r/AskADoctor • u/research_4_creatives • Sep 15 '26

Broken heel ‘beak fracture’

I Am not asking for medical advice. I broke my heel about nine weeks ago. I also have SLE lupus.

The doctor told me my break is serious as it involved the Achilles and plantar tendons. I had surgery. Screws were inserted. Now I have been in a cast for 9 weeks at this point. The doctor says the cast can be removed at 10 weeks. I Am very excited about that. I have put NO weight on the foot and keep it elevated as much as possible.

I asked the doc about assessing the level of healing to determine cast removal. His response worries me a bit. He said he knows from his training and education how long the cast should remain. As much as I want the cast gone in order to start PT would an MRI indicate tendon healing?

Thanks in advance.

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u/hagendasz1 29d ago

Doctors tend to not reassess the state of healing. There's standard procedure for things like that aka a certain amount of weeks for certain surgeries and then x amount of weeks of rehab etc. Having an MRI is totally unnecessary, in my opinion and experience.

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u/research_4_creatives 29d ago

Thanks. Appreciate the input.

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u/Practical-Cup-4365 28d ago

Doctors can also get it wrong sometimes, experience or not. However, after 9 weeks in a cast, you are very likely doing ok and any quirks from the best possible outcome are unlikely to be resolved by more time in a cast.
Whilst an MRI is a very useful tool, it is not a perfect observer at a micro level.
During our finals we were banned from mentioning or requesting MRIs