Foot pain on side of foot.

Hi,

My daughter was skateboarding and the board jammed on something. She went forward and landed hard on the foot. If the foot is fractured in the arch does rest fix it or do they put a cast on it. I guess what I am asking is does a doctor actually do something or is he going to tell me to go home and put ice on it.

Thanks,
Debbie

RESPONSE

Hi Debbie,

Well, if you actually go to a good doctor, he or she should do something about it. For some reason people seem to think that a fracture in the foot is nothing to worry about (as opposed to fractures elsewhere in the body), or if the bone is not actually protruding through the skin, then there is nothing to be worried about.
This could not be further from the truth particularly in a child. You do not mention your child's age but if she has not reached puberty then there are other issues to deal with as well.
The only way to know if there is a fracture is to have an x-ray; it is impossible to look at the foot and tell if there is a break or not. If there is a fracture, the degree of fracture determines the treatment.
Issues that relate specifically to your daughter include the possibility of a fracture to the growth plate of the bone. This is the point from which the bone is growing. Any damage to the growth plate may adversely affect the way the bone continues to develop and grow. If there is enough damage this could lead to problems later on.
The second issue when there is trauma to the side of the foot is damage to the base of the fifth metatarsal bone. This is the metatarsal bone on the outside of the foot. Here you are faced with a double whammy.
Not only does the base of the fifth metatarsal have a growth plate that I just previously described, but the base of the fifth metatarsal bone is poorly vascularized. This means the base gets most of its blood supply from the surrounding structures. The significance of this is that a fracture to the base of the fifth metatarsal bone may have difficulty in healing, because of the poor blood supply.
If this problem is not addressed and properly treated, a patient may end up with what is known as a non-union which is basically a bone fracture that has improperly healed. The significance of this would be chronic pain in the poorly healed fracture site.
I understand people do not like to run to doctor's offices for every little ache and pain, but I think in this particular situation an x-ray and examination of the traumatized area would be in your daughter's best interest.

see related article....fractures

Marc Mitnick DPM
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