How X-Rays Show Metatarsal Fracture Healing

Rodney asked about a non-displaced fifth metatarsal fracture. He said “Hi, it’s been 8 weeks and my orthopedic doctor says it’s healed. Even though the x-ray doesn’t look like it’s healed. There is still a black in the gap where it was broken. He says that line will be there. Is this possible?”

Metatarsal fractures are extremely common. In fact metatarsal bones are fractured more often than any other bones in the foot among runners. Because these little bones happen to be the longest bones in your foot they’re also crucially important to the stability and structure of your foot. So you have to make sure they heal before you can get back to running with confidence.

X-rays are the most frequently used diagnostic tool to evaluate the positioning and state of healing of fractured metatarsal bones. But there’s a lot of variability in the appearance of a fractured bone when you’re looking at it on an x-ray.

In this week's podcast were talking about how x-rays show metatarsal fracture healing.