Ligament/tendon how long does it take to heal?

i had a pain in the ball of my foot, toe area after playing football, 4 weeks after the pain had not gone so i went to the doctors and they guessed it may be a torn ligamet or tendon but was more of a "come back in a while if it still hurts", although the pain has subsided it still seems to come back the odd time after walkin a long distance and sometimes in the mornings after i wake up, how long will it take for it to go away as ive not been able to do any forms of exercise for weeks now and i would like to return to my normal routine