Just got the bone scan. No doubt about it.
Any one here been through a stress reaction on the 2nd metatarsal? How long did it take to recover? How long in the boot? How long before you were back to 100%? Anything that helps recovery?
Just got the bone scan. No doubt about it.
Any one here been through a stress reaction on the 2nd metatarsal? How long did it take to recover? How long in the boot? How long before you were back to 100%? Anything that helps recovery?
total of 5-6 weeks before light jogging
stay in the boot for a couple of weeks and then just normal daily activity for another 2-3 weeks.
About week 5-6 take some walks and slowly work back into it.
i had a stress fracture, not a reaction, but i imagine the treatment would be the same, just not for as long. started off with only pool running, then after a few weeks added in cycling. in the boot almost 5 weeks. also used exogen to speed healing time, but it didn't seem to do anything.
don't use an elliptical machine in the early stages of the injury.
X-ray was negative for a stress fracture. But bone scan clearly shows a stress reaction.
How long after you returned to running did it take before you could get back to full training volume.
an x-ray hardly ever shows a stress fracture, only if it's really bad enough the only reason x-ray's are actually helpful is to see if it recovered correctly because you'd see the calcium build up
I had a bone scan that showed a stress reaction in my left tibia. I pool-ran for 2 weeks and then, after a few short, easy test runs, jumped right back into my normal mileage.
The left tibia was totally healed and didn't bother me again, but a couple of weeks later, I started having the same pain in the same spot on the right leg. Wasn't as smart about immediate time off and that one turned into a stress fracture that had me out of commission for almost three months.
Moral of the story: rehab with cross training or whatever, but figure out what caused the injury or it'll likely come back when you return to running.
Hey everyone,
So, I'm kind of in the same boat as the OP. I had a stress reaction. Its been about 4.5 weeks, I haven't been in the boot or anything, just been taking time off. I started running today (lightly), and it felt pretty alright. Is it normal to have the calcium build up even after the stress reaction has subsided?
You probably did have a stress fracture. X-rays never show a stress fracture. The fractures are too small to be seen. Bone scan only shows the reaction in the bone to the stress reaction/fracture. The way you can know the difference is whether an x-ray shows the bone repairing itself (cloudy image around the bone). So, you very well may have had a stress fracture after all.
I do not think anyone really knows what is the proper protocol for recovery from a stress fracture/reaction. Some insist on being in a boot for 6-8 weeks and then another few weeks of easing back into activity. Others go as far as skipping the boot and allowing return to activity as soon as all pain subsides (probably too aggressive). I think some believe that some stress on the bone is needed to aid healing while others believe that stress on the bone is too likely to cause re-injury. It is amazing that so little is really know about so common an injury for runners.
I was able to return to running after 5 weeks and was back to full training in 9-10 weeks (but stayed away from short/fast intervals for a while).