Is it a stress fracture if it doesn't hurt at all when I run? (Read 1112 times)

Probably a shin splint. Stress fx would hurt more as you run more, shin splints the opposite until they get real bad. A lot of calf stretches, ice and dorsiflexion (toe ins) exercise with resistance.

Jeff, I've had two stress fractures...same bone (navicular), but in both feet, 4 years apart. Both times, in the early going of the injury, the pain would stop while I was running. I wouldn't feel it until I after running when I'd been sitting awhile, and returned to standing. It would hurt for the first 10-15 steps, then there would be no pain. As the injury worsened, it would take longer into a run for the pain to subside, but it always did. The pain would return immediately when I stopped running. The fact that it always went away at some point when running convinced me that it couldn't be that bad. Both injuries resulted in crutches and boot for 4 months the first time and 2 months the second. Pay careful attention to it, maybe cut back a bit. The fact that you've had on in that spot before is a little unsettling. How did the pain develop and progress the last time?

Pay careful attention to it, maybe cut back a bit. The fact that you've had on in that spot before is a little unsettling. How did the pain develop and progress the last time?

Well, my SF happened back in '91, and to be honest, I don't remember the progression very well. I do remember the pain being a little sharper, and I remember putting about 1200 miles on one pair of shoes (poor college student, saving extra $$$ for beer). Now that I think about it, I had a false alarm sometime around '96 or so. Same location. Bone scan turned up nothing. I hate the idea of cutting back because I'm not doing all that much right now. I restarted running about a year ago after a long layoff. I weighed about 220lb. I'm now about 185. I've ramped up slowly, I rotate my shoes, and haven't exceeded 300 miles on any of them. Of course, doing everything carefully and right has never been a guarantee that something bad won't happen. You know, that there's a sports medicine place that I pass sometimes when I take my daughter to school. From the looks of their website, maybe I should pay them a visit.

Get it checked out. Better safe then sorry, right?

Who am I to say no to a dude with a sword, eh?

I've had a stress fracture In general, it seems like there's a difference in the pain from your garden variety shin splint. This is just my experience but... I could pin point where the spot was and it hurt like a son-of-gun when I pressed on that point. The shin splints deal feel more broad and non-specific. I got the stress fracture because it kind of numbed out when I ran and I figured I'd push through the pain. Not my best plan. You might want to cut back and give it some rest. An x-ray won't show a break until it starts to heal, but if you want to know right away, an MRI will do the trick. Here's hoping it's not a fracture!!