Niang Injury Question

Bobber

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2006
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Hudson, Iowa
I'm kind of curious how long this type of injury takes to heal and if there is much therapy involved? Is he going to lose a little bit of bounce in his step or should we expect the same old George next year?

I'll always remember pre broken leg Roy Marble vs. post broken leg Marble. He just wasn't the same player after that injury. Pre injury he looked like the second coming of Michael Jordan.

Hope George puts some time in the weight and training room off season. He really could be an animal if he was in a little better shape.
 
Broken leg>broken foot.

He may have to have his foot wrapped up tighter from now on, but it is not as a traumatic as a broken leg.
 
Anyone know if this type of injury makes him more prone for it to happen again?
 
I didn't have a Jones fracture, but I did have surgery on both of my fifth metatarsals, two screws in each and a wire around one, non weight bearing for 6 weeks, partial weight bearing for 2 more. No therapy needed, (but I was no star at ISU), resumed running, and jumping gradually. When a bone is broken, they "heal" usually in 6 weeks, which means the fractured area "fills in". It still takes a while for that fractured area to become a hard bone. Weight bearing speeds up that process once the fracture fills in. I doubt he will have any problems in the future, It was smart to surgically treat it to increase it's stability.
 
Probably not a bad idea for people in the front row to hit the floor if he tries to jump them again.
 
Anyone know if this type of injury makes him more prone for it to happen again?

It can reoccur, IMO that's probably why they put a screw in it....increase stability and decrease re-occurrence. Just guessing they may have him wear a "firm" brace in his shoe for a while.
 
I broke my ankle last Thanksgiving. Is that better or worse than the fifth metatarsal? I'd guess a little worse, although admittedly I was able to get by without surgery. Anyway, six weeks in a cast, no weight on the foot. Following that, another three-ish weeks in a walking boot. When the boot came off, I had to sorta re-learn walking (sounds bizarre, but it really just took me a couple of days to get my balance right).

It's four months later, I am getting along almost normally. Still working on muscle strength and ankle flexibility, which isn't going to be quite the same issue as Georges. He'll be fine.
 
Actually 5th metatarsal fractures can be pretty serious. I would rank them as more significant than average ankle and leg fractures due to often ligament all injury as well...see lisfranc. There can also be blood supply interruptions as well that you don't see with larger bones.
 
I have heard 5 weeks + 6 days. I guess that was a little overly optimistic.
 
Broken leg>broken foot.

He may have to have his foot wrapped up tighter from now on, but it is not as a traumatic as a broken leg.

This is a pretty big oversimplification.

The 5th metatarsal is a pretty tough bone to heal, mostly due to it's relatively poor blood supply. That is likely one of the reasons that he had to get into surgery for fixation, which will help with the union of the fractured ends. With the care he will receive there is no reason to think he will have any long term effects of the injury but to say it's more or less traumatic than any other injury is difficult. There are instances where a broken leg gets 6 weeks in a cast and boom you are good to go. This will definitely be have more intensive rehab than some other leg injuries.
 
Actually 5th metatarsal fractures can be pretty serious. I would rank them as more significant than average ankle and leg fractures due to often ligament all injury as well...see lisfranc. There can also be blood supply interruptions as well that you don't see with larger bones.

Truth about the blood supply. That area of the bone has decreased blood flow and that is what heals bones. Thankfully he's in good hands with the athletic department. He will receive treatments that us "common folks" would not have access too. I'm optimistic about his healing.
 
As I said in a different thread, I had this same break. Mine was the better part of 3 mos. However - I didn't have the surgery, a hard cast nor the rehab that Georges has. Furthermore, it was about 20 yrs ago - so whatever advancements are available. But yes - this is a slow recovery/heal time due to the blood supply on the outer foot. There's not a lot that can be done about that. As for the reoccurence, I think it's considered somewhat high. I was reading a study of athletes, larger build athletes (3 pro fb, 1 coll bb and an amateur person), who had surgery. All had re-fractures at some point. But it seemed the point was consideration of the size of the pin (I imagine they want to use as small as possible) versus size of person and not granting enough time for true bone healing (IE - returned to competition the same season, even 6-7 weeks). Given the season is over, there's no reason for this to be an issue for Georges so I'd think the risk is fairly low.
 
I had a complete break in my 3rd metatarsal, and a hairline fracture in my 4th. Idk how George's was even able to walk off the court. I could not take a single step on mine. 3 screws on each side of the break with a "plate" across the break. Crutches for 4 weeks. Walking boot cast for 2.

This was 4 years ago now. The only time it ever hurts is sometimes, somehow I step on it wrong and I get a short, isolated pain. Never had any troubles playin pickup ball or anything.
 

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