top of foot pain

I rolled my ankle last week when I stepped in a pot hole crossing the street. Now there is pain in the midportion of the top of my foot. I have been icing and elevating my foot every night. Do metatarsal bones heal on their own?

Thanks.

Hi,

Hoping a metatarsal bone heals on its own is not a great medical strategy. It would all depend on what type of damage was done to the foot. You could have nothing more than a ligament strain, ranging all the way up to a ligament tear, all the way to a fracture of the metatarsal bone.
The key here is determining how much damage you did to the foot. That can only be done with a visit to a foot specialist who most likely will take an xray.
The problem that many people make is that they think their injury is "nothing to worry about" so they do nothing about it; the injury does not heal and when they finally go to a doctor they find they had a worse problem then they suspected. Now the problem becomes more difficult to treat.
There is no rule of thumb, but if your foot is still hurting after a day or so, it should be examined by a doctor.

Marc Mitnick DPM
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