INDIANAPOLIS — For a “normal” person — in this case someone who isn’t a professional athlete — the foot injuries Indianapolis Colts Carson Wentz and Quenton Nelson are dealing with would take three to four months for full recovery. To get back to jogging, bicycling, playing tennis or whatever the activity might be.
But for the Colts quarterback and offensive guard, says foot and ankle orthopedic surgeon Dr. Erica Fisk with OrthoIndy, they are likely on an expediated timeline of recovery with triple or quadruple the rehab taking place than a normal person would receive during the same time frame. Fisk has not examined either player.
Still, five weeks, the short end of the 5- to 12-week timeline for return that both players were given, according to Colts coach Frank Reich and team doctors, could be pushing things, experts say.
No matter what the foot or ankle injury is, no matter whom the patient is, most people have at least four to six weeks of non-weight bearing time off — then onto rehab, said Fisk.
A more likely timeline for return for Wentz and Nelson is 8-12 weeks, said Dr. A. Holly Johnson, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in foot and ankle injuries at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. But not a lot of research among athletes with these injuries has been done. Johnson has not treated or seen either player.
A small pool of six athletes who had a piece of the fifth metatarsal removed were studied and data was published in 2011 by Dr. John Anderson. Those athletes’ average return to play was 11.5 weeks, said Johnson.
The size of the fragment and whether ligaments or tendons had to be reattached during surgery also play into recovery time, she said.
‘No more prone to injury’
Once their injuries are healed, there should be no greater risk than anyone else for a recurrence, Fisk said.
“Usually after people heal, it would take a pretty significant trauma or injury to have a re-injury,” she said. “The objective is to get to normal speed with no expectation that it’s weaker or more prone to injury after.”
The Colts revealed this week, Monday then Tuesday, that Wentz and Nelson both suffered from a piece of loose bone in their foot.
Doctors determined that Wentz unknowingly suffered a broken left foot at some point in his career, likely in high school, and when he planted his foot in practice last week, a piece of the bone came loose.
“More than likely what they mean by loose bone is an avulsion fracture,” Fisk said of Wentz. That is when a small chunk of bone attached to a tendon or ligament gets pulled away from the main part of the bone.
Nelson’s right foot injury, on the other hand, was caused by a developmental anomaly he was likely born with, the Colts said.
“It was…something that was always there, something you just never knew, then all of a sudden, here it is,” Reich said this week.
With Nelson, though Fisk said she has not seen his X-rays, it sounds like an injury that occurs when someone is born with ossicles in the foot. These are “random loose bones or a bone in your foot that never fully fused during development,” she said.
In both players’ cases, the injury can be quite painful, said Johnson.
“When the fractured part of the bone doesn’t heal back to the main bone, it can create inflammation and just a very small amount of motion is painful,” she said. And it swells.
“When you take that piece out,” she said, “it alleviates the pain.”
More:What you need to know about the surgeon operating on Carson Wentz, Quenton Nelson
‘Don’t take the risk’
Wentz and Nelson underwent surgery this week performed by Dr. David Porter of Methodist Sports Medicine.
In both situations, surgeons likely went in and removed the bone, said Fisk. Then, depending on the bone’s location and size, they may have had to reattach ligaments or tendons.
For “normal” people with the same injury, they might decide to wait on surgery, said Fisk, to see if it heals on its own or feels better in a couple of weeks.
But if it doesn’t heal, they could be dealing with an additional three months of medical treatment when the surgery finally happens, she said.
“Pro athletes take more aggressive treatment,” Fisk said. “You don’t take the risk of waiting to see.”
Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: [email protected].
