RunningAHEAD - Topic: shin splint vs. stress fracture

Penny_A

thumbs up!

posted: 12/12/2007 at 11:42 AM

I'm developing pain in a specific spot on the inner/side of my shin. I've been trying to pick up my pace a bit, and added a few longer runs (for me) recently. I know those are all things that contribute to shin splints, especially since I'm a new runner. "Ran" an awful 5k on Sat. Crappy course with ice and packed snow. Tried a slow run on the treadmill today, and could barely stand it. Ended up walking. I've had shin splints before, and am fine to tough it out. Run on softer surfaces etc. Could it be a stress fracture? Has anyone had one before? Am I a hypochondriac? I don't want to take a break from running, but am I making things worse by continuing? Any thoughts?

2010 Goals
1. get to and maintain 20 MPW
2. sub 50 min Crazy Legs 8k -- April 10 (so close! 50:13... next year)
3. sub 30 min 5k
4. improved time in Madison half marathon -- May 10

KennyRun

posted: 12/12/2007 at 1:05 PM

If your experiencing pain, your body is telling you there's a problem. I don't think this makes you a hypochondriac. A stress fracture is possible. A bone scan is only way to definitively determine if it is or not - stress fracture sometimes does not show on a x-ray. One difference that I'm aware of - a stress fracture frequently has a specific point of pain compared to more diffuse pain from shin splints. When my wife had a stress fracture, this point was painful to even a light touch. I'd recommend rest-ice-compression-elevation for a few days. If it persists, see a sports medicine doc or physical terror,er, therapist. Good luck.

brerfootbill

Half Fanatic #846

posted: 12/12/2007 at 3:56 PM

Ken is absolutely right - see a sports doc. I dealt with shin splints for over a year and finally got an MRI in June. I have no idea what you have, but in my particular case, it was anterior compartment syndrome. I felt very lucky to have not had a stress fracture or other more serious injury, and wish I had taken care of this months earlier so I wouldn't have wasted so much time when I could've been running! Please listen to your body, and good luck!!

"I don't always roll a joint, but when I do, it's usually my ankle" - unk. "Frankly autocorrect, I'm getting a bit tired of your shirt". I ran half my last race on my left foot!

kooky2003

Now that was a bath...

posted: 12/19/2007 at 5:11 PM

Definitely see a Sport's Doctor. 8 months of physiotherapy, a podiatrist and a Sport's Shoe analyst got me precisely nowhere - until an appointment with a Sport's Doctor saw me immediately diagnosed with a bad fracture to the distal tibia. I wasted months tolerating painful bad running (short distance, slow pace, no hills) before I finally got my answer. My fracture is now exactly 11 months old and is completely unhealed. We have just moved onto Extra Corporeal Shock treatments which I am excited and hopeful about. I go back in mid January to the Sport's Doctor to see if this has been a success. What I am trying to say though is that it is better to see the Sport's Doctor early and either rule out serious problems or get a diagnosis and necessary treatments - than end up where I am now. Good luck and happy healing internet friend. Claire xxx

jlynnbob "HTFU, Kookie's distal tibia"

Where's my closet? I need to get back in it.

Penny_A

thumbs up!

posted: 12/21/2007 at 5:12 PM

Claire, 11 months.... that's awful. Good luck with your January appt. I saw a general doctor who pushed on my shin a bit. I said "ouch" and he gave me a compression bandage and a referral to a physical therapist. I'll give it a try, but will push for a sports medicine opinion before too much time passes. Thanks for sharing your experience

2010 Goals
1. get to and maintain 20 MPW
2. sub 50 min Crazy Legs 8k -- April 10 (so close! 50:13... next year)
3. sub 30 min 5k
4. improved time in Madison half marathon -- May 10

Tchuck

SMART Approach

posted: 12/24/2007 at 12:13 AM

Quote from kooky2003 on 12/19/2007 at 5:11 PM:

Definitely see a Sport's Doctor. 8 months of physiotherapy, a podiatrist and a Sport's Shoe analyst got me precisely nowhere - until an appointment with a Sport's Doctor saw me immediately diagnosed with a bad fracture to the distal tibia. I wasted months tolerating painful bad running (short distance, slow pace, no hills) before I finally got my answer. My fracture is now exactly 11 months old and is completely unhealed. We have just moved onto Extra Corporeal Shock treatments which I am excited and hopeful about. I go back in mid January to the Sport's Doctor to see if this has been a success. What I am trying to say though is that it is better to see the Sport's Doctor early and either rule out serious problems or get a diagnosis and necessary treatments - than end up where I am now. Good luck and happy healing internet friend. Claire xxx

You need to use an EXOGEN bone healing system. www.exogen.com Can't believe sports doc has not suggested this. I am a rep for this product and set up a couple patients last week with tibial stress fractures. It works quite well.

Run Coach. Recovery Coach. Founder of SMART Approach Training, Coaching & Recovery

Structured Marathon Adaptive Recovery Training

Safe Muscle Activation Recovery Technique

www.smartapproachtraining.com

Runner67

...---...

posted: 12/25/2007 at 12:34 PM

I'm relatively new to running as well. I started out in the first several weeks doing fine and then shin pain. Mine too was localized to a specific area and hurt like hell when I touched it. I did see a sports doc and had a bone scan which was negative. Ice, stretching (specific to the shin area muscles), a change of shoe (proper fit) and taking it easy for a while did the trick. However, if you can hardly stand the pain on a treadmill...hmm, sounds worse than mine which was not even a full blown shin splint. Even though the pain when I touched specific parts of my shin really hurt (OUCH!!!), I could still run without suffering too much. AFter a little while in the run, the pain went away and ran/jogged no problem. I'm all healed now but the key here, that I can support from the other posts, is to act early which you have. I have a freind who tried to run through shin splints...eventually, he had to use crutches just to get around. Good Luck!!!

San Francisco - 7/29/12

Warrior Dash Ohio II - 8/26/12

Chicago - 10/7/12

dg12

posted: 12/27/2007 at 2:02 PM

Quote from Tchuck on 12/24/2007 at 12:13 AM:

You need to use an EXOGEN bone healing system. www.exogen.com Can't believe sports doc has not suggested this. I am a rep for this product and set up a couple patients last week with tibial stress fractures. It works quite well.

Tchuck, how much is this cool gadget?

Runnergabe

Along for the Ride

posted: 12/27/2007 at 2:09 PM

Quote from Tchuck on 12/24/2007 at 12:13 AM:

You need to use an EXOGEN bone healing system. www.exogen.com Can't believe sports doc has not suggested this. I am a rep for this product and set up a couple patients last week with tibial stress fractures. It works quite well.

I used it on a non-union on my elbow .... it is still a non union. It's not THE treatment. Non-unions are hard.

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.

Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.

Tchuck

SMART Approach

posted: 12/27/2007 at 9:47 PM
modified: 12/27/2007 at 9:48 PM

Quote from dg12 on 12/27/2007 at 2:02 PM:

Tchuck, how much is this cool gadget?

DG12 Pretty expensive. Price varies depending on insurance. E-mail me personally (charnetski@earthlink.net) and I can give you a better idea (this isn't the place). Some insurances in my area cover it for tibial stress fractures and many now cover for acute fractures. Runnergabe, Yes, non unions are a challenge to heal. Distal humerus is a tough area as is the proximal ulna (all near the elbow. Generally, Exogen has around a 90% heal rate overall - less in humerus, less if patient is a smoker, diabetic, elderly, a non union for more than a year........certainly not a guarantee but provides strong chance at healing by reinitiating biological process of healing.

Run Coach. Recovery Coach. Founder of SMART Approach Training, Coaching & Recovery

Structured Marathon Adaptive Recovery Training

Safe Muscle Activation Recovery Technique

www.smartapproachtraining.com

shin splint vs. stress fracture (Read 1369 times)