Please help. I'm concerned I've been running on a stress fracture for 2 months.

what was your first symptom? Where exactly was the pain? I'd describe my pain scale as like anywhere form a 1 to 3 out of 10. sometimes don't feel it when walking. hurts to hop on one foot and jump on things (but not badly). I thought it was a tendon issue but idk..

I've never had a stress fracture, but based on what I've read trying to diagnose my own ills, what you describe sounds exactly like one. If it is, the sooner you stop running hard on it, the more quickly it will heal and the more likely you will be to fully recover. What you don't want to have happen is suffer a full break when you're out on the course. That would be nasty. Of course, if you do need to take some time off, you could still train in other disciplines and come out stronger than you went in. If you find it hard to talk to the coach (it shouldn't be, though), visit the doc first.

moultonk wrote:

I've never had a stress fracture, but based on what I've read trying to diagnose my own ills, what you describe sounds exactly like one. If it is, the sooner you stop running hard on it, the more quickly it will heal and the more likely you will be to fully recover. What you don't want to have happen is suffer a full break when you're out on the course. That would be nasty. Of course, if you do need to take some time off, you could still train in other disciplines and come out stronger than you went in. If you find it hard to talk to the coach (it shouldn't be, though), visit the doc first.

shoot, yeah I'm like 60% sure I have one at this point.... what's weird is it's likely a very very small fracture (as the pain level has stayed about the same for 2 months). Would it be a dumb idea to wait a week until after the race and then take care of it? Maybe I can go see the trainer, still race, and then sit out how many months I need (which will sadly be a lot because I'm stubborn and have been running on it for 2 months, 4 days, and counting).....

Stop running NOW, there will always be another race, get the damn leg checked out by a medical professional.

You only have two legs and if you mess up one of them there will be no more races for you.

xcrunner56 wrote:

shoot, yeah I'm like 60% sure I have one at this point.... what's weird is it's likely a very very small fracture (as the pain level has stayed about the same for 2 months). Would it be a dumb idea to wait a week until after the race and then take care of it? Maybe I can go see the trainer, still race, and then sit out how many months I need (which will sadly be a lot because I'm stubborn and have been running on it for 2 months, 4 days, and counting).....

You need to stop running right now. The fact that you've run on it for two months isn't perfect - but it's not the end of the world if you let it start healing ASAP.

Bone stress injuries typically take 10-12 weeks to resolve, so get on the bike or the elliptical if you want to stay fit.

Once you can walk 45 mins pain free (and I mean zero pain) for three days in a row, then you can start getting back into a walk-jog return to running.

Go to a doctor, get a diagnosis and treatment, problem solved. Keep running, make it worse, prolong the inevitable.

I also have to agree with the others. Came back from indoors with a new 3:42 PB but got pains in my foot right after. MRI said stress fracture, did surgery but I’m still out. Before the point of sharp pain I had small ”normal” irritation during hard sessions. Defo get a MRI or a computed tomography, and stop running. Risk is that you will make it worse, I’m looking at ~12 months of recovery in total.

xcrunner56 wrote:

There's no way I can see a doctor fast. And I've only asked this question once but had additional details to add, so asked again.

Does your school have a sports medicine department?

If so, that would be a good place to start after talking to trainers.

Voice of experience here - both in what to do and what not to do.

Most my SFs were on the lower inside of my tibia (sometimes both legs at once). None showed on X-Ray. They did show on MRI.

First, you don't know what you have. You and we are guessing.

A lot of injuries people think are Stress Fractures are not.

You can train through many running injuries with therapy, modified volume, cross-training, and such.

BUT if it's a SF, it's not the sort of thing you run through. A stitch in time saves nine.

I was out 6 months for one nasty SF because I ignored warning signs and then tried to return to running too soon. The only aerobic cross-training activity I could manage was pool running.

A SF is not a running death sentence. You can bounce back. On the positive side, Fall/Winter is the best time for down time.

Best advice... "it will heal if you let it."

As Malmo notes... get a professional diagnosis and you'll know how to deal with it.

Advice from someone who has been dealing with both post-tib tendonitis and stress fractures all year:

1) get a professional diagnosis from a Doctor, podiatrist, chiropractor, etc who is knowledgeable about running injuries. Hopefully you can find someone in your area. They should do whatever treatment they think is necessary then refer you first for an X-ray (chronic stress injuries to bone show up on an x ray in a lot of patients after about 2 weeks from onset), then an MRI if the problems persist but the x ray was clean. MRI is the only way to get an accurate sense of these injuries but can be costly and your insurance may not cover it.

2) Based on solely my own experience, I'd say its more likely that you have PT tendonitis. Usually stress reactions and fractures manifest as consistent pain that does not vary so much in intensity, and from my own experience things got worse rapidly as I tried to run through the injury. However, a lot of people have bone injuries that don't manifest that way, so you're not totally in the clear.

A good chiro/MD/PD/PT will be able to identify whats wrong quickly and help you out. Its either gonna be some time in a boot away from running or it will be as simple as strengthening, and maybe getting some insoles and reducing the volume a bit.

Good luck.

I'm glad you posted about your experience. This sounds like what I'm experiencing, too. It's hard to describe but I feel a slight twinge or tugging on my right shin near my ankle during the first 200 meters of a run. It goes away but my upper right shin is sore to the touch after running. No pain while running. I unintentionally recreated the pain doing aqua-jogging which makes me think it is tendonitis. Unfortunately, the earliest appointment available is six weeks out. Hope you have better luck.

Nihongo wrote:

I'm glad you posted about your experience. This sounds like what I'm experiencing, too. It's hard to describe but I feel a slight twinge or tugging on my right shin near my ankle during the first 200 meters of a run. It goes away but my upper right shin is sore to the touch after running. No pain while running. I unintentionally recreated the pain doing aqua-jogging which makes me think it is tendonitis. Unfortunately, the earliest appointment available is six weeks out. Hope you have better luck.

I'm no doctor or anything, but yours sounds more like tendonitis/shin splints rather than a fracture. It's a good sign that it doesn't hurt while running, but definitely get it looked at (sorry appointment isn't sooner, that stinks!). I heard shin splints (and even tendonitis) feels better towards the end of the run, whereas mine feels slightly worse and the shin bone hurts in a specific spot. With yours is your whole shin bone sore? Then, it could likely be shin splints....

My pain while running is very mild but it does sound similar to what you're describing but then sometimes I feel pain further up in my tibia. Idk it's tricky to describe.

I have one more race next weekend and hoping to be able to run in that and then get to the bottom of it after.

Hope yours heals quick!

Thanks, yeah I'm going to get it looked at soon hopefully. I hope it is tendonitis! What worries me is that I can find a specific spot on the tibia that hurts (and sometimes it hurts to rub it against things or knock on it with my fist) yet when I'm running pain sometimes feels lower down. Sadly the pain seems to get slightly worse when I run. But it still is very mild. Been like this for 2 months. :(

My left leg hurts in one spot while the right leg is along the entire shin. Biking is fine and within just a few days and certainly a week there is no pain to the touch. It comes right back after running, though.

I have a Tibia Fracture went to Dr confirmed 10-18. My pain accelerated 2 weeks before Boston with some speed down 1-1.5 min per minute mile with pain limping 24/7 -before and after runs. Took a week off still limping ran Boston anyway an hour slower than target. The most painful run ever. Now rehab is 3 months best case to 6 mos worst case. Since your pain is less maybe tendonitious but better safe than sorry. Another symptom I had was redness in mid to lower shin combined with shin and ankle pain. Have been icing 1-2 hrs a day throughout. This injury made leg unstable and weak thus speed slows way down as you run on 1.5 legs. Actual fracture was midway up shin. See Dr right away…………

So my tibia stress fracture was a partial one (not a full break) with the break occurring more so near the calf muscle than the front of the shin. My very first symptom was weakness, I noticed my left leg would occasionally buckle or not come off of the ground as much when running. This weakness was 7 miles into a 9 mile long run but I ended up finishing the run and weeks more training weeks after. I also had shin pain during the end of my track season that left when I took a break between seasons. (I suspect this was the bond weakened) I went to the doctor a few weeks later (after 9 mile LR and weeks of training) because I couldn’t do a calf raise, it physically was not possible, and thus couldn’t run without limping. The doctor originally gave me PT exercises for a hip problem and told me to run less mileage but it turns out that all my little injuries were from the fracture. I went in to see the doctor a week after she told me it was hip issues taking place and told her I was having pain walking and still couldn’t do a calf raise. I also had pain in my calf and shin in a specific spot. She sent me for an MRI and I had a fracture. This was after 3 weeks of no running. I definitely saw improvement resting but when the results came in wasn’t surprised because a minor muscular injury would heal relatively quicker. I hope this helps out. I really would suggest getting an MRI to rule out a stress fracture even in you can’t for another few weeks. Best wishes! :)

Don’t get too discouraged. I took 7 weeks off running and cross trained like crazy. It was the hardest thing but you won’t lose a lot of fitness and will recover.

Feel free to check out my stress fracture recovery on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CUiJ4yYLMFT/?utm_medium=share_sheet

Thanks, I've noticed a weakness on my run 5 days ago, but idk if it was my first symptom.. If I have a stress fracture, I feel like mine is very mild... maybe it's a reaction that will eventually turn into a stress fracture if I don't stop running.... I'm sorry about your fracture! thanks for advice - I'm definitely going to try to get it looked at by trainer and hopefully get MRI