks now and it hasn't healed? What are the things I can be doing wrong?  What can I do to improve, if improving, my healing process? Is there any precautions I should take? Can it not heal?

Answer
Raul,
There is really nothing you or your Dr did wrong..these fx's that are treated with "closed" reduction (ie w/o surgery) have about a 50% chance of being a non-union. You may have to now try ORIF (open reduction internal fixation) basically surgery with screws/pins etc..to see if you can get a good union. You may ask why didnt they do this to begin with?..well because it was non-displaced and you DO have a 50% chance of it healing properly..you just happened to be on the short end this time. Good luck