Mid-Foot Madness
NFL season is upon us and the injuries are piling up. We have seen a less common injury taking some of the spotlike this year, the lisfranc injury. Cam Newtown likely sustained the injury during the preseason and has appeared to struggle his first two games. Here a breakdown of the injury and what we can expect in the weeks to come. Depending on the extent of the injury we are looking at anywhere from 4 weeks to 8.
What Exactly is the Injury?
Just as in the ankle, the foot has several supportive ligaments to keep the foot stable while performing sports activities. Honestly, there are too many to name, but basically there are multiple ligaments that connect each bone in the foot to the bones next to it as can be seen in the photo below. There is one particular ligament that is crucial to sports participation called the Lisfranc ligament. When a foot injury occurs to these stabilizing ligaments this is referred to as a foot sprain. To be clear: A foot sprain is the same thing as ligament damage to the foot!
What We Can Expect in Return?
Most foot sprains are generally managed with a conservative course of treatment. At first, the process usually involves some form of supportive boot or cast. Generally speaking, the boot is more than enough to handle a mid-foot sprain At this point they he will typically wear the boot and use the scooter until he has no pain with walking. Usually will progress him to the boot only in a couple weeks and allow him to lift and cross train (ie bike, swim).
He is going to have the most issues with walking, running, cutting and pivoting. If he has a typical foot sprain it is very well possible he is ready in the next 4 weeks. However if he has the troublesome Lisfranc ligament I would say it is likely more a 6-8 week return.
The ultimate factor is his future health. An all too common issue is that an athlete sustains a more serious injury while compensating for a current one (ie Kevin Durant & Klay Thompson). Obviously no NFL fan wants to see that.
Lisfranc Ligament
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