A broken foot, also known as a foot fracture, occurs when there is a crack or break in one or more of the 26 bones that make up the foot. These injuries can range from tiny, hairline stress fractures to severe breaks involving multiple bone fragments and joints. While the initial pain may tempt a person to simply wait for the injury to resolve itself, a foot fracture requires medical evaluation and stabilization to ensure proper healing. Avoiding this necessary medical intervention triggers a predictable series of escalating medical consequences that can seriously compromise the foot’s function and a person’s long-term mobility. This cascade of events begins with immediate physical instability and leads to profound structural changes and the development of chronic, debilitating conditions.
Immediate Instability and Tissue Damage
Leaving a newly fractured foot unprotected and continuing to bear weight on it allows the bone fragments to shift, which is known as increased displacement. This movement prevents the natural healing process from beginning correctly and can turn a relatively simple fracture into a complex one within hours or days. The bone fragments, now unstable, can cause damage to the surrounding soft tissues that are designed to support the foot’s structure. This includes the ligaments, tendons, and muscle fibers that wrap around the injured bone.
Continued displacement can also result in damage to the delicate neurovascular structures located near the bone. Trauma from the sharp edges of the broken bone may injure or tear nearby nerves and blood vessels. Damage to these nerves can result in permanent symptoms like numbness, tingling sensations, or a reduced ability to control foot movement. In rare but severe cases, the movement of a closed fracture can cause it to become an open (or compound) fracture, where the bone pierces the skin, exposing the deeper tissues to external bacteria and increasing the risk of a serious bone infection, such as osteomyelitis.
Failure to Heal Correctly
The failure to stabilize and correctly align the bone fragments is the direct cause of long-term structural complications. Without proper medical positioning and immobilization, the fracture site is susceptible to two primary forms of healing failure: malunion and nonunion. These outcomes are the result of the body attempting to repair the injury without the necessary mechanical support, setting the stage for permanent foot dysfunction.
A malunion occurs when the broken bone successfully heals, but in an incorrect anatomical position. The foot’s structure may become shortened, rotated, or bent during the process, resulting in a permanent deformity. When the bone fuses improperly, it alters the foot’s natural biomechanics, changing how stress is distributed across the entire structure with every step.
In contrast, a nonunion is a more severe failure where the bone fragments fail to heal entirely, even after the typical healing period has passed. This leaves a persistent gap between the bone ends, leading to ongoing pain and instability at the fracture site. Nonunion often results in a false joint forming, which is unable to bear weight effectively and leaves the foot in a constantly weakened state.
Development of Chronic Conditions
The structural failures of malunion and nonunion initiate a cascade of chronic health problems that severely limit mobility and quality of life. The altered foot mechanics caused by improper healing are directly responsible for the development of post-traumatic arthritis.
When a bone heals in a misaligned position, the joints near the fracture site are forced to bear weight unevenly. This abnormal loading accelerates the wear and tear on the smooth articular cartilage that cushions the joints. Over time, this uneven pressure erodes the cartilage, causing bone-on-bone friction and resulting in debilitating post-traumatic arthritis, which can develop many years after the initial injury.
These structural and joint problems lead to chronic pain that often worsens with activity. The combination of instability from a nonunion or the altered structure from a malunion forces a person to change how they walk, leading to an abnormal gait. This change in walking pattern is a form of compensation that places excessive strain on other joints, potentially causing secondary injuries in the knee, hip, or back. The resulting long-term deformity often requires the use of specialized footwear or custom orthotics just to function. Ultimately, leaving a foot fracture untreated trades a short period of discomfort and inconvenience for a lifetime of pain, limited movement, and permanent disability.