One of the most common types of fracture or break in the foot is a 5th Metatarsal fracture. This is the long bone on the outside of the foot (along the little toe side).
There are four main types of 5th metatarsal fractures that occur.
1/ Jones Fracture
A jones fracture happens about half-way down the length of the fifth metatarsal bone in an area that tends to have a poorer blood supply, and hence is quite prone to fractures. This can take two forms, of either being a hairline (stress fracture) that develops over time perhaps because of overpronation (where you tend to put more stress on the outside of your foot where the 5th metatarsal is located); or else an acute fracture of the 5th metatarsal which is where it happens suddenly perhaps because someone trod on your foot or something heavy dropped on it which caused your 5th metatarsal to break.
2/ Avulsion Fracture
These happen when someone rolls their ankle and the ligament or tendon are pulled. This dislodges a small piece of bone from the 5th metatarsal, closer to the ankle and down a little from the site of where a Jones Fracture would typically occur. These usually happen where an acute incident has occurred like an accident.
3/ Mid-Shaft 5th Metatarsal Fractures
These are up a little from where a Jones fractures would occur, and tend to happen through trauma, or where you have twisted your foot in an odd way. Dancers and athletes are prone to this.
4/ Head and Neck 5th Metatarsal Fractures
The ‘head and neck’ we are referring to here are bones in the fifth metatarsal, and are located just below the little toe. Again these can happen because of sudden trauma, or where there is continual stress on the region and a hairline crack develops over time, such as might happen if your walking style over pronates towards the top of your foot.
In all cases with these kinds of fractures you are likely to experience some bruising around the area, problems with walking and mobility, and pain.
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