Injury Progression Thread

I have a persistent back problem right now. It started about 6 months ago and I kept trying to run through it. I am now taking some time completely off. Back problems are the worst because you can't do any real form of exercise. I really miss my long runs too! Best of luck and I hope you can run this weekend.

Yeah, I'm in a similar position. Had a stress fracture in my foot back in April, took off 10 weeks to completely heal it. Basically just did minimal cross training over the summer and started running a week before coming back to the team. I slowly built up my mileage over about 6 weeks to about 40mpw and was feeling great and very healed. I was planning on only doing some fartlek/tempo work this fall in addition to slowly slowly building the miles back up to make sure my foot was feeling good, but I was put in a hard track workout with the team this week. Like I said I was feeling awesome up to this point, but we were doing reps faster than race pace and it was just too much for my foot to handle and I've been feeling pain in there (I know the difference between a SF and shin splits). Now I'm stuck taking a week off to make sure it gets better, but I'm pissed that I couldn't just say no and do a light fartlek on the grass instead of hammering out the reps... I'm super frustrated... and need to lose some weight... I'm still 10 pounds over my training weight from last fall, and feel like I'm in a rut... Injury streaks suck.

How do you tell the difference between shin splints and a stress fracture? I have this pain in both legs about 4 to 5 inches above my ankle on the inside of my leg. It starts to hurt when I try to run every day but feels ok if I run every other day which pisses me off. I haven't been able to train consistently for the past 5 or six months because of this. If it is shin splints I will just run through it but if it is a stress fracture I would want to take more time off obviously. Just curious on how you tell the difference.

I know what you mean about not being able to say no... I always find that I get caught up in what my coach wants me to do even if I feel questionable. Also, I feel guilty when I don't do a workout with my teammates. It's hard when you are always being asked "can you do the run today?" and you always have to say no, I can't - even though you really want to run and come to think of it you're feeling pretty good from all the cross training, well maybe you could give it a try... maybe the pain you are feeling is just some tightness...etc. etc. etc. until you end up doing the workout and feeling stupid when you end up broken again.

Sound familiar?

To the poster who wanted to know the difference between shin splints and a stress fracture... Stress fracture pain is on your bone in a localized area, whereas the pain from shin splints is more diffuse. Shin splints will feel better when you ice your legs and a fracture will ache like hell. If you can run every other day, you most likely don't have a fracture - yet. Take care of it. As you can see from some of the posts on here already, running through pain is usually a regrettable decision.

I hope you all feel better, and please keep me updated with your progress! It is always nice to see someone get better because it gives you hope that you will get better too :)

Well, it's off to the elliptical for my 1.5 hour death march...

I was able to go for a 20 minute walk today. It's not anything like running, but it sure feels good to be outside again!

I'm glad you could get out for a walk! I had a similar feeling on my bike ride to and from the gym... so nice to be outside! It makes me want to run even more, but it also reminds me of why I love running. As my dear old mother always reminds me in that wise mommy tone: absence makes the heart grow fonder.

I have had 2 stress fractures in 3 years all during the middle of cross season and i am only in high school.

I have extremely flat feet. i wear stability shoes.

Should i get orthotics? Oh, and what is better cross training biking or running?

It depends on what sport you are cross training for! If you are primarily a runner, then biking is better cross training because running is just normal training :) I prefer the elliptical since it is closer to running than biking is, but really the best cross training is the kind that you will actually do. If you like biking outside, then do that because it'll keep you motivated and distracted from your injury.

Have you ever gotten a bone density test? It would probably be a good idea so you have something to reference in the future.

Try strengthening exercises before you buy into orthotics. They aren't for everybody and if you can get by with just getting stronger you'll be better off in the future. If injury continues to be a problem for you, getting checked out by a podiatrist wouldn't be a bad idea.

Anyway, how are all you injured folks doing today?

I took pretty good care of my foot yesterday, took off completely, but did a couple strengthening exercises and iced before going to bed. Took a nap and also got a good night of sleep, so I'm feeling better today. My foot has very little pain today, but is still tender. I'm sure if I ran on it it would start to hurt again, so I'll probably just do core and the elliptical for 40 minutes or so and take an ice bath/do more exercises. I'm thinking I'm gonna take the weekend off, with aerobic cross training today and Sunday. I think I'll be able to start again on Monday. Then again there's no reason to rush, I don't have to race until indoor, so we'll see how it goes. :)

Good to hear. It's also good that the elliptical doesn't seem to hurt your foot. How does walking on it feel?

sprite and well... how are you today?

The elliptical went well, I got a decent easy day in (40 minutes). I do have a little pain in my foot after taking an ice bath though... Like I said I'm going to do some strengthening exercises later and do the "dixie cup" ice just on where it hurts... It felt much better after that the other day... :\

Yes, ice massage is very helpful for me too! I have been using my time on the elliptical to improve my cardiovascular fitness by doing more intense efforts than running would allow. I can go hard up to 5 times a week without noticing any fatigue or tightness, whereas with running I max out at 2 hard quality days. I am trying to just stay positive and make the best of the situation.

For those of you who are also chained to an elliptical, something I've found that has worked well for me is to set it on a low incline (about 3 or 4) and a fairly high resistance (8-10), keep my turnover high (190-210) and focus on pushing back with my glutes. I find that this mimics running fairly well and if I do some hamstring curls afterward, I have worked most of my running muscles without all the pounding. The hamstring curls help to keep your back swing and turnover functional, while the low incline on the elliptical works the calves, quads and especially the glutes without allowing you to rely on gravity and momentum to do much of the work (as happens when it is set on a higher incline).

I would not recommend this if you have trouble with weight bearing, but if your issues are with the pounding, this is one hell of a workout!

My injury happend back last Spring around May. My right lower leg started hurting like hades after I ran so I started icing after every run and cut my milage back. If I ride a bike it never hurts. I kept massaging and icing and got where I could run as long as I iced everytime but I still had the injury.I finally cut back to running three days a week and the rest cycling untill July

Finally I went to an orthopedist and he x-rayed my lower leg and said that he suspect I had a stress fracture in my Fibula but I needed to go to pt then BlueCross would let him do an MRI to make sure of what was wrong. I didn't have the funds for the pt so I'm still at it running and icing.He also said I had broken my right foot and sometime or another in my life and I imagine it was when I played football years ago and had a hurt foot for a day or two and kept going.

My injury is on the outside of my right leg about six inches above the center of my ankle on the smaller bone of the leg. It is right there in the Lateral compartment and I use to massage it hoping it was muscle but I can tell now and after seeing the doc that it is the bone.

I have a freezer and I keep two five gal. buckets of water frozen at all times and but the ice up and put it in another bucket and fill with water and use a digital thermometer to keep the temp around 48-50 degrees F. I can go several weeks or more then the pain will come back for awhile....I don't know whether to keep icing and running or just stop for two months and cycle.I looked at my running journal and I went at it fairly easy in june and july but started getting back at it in late july,august,and sept. It hasn't hurt me much untill a few days ago but it is in the exact spot.

Running is my outlet and I love the outdoors and like to run in rural areas and it is really hard for me to stop and bike because it's not running....it doesn't feel as good toe me so I'm with the rest of the injured.

Once I had tennis elbow for no kidding a year. I iced, used a neoprene sleeve at work to produce wet heat,and took anti-inflamatories and I'm an auto tech and had to use that arm every day.Finally it healed up. Well five years later I told a workmens comp doc about this and he said i just outlived the tendonitis and I hope I can outlive this probably stress fracture.

Still cannot run 3 months after arthoscopic..miniscus surgery.

I am older, maybe that has something to do with it.

I can run for a mile and a half on flat ground before it locks up again, but can't run downhill at all.

Don't know how Joanie did it and I cannot believe these stories of running 3 weeks after this surgery....lucky!

I think I have exactly the same injury. I was training hard for months and then, slowly but surely, I started getting an annoying pain on the inside of my right shin. After doing PT for a few months with no real relief, I finally had an MRI which confirmed a stress reaction. I took 1.5 weeks off of any exercise at all, then started in on the elliptical for a few weeks, then did a week where I ran three times, very easy, for about 15-20 minutes per session. I still didn't feel the pain returning, so last week I did longer runs. I ran 6 miles one day, took a day off, then did another 6 mile run on grass and included 9x40 second pick-ups. I felt the leg a little bit after that, so I'm not running again until Monday. I'm just hoping that I didn't over-do it last week and make the injury come back. It is so frustrating to deal with this!

It's great to hear how everyone else is doing because it is so easy to get caught in your own world of feeling sorry for yourself when you're injured.

Good luck everyone, and happy healing!

Hey run forrest run, does your doc have you taking anti inflamatories? (I can't get my spell check to work). I ice each time after I run whether it hurts or not but when it hurts the icing helps the pain. I have also been doing excercises to strengthen the muscles in the front on of the shin and calf raises...slow negative calf raises and drills where you walk on toes etc. What kind of excercises did the pt have you doing? Thanks in advance for any details....BamaCoyote

Oh I think I may have another stress fracture. This time in my left foot. Usually my injuries are on my right side, but things have shifted apparently. It just started hurting 2 days ago, so I have not seen a doctor yet, but I remember how my metatarsal SF last year felt. Just when my running was actually consistent for about a year this has to happen. I haven't even been running that much mileage or any racing...just base mileage, no more than 30-40 mpw, except for last week when I did a hill workout (I'm guessing that's what pushed it). It's official, I'm not meant to run. Word of advice to young female runners - eat. Osteopenia is not fun.

Wow, we are one stress-fractured group of people! I am sorry to hear about all the injuries, but as run forest run said, it is good to talk to others and be reminded that you are not alone in your predicament. TRG, I know exactly what you mean about just getting back into things and getting hurt again! I was just starting to feel healthy and in shape again from my last injury, a torn calf muscle, which took two years to heal!

Bama Coyote, I’ve also had a fibular stress fracture (in high school) and that is one painful injury! The good part about it is it is a fairly easy injury to rehab. The fibula only bears about 10% of your body weight during running, so it doesn’t take heavy pounding like the tibia. You need to make sure you are keeping your lateral/anterior lower leg muscles loose, though. When the muscles on the outside of your leg get really tight, this puts extra strain on the fibula and that is how most people end up with stress fractures there. If you continue to run on it, make sure you keep the muscles nice and loose by rolling them out every day. Muscle tightness is probably what causes the injury to reoccur every couple weeks. I hope this works for you as it did wonders for me when I was recovering from that injury!

wrt, I am sorry to hear about your knee :( I have heard of many people recovering from this, so that is good. Cartilage doesn’t have the best blood supply so it takes a really long time to heal. Knee injuries are so hard because they make cross training difficult. I hope you can hang in there until that cartilage gets its act together and heals!

Run forest run, are you feeling okay today? Stress reactions suck, but they get better quicker than you think if you are patient, or at least that’s what I am being told by my coach :) When will you be attempting to run again? You said your leg flared up after a day on which you did some pick ups… I also notice increased pain after any type of quality running, especially if I try to do it in my trainers of all things. I think running fast on grass in training shoes (as opposed to spikes or flats) works your stabilizing muscles a lot more because you have more surface area in contact with the uneven ground. It’s just a thought, but one I’ve found to be worth experimenting with when running fast on grass. Are you naturally a toe striker? If yes, I a few more things I could help you with (my PT has been giving me lots of advice on this subject.)

I hope you all are feeling better today, which is quite probable because injuries do heal and make progress, no matter how slowly. Even still, I wish you quick healing and a positive state of mind.

Well, that is all for now. I am going to try running today all on grass. I took a couple Aleve and am hoping for the best. Wish me luck!