Just a nasty case of shin splits OR a stress fracture?

Gotta say that is my longest post on here ever. Sorry I didnt read this entire thread earlier (still havent) but I just saw that you did let it heal up. The pain you are feeling may just be some phantom pains. After my legs were all healed up I still had some really mild discomfort during my senior xc season. It never developed into anything though. Just ease back into the running. My coach limited my running at first because of the stress fracture...and my collar bone being broken 3 weeks prior. It made me angry (since I was captain and the first runner on the team) but turned out OK.

It's almost definitely a stress fracture in my opinion. 3-4 weeks is not enough time for the bone to fully heel. It will be more like 6-8 weeks minimum and then a few weeks of slow buildup to running. On these weeks you should do a series of jog/walk alternating workouts. If you want to get back you have to shutdown long enough. The worse thing you can do is prolong the injury. When you start running again you will not necessarily feel 100%. Your shin will be tender and you may get shin splints on the area from time to time. Monitor this carefully in the future. You can do calf/shin strengthening exercises too. The good thing about stress fractures is that in the long run, at least in my case with two tibial stress fractures, the bone actually grows back bigger/stronger on the location of the stress fracture. In the future it will be much more difficult to get the same injury.

Yeah, but basically, go to a doctor if you can. Get your diagnosis which will probably be 6-8 weeks and shutdown and cross train as much as you want as long as you aren't hurting the injury. Injuries suck real bad but the good thing about a stress fracture is it's a clear-cut injury without much risk of complications like other injuries often come with.

Yeah, same i didn't read that you let it heal up and you're feeling better. One thing that I find really works, whether it's just mental or whatever, is taking calcium daily. Seriously, it works. Another thing is walking on your heels, bringing your toes toward you multiple times strengthening your shin muscles, calf raises, and calf and achilles stretching. Do all that and you'll be money.

Yeah I was slamming about a gallon of milk a day, no lie. Although I do not think it helped at all it did give me some hope and something to do while waiting.

If the exact same location was painful again after a month layoff, then it pretty much would have had confirmed that the original injury was a stress fracture and not a stress reaction. But the new pain (very mild) is in an absolutely new area of the shin (about 3-4 inches above the old injury location) that has never had any problems before, and I find it very hard to believe that a stress reaction or a fracture could develop there in only a week of low mileage.

It was hard to get the message from both of yours post, but do you guys agree that the NEW pain in a seperate location is not a stress reaction or a fracture? Or is it? The old location of injury is just fine after a week of running.

I have been doing heel raises and have been taking calcium supplements and milk in the past month torehab my previous injury. Thanks for your input.

I doubt the new area is a stress reaction or fracture. Just take it slow and if the pain intensifies back it off.

try working on your soleus with "the stick" before, after, and in between runs; can't hurt and might help.

it doesn't sound as though you had/have a stress fracture, but indeed an x-ray won't provide anything definitive. also, be aware that a bone scan might show not only current but also past locations of stress fractures (for example, my long-healed femur SF showed up as significant shadowing in a scan for my fibula several years later).

probably shin splints

Yes, wait another 6 years and it will probably clear up without becoming a fracture

footballwatcher wrote:

I passed the jump test, and didn't have as much pain as you, but I had a stress fracture. Best to see a doctor...one that knows runners, if possible.

If you go to doctor for every single nagging pain, you'd be living at their office.

What this guy said. I have lumps along my shin bone. This year I was wearing the asics novablast and the shin splints got really bad, especially when doing intervals. Switched to a low profile shoe to minimise pronation, rested and used a bag of peas and the pain is gone.

I have the same issue - a bump on my left tibia bone that hurts to press. After 2-3 days of rest the pain always goes away. Just bought some insoles for surpination. The outer edge of the heel on my shoes always shows heavy wear so hopefully this will correct my form.

I've had both shin splints and a stress fracture. With the stress fracture I basically could not run but the shin splints were never so bad that running wasn't possible