Wednesday, May 09, 2007

My Bone Contusion (Bruise) FAQ

So, the verdict is in...I just got a call from the doctor with the results of my MRI I did this morning.  Turns out I have 2 bad bone bruises (or stress responses) in the 3rd and 4th metatarsal bones of my foot.  It doesn't sound serious, but he said a lot of bone bruises ultimately lead to stress fractures, so luckily mine did not get to that point.
 
Just a bone bruise?  That's it??!?  Yes, a bone bruise, just like famous NFL players Shaun Alexander of the Seattle Seahawks (which led to a broken foot since he overused it) and Anquan Boldin of the Arizona Cardinals.  Both of them missed a few games because of their bone bruises.
 
What is a bone bruise? Bone bruises are also known as periosteal bruises. The most painful bruises, they can sometimes take months to heal. What happens in a bone bruise is a compressive force pushes the in on itself. When this happens the outer layer of the bone, which is fibrous, breaks down. This leads to leaking of fluid.
 
How did it happen?  I'm not positive, but I believe it was from a time in October when I was running (almost sprinting) with my Pug Dempsey for about a half mile while wearing flip flops.  I don't normally do that, but it just so happened that the next morning I could hardly walk, so that's a pretty good indication to me.
 
How long will it take to heal?  The doc says I will need to be in a walking cast / boot for about 6 weeks.  I'll be getting fitted for it tomorrow hopefully, and then be pain-free in a month and a half after wearing it.  It should smell awesome during this Florida heat!
 
You're so hot, are you married?  Yes, happily.
 
Any other questions?  Feel free to email me!  Thank you for your concern!
 
Found a good article on bone bruises as well:

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

darn it, you mean there is actually something wrong with you? i thought you were just trying to get out of doing household chores. well, here's to a healthy healing my dear. guess you will be all better for your best friends-only trip to key west!

AJ said...

so you wrote this article a while ago. did you end up healing ok? i have a similar injury and want to know how your recovery went

Perno said...

Hi AJ,

Thanks for reading.

I actually ended up getting fitted for a walking boot. I had to wear it for about 2 weeks and everything healed well. If I could suggest anything it would be to make sure you always wear proper footwear.

Let me know if you have any questions, hope you heal quickly

Unknown said...

About two weeks ago, I started experiencing pain on the side of my right foot, which can only be described as extremely painful electric jolts.
They just suddenly appeared for a few seconds, disappeared, and then reappeared every couple of minutes. I am a 61 year old male who has experienced many pains in life, but this is by far the worse.
Suspecting it may be "gout" I immediately stopped drinking beer, or eating beef. However the symptoms were not consistent with gout. There was no visible swelling or redness. The pain disappeared after 24 hours, only to return again 2 days later.
I had been thinking it was being caused by something systemic, with the foot as the innocent victim.
Then suddenly one night, after being awakened by the pain, it occurred to me that the foot must be the origin of the pain. But why?
I hadn't had any accidents, so I tried to remember if I had dropped anything on the foot lately.
The answer came as as suddenly as being stepped on by a horse.
About 4 months ago, I had been attending a local event which featured extremely large dancing horses. One of the riders came over to ask me something, and his horse stepped squarely on my foot, leaving a hoof mark on my shoe and a sore tingling foot inside. It was an extremely cold day, so my foot was already numbed considerably before the incident. I just walked off the pain, and forgot about it (until now!)
Does this latent experience of pain make any sense to someone knowledgeable of these things.
At the time of the accident, there was pain and numbness, but no noticeable swelling or discoloration. Why after 4 months would the pain suddenly appear more intense than originally?
Calcium deposits? Bone spurs? Nerve damage? Stress? Old age? Or all of the above?

Perno said...

Hey Stel, that sounds pretty terrible. I'm no doctor but you should have had an x-ray on your foot when it was stepped on by that huge horse. Was it a Budweiser event? :)

Obviously hindsight is 20/20 but you never think about how important your feet are until there's something wrong with them. I hope everything turns out ok for you!

missdonna said...

I, too acknowledge that this an old posting, but in my search for information for a friend I found it. I'm curious if you needed any physical therapy or anything after the removal of your boot. My friend is a dancer, and has worn her boot for 5 weeks. She just got it off & there is no plan for therapy, but she feels as though she has lost her muscle strength in her foot & calf. Any input would be appreciated.

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