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return to training after a stress fracture (Read 2759 times)

sdewan


2010 Goofy Trainee

    I am seeking other's experiences with returning to training after a tibial stress fracture. Here's my story: - In early February I experienced a sharp pain in my shin. I thought it was a shin splint and stopped running for 2 weeks. - In mid February I started running again, and felt shin pain on every step. I wore a shin brace and cut down my miles and pace, and while the pain was much less, it was not going away. - In early March I stopped running altogether, saw a doctor, had a bone scan, and was diagnosed with a tibial stress fracture. At this point I felt no pain (since I was not running), and the doctor had to press hard on a specific point on my shin for me to feel any pain at all. - For the next 7 weeks I did not run at all, but instead cycled, swam, roller bladed and worked out on an elliptical machine. By week 4 I could not even feel pain by pressing on the injured spot. - 2.5 weeks ago I returned to running, following a training schedule prescribed my podiatrist. I run less than 3 miles at a time, every other day, at a ridiculously slow pace. I am due to check in with the doctor in two weeks. Right now I feel absolutely no shin pain while running. However, after a run, I feel what is best described as a "tingling" sensation in my shin, sometimes accompanied with a dull pain. It occurs intermittently for about 12 hours following a run. I do not feel any pain if I press on the site of my fracture. If I did not have a stress fracture I would not give this a 2nd thought, but I'm a little paranoid that I might re-injure the shin. Does this match anyone else's experience?

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    chuckstone


      I (50 something former athlete/running newbie) had a tibial stress fracture a year ago about a month after I started running. Mine was at the knee (tibial plateau). After some time on crutches, then 6 weeks no running/no impact activities more than walking I started back with running. I had been doing the non impact training things too. This was what worked for me: I did a week of walk 4 minutes, slow run 1 minute for a mile and a half. Three days a week on a treadmill. Next week walk 3, run 2 - increasing jog time 1 minute each week till running the 1.5 miles. Increase distance each week by a half mile. This was hard to stick to since my cardio fitness would let me run more and faster. Once I got to 3 miles per run, I did one run outside on the road, then over the next month gradually shifted to running only outside. Finally began to believe I was recovered and did the same gradual base building, etc that is always advised here. Don't know about that tingling, but I do notice/wonder about every little tweak and twitch in that leg.


      The Greatest of All Time

        Is it feasible to have another bone scan just to make sure it's healed 100%? It would suck to come back too soon and not be able to run again for some time.
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          My experience has been very similar to yours. I had a tibial stress fracture last fall (I think I probably ran on it for about 6 weeks from the time of initial pain before my diagnosis). I was completely off from running for 8 weeks (cross-trained during that time), then built back up gradually, similar to what you described. I have had some minor twinges in the area where the stress fracture occurred. Not really pain, but more like a heightened awareness of that area. I was a little concerned, too. I have a coworker who has been running since his early teens, and he had a stress fracture about 6-7 years ago. He says that he still gets what he calls "phantom pains" where his stress fracture was, especially when increasing milage or intensity. So, I've chalked it up to me being paranoid, especially since it has now been over 6 months. I'd let your doctor know when you have your next check in. When I went back to my doctor for a follow up appointment, he took an x-ray. The fracture hadn't been visible previously (was diagnosed via MRI), but it showed up then. The doctor indicated that it was visible due to the healing process (bone buildup in the area, or something like that). So, if it's not feasible to get another bone scan, maybe an x-ray would be helpful. Lorrie
          sdewan


          2010 Goofy Trainee

            I'm going to do something uncharacteristic: play it safe. I'll take the next two weeks off from running until I see my doctor. Maybe two more weeks will complete the healing process. And if it's all in my head maybe I'll calm down in that time. Thanks for the advice!

            Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream...


            Imminent Catastrophe

              I had the same. It sounds like you're good to start running again, but very conservatively. Here's the program I used, it's pretty slow but that's a good thing to avoid reinjury, after all the fracture may not be completely healed even though the pain is gone and the last thing you want is to open it up again. http://www.pfitzinger.com/labreports/stressfracture.shtml I still had some occasional tingling or even faint discomfort in the shin long afterwards. As long as it's not directly related to distance it's probably ok. If you start getting pain that increases as you up your mileage, beware.

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              sdewan


              2010 Goofy Trainee

                After two weeks off, I returned to running, again very conservatively, and the feeling in my shins came right back. When I saw my doctor, he felt it was probably minor shin splints from returning to training after 7 weeks off. He recommend icing after every run, and within a week I noticed a significant improvement. And now I can tell the problem is definitely in the muscle and not the bone. Good news for me. By the way, a 2nd bone scan would not have been able to conclude anything. According to the orthopedist, the area of injury still appears "hot" on a bone scan up to 6 months after it's healed.

                Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream...

                berlin0099


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