Rare Talar Stress Fracture

Yes...I had that injury after Sydney and was on crutches for 4 months. its a slow healer....low blood flow. you really have to stay off it....and let it heal...and come back wtih a good run/walk program. its a over use injury.

may have to do with your orthotics...or lack of?

I got a second MRI after 4 months to see if it was healing...which it was...then I began the slow run/walk program back. good luck...be patient.

I'm getting orthotics.

Did you do anything like swimming while you were healing?

Yes...I did alot of pool running and after about a month I could use the elliptical trainer.

the swimming or pool running is best...as there is zero impact.

you can heal well from this injury...patience is the key.

you can also work out in the gym, weights and strengh work.

Does this feel like any other stress fracture, with pretty severe or sharp pain, or is it different in any way because it's buried inside of the joint?

I've also had a talar stress fracture. I got hurt at the beginning of April and didn't get back to running until late July/early August, so it's definitely a slow healer. I did a lot of pool running while I was hurt, but I would also recommend (if your doctor or therapist gives you the OK)trying to do some exercises to strengthen the muscles and tendons around you ankle that will atrophy when you're on crutches. I was off crutches in June, but rehab to strengthen my ankle stopped me from training for another six weeks, so if you could start the process early you'd be back to training sooner.

To answer the previous poster's question, it still feels like a sharp pain, but a pain that feels like it's coming from inside your ankle and is therefore harder to localize than normal stress fractures.

Just to echo what others have said here. A close friend of mine has just finished healing from this same stress fracture. Took like 3-4 solid months. She pool ran like mad. Get into the pool and give it time to heal

I found with my injury it was a dull ache most of the time...excpet when I tried to run fast...like on the track then it was a sharp shooting pain. it got worse as I ran on it til it bascailly broke...as they could not find the stress fracture with the first MRI. Like everyone here is saying...its a slow healer...so get mentally into the pool and gym mode. you will be OK thouhg....I ran hard track races again once I was healed.....and have had no probelms since....

I was diagnosed with a stress reaction in the talus bone about three weeks ago, and probably started having symptoms 2-3 weeks before that. I have been in a boot a little over three weeks, but I started walking without it for about half of the day at the end of 2 weeks.

My question is about the pool running--I have been in the pool almost every day since I've been injured, but I noticed lately that I feel a dull pain in the foot/ankle area when I'm in there, especially for long periods of time. I'm wondering if the pool running is slowing my recovery, or if the pain is a result of coming out of the boot too soon (I am back in it 24/7 now because pain increased walking without it).

I think biking is ok, I've been using the spinner without toe clips about 2x/week on top of water running, but I would rather keep water running because I despise exercise machines and biking outside is sort of out of the question as a) I don't have a good bike and b) the middle of winter in New England is not a great time for it.

I know this conversation is from a while ago, but any advice would be helpful!

Reviving this thread instead of starting a new one.

I just got back from the podiatrist and was diagnosed with a stress fracture of the Talus. I'm in a boot for a few weeks at least.

I haven't been to the gym yet to see what kind of exercises I can do. The doc was specific about being in the boot at all times. Anyone else been able to bike or even row maybe? I haven't run in 4 weeks but have been doing some elliptical, but even that bothered me. I hate to think that when all is said and done I will miss about 3 months of running.

Longest break in 25 years.

Come on letsrun. If the thread about pooping off a skyscraper can stay on the front page for more than 2 days this thread should last more than a few hours.

Anyone?

I had that, diagnosed over a year ago and I'm still not back running.

Swimming made it worse because of the twisting of the feet when kicking, so be careful if you get any pain doing that after you come out of the boot.

I can bike using the bikes where your feet are level with your hips, something to do with weight/pressure/angles, and its saved me from going mad not being able to run - i'd recommend those if your gym has them, but be careful rowing because you're likely to flex your feet slightly even when they're strapped down.

If you can, get a scan when the boot comes off so you know that it's healed - these can take a long time to heal, and starting running before it's fully healed could make it worse! So take care with it!

Missing 3 months of running is bad, but you can get back to fitness after that pretty quickly. Just accept you've got a bad injury and do whatever you can to make it heal - hopefully it'll be cleared up within a few weeks, but having been on crutches for 5 months out of the last 12 I can recommend playing it safe.

It's really interesting reading everyone's experiences. I just got diagnosed w/ 2 stress fractures in my L talus a week ago. Mine started w/ a bike accident. I'm in a boot but was told absolutely no weight bearing for 4-6 weeks. I'm using crutches or a knee scooter to get around. My podiatrist said it's ok to pool run and laps only if I don't kick. I also get that dull ache after a period in the pool. Does anyone have an answer to that?

How about alternative therapies like acupuncture? I'm trying that, figure why not. I'd love to hear how other people have had success getting back on their feet. The pool's not really my thing & I'm anxious to be back on the courts, my bike, the slopes & my snowshoes. Thanks for your input.

Hey- I am a college track athlete and I came across this thread. From what I've been able to find out about the talus, it's a really rare place to develop a stress fracture. I run Cross as well as Track and just towards the end of Cross I started having dull pain in the part of my foot that I think is near the talus. It's been a few months now and I have the same pain in my foot and it's slowly bothering me more and more. It's a very dull pain just walking around, and bearable doing just mileage, but when I go to do strides or hard track workouts the pain is much greater in the same area and moves down my foot a bit and up my shin. I saw our sports med and he thinks that it's just tendinitis. I'm just wondering what people think about the possibility of a stress fracture of the talus being mistaken as tendinitis...

I'm also a college track athlete, recently diagnosed with a Talar stress reaction. It took 3 weeks to get an MRI, and one of the doctors I saw said that stress injuries are rare in the Talus, it was probably just the joint and I could go ahead and run on it, even though it still hurt to walk! Moral of the story, listen to your body. If something is becoming more painful, cross train. If it's still painful, take some time off. Good thing I didn't listen to that doctor, otherwise I'd be out a lot longer with a stress fracture.

I'm not a runner, but was just diagnosed with a talar stress fracture today on MRI. Two weeks ago I lifted my motorcycle back up onto its stand after tipping over (540 lbs.). The next morning I had significant pain on weight bearing: walking, running, etc. I also couldn't play table tennis that same night without a lot of pain (I play competitively several times a week). Ironically I could still surf without pain and have for two weeks (6 times) until today. Your pain description sounds very similar to mine. Get it checked out. If it becomes displaced you're in for a much more complicated treatment and recovery time.

For all the people complaining about pool running, stationary bike, ect., try using an arm bike. You'd be suprised how you can (somewhat) maintain your conditioning using it.

You might want to check some of the threads about Navicular stress fractures. I'm no doctor (obviously), but it looks like it is in a similar place in the foot and healing is slow due to low blood flow.

I had a navicular stress fracture that went mostly untreated (2 months in a boot, but never none weight bearing) and I didn't return to full running for 3 years and I had 2 years completely off. A year after returning to running I am back to about 60% of the volume I did pre-fracture and will probably never get more than that (due to the massive lifestyle change of no longer being a college runner more than anything).

Good luck, don't get too frustrated, but it might be time to find a new hobby for a while (like, you know, years).

So I was also diagnosed with 2 stress fractures in my talus about 6 weeks ago. My Dr put me in a boot for 8 weeks, and obviously no running.

As I'm approaching the end of my sentence, I was wondering how everyone else recovered from their stress fracture...were there any specific strengthening exercises you did? What was the progression from walking to running, how long did it take to run again? Did you wear an ankle brace or anything afterward? I know this thread is old...but any thoughts or advice would be great! Thanks!

Hello Talar troubled runners. I've been a runner for over 13 years, I'm 31 yrs old. I love it and I'm addicted to it. 9 weeks ago I was diagnosed with extreme edema of the talus.

My recovery RX was to wear a boot for 8 weeks and not to run for 12 weeks or more. I'm a very active person so this was a tough RX for me to hear. Nothing replaces running for me but my doctor did approve....rollerblading (which i feel is the closest to the feeling of running ), the elliptical, biking and swimming. I continued to lift arm weights and do some quad strength training that didn't involve weight baring on the talus.

Recently this last week I went in for a follow up MRI to evaluate the healing process. The good news is, my edema of the talus is improving and I'm about 75% better. However, the bad news is the Dr. doesn't want me to run for another 8 weeks! Making a total of 16 weeks of no running. At the end of this time period I will go in for another MRI to make sure it's healed. The good news is , I no longer have to wear boots and I can walk and hike....but again still no running. This is the longest I've ever gone without running. I think about it every day. However I know that a stress fracture of the talus can be crippling to my running career and I want to be a life long runner ! I'm 31 now and I wanna be running when I'm 70+ so I guess 16 weeks off running to heal an over use injury is worth the wait.

I have learned a lot about injury recovery during this injury. When I am able to run again I will have a different running strategy. Instead of running 4-5 times a week, I will try to limit it to just 3-4 while cross training and strength building the other days of the week.

I was concerned that I would put on a couple pounds from not being able to run but I have not. I'm still doing a ton of cardio so I guess my calorie expenditure and intake have remained about the same.

Good luck to everyone out there who is in the frustrating healing process. My heart goes out to every one who wants to run but can't.

For the last 2 years I've been very happy running in Nike frees. Does anyone have any suggestions on a different running shoe I could use that still keeps me a mid foot strike runner but with more cushion available??