multiple metatarsal fracture recovery?

any info or experiences re recovery times from metatarsal fracture ?

Broke metatarsals 2, 3, 4 , three months ago. 

Slipped on a dynamic move from the top of the bouldering wall , and landed on one foot while my body was rotating forward (ie all the weight on the toes/ball of foot)

Can now do full weight bearing briefly, but walking in a sneaker for anything more than a block or two still results in significant pain. No Lisfranc injury and ortho docs unconcerned (non displaced, non surgical). 

Just seems like recovery is taking longer than what the docs are quoting . 

Wondering if this is typical…?

Also, any favorite wide / flat / supportive shoes for the injured foot, when i do resume climbing? The thought of shoving the injured foot back into my Miuras makes me shudder

Hi MJ,

I had the exact same injury as you last summer! The return to walking and climbing took me a little longer than I would’ve liked as well - and was quite painful. I’d definitely recommend talking with a PT if you can, they can help you evaluate if you can safely climb on it based off your X-rays and give you some exercises to make the return to walking less painful. I found that rolling out the bottom of my foot with a tennis ball really helped me get used to more weight and pressure in the area.

For climbing shoes I climbed with an approach shoe on the injured foot (at around or a little over 12 weeks out) until the pain was manageable for a looser softer shoe (around 4 months out I’d say). And made sure to take it easy! I also found stiff, supportive shoes to be the most friendly for walking for the first couple months.

Hope this helps!

thank you! if anyone comes across this thread… it basically took a full 12 months to recover. was doing some climbing in a CAM boot 3-4 months out.  4 months out , wore a very stiff soled shoe on the injured foot (scarpa maestro/ tc pro type). still couldn’t push off my forefoot with full strength or carry heavy pack weights until 10+ months out. i used a metatarsal pad to redistribute weight while slowly ramping up running mileage the last 3 months, which also helped strengthen ligaments and muscles that had been off balance and weakened. ymmv.

I broke the 3rd met in boot camp. Cast for 5 weeks and then a few weeks taking it easy. 10 weeks after breaking it I was running again.