tibial stress fracture

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I had the same thing about five years ago. Excruciating is how I would describe the pain. I could walk very slowly with minmal discomfort, but if I picked up the pace to a normal walk or pushed off in a way that caused the fracture to flex, it would stop me dead in my tracks as I waited for he pain to die down and to regain my composure.

I rested completely for about 9-10 weeks, then had a very slow return to training - low and slow mileage for the next month or two before cranking things back up again.

It hasn't bothered me since.

When you were getting back into it, did you have any of the "phantom pains" I've been reading about, or any pain at all, for that matter? I want to be sure of what to look out for, as far as what's normal and what's not.

I had a tibial stress fracture in May '05 while training for the Twin Cities Marathon in early October. I had no pain while walking, but running would make my head explode. I did no running until nearly the end of July, about 8-10 weeks. During that time, I cross-trained like crazy with elipticals, spinning classes, stair masters, and deep water running.

One day in mid-July, I had to jog across the street to not get hit by a car, and felt no pain. I told that to my physical therapist, who finally cleared me to start running.

The marathon was about 8 weeks out. To start, I cut my weekly mileage in half but kept progressively adding milage, and I tried to ramp up my weekly long run but at a slower pace. I continued to cross-train like crazy, which made for some very long days (run for 45 minutes, cross-train for an hour). And, I set a marathon PR.

After mid-July, I never felt any pain in my tibia. I did tweak a hamstring about two weeks out from the marathon due to the rapid increase of mileage, but I was in my taper anyway, so I took it easy and it didn't bother my race.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

I don't even really know how to describe the pain I felt. I guess the best description would be that it was very dull, more of a throbbing type pain than an actual sharp, stabbing pain. I am hoping I caught it fairly quick. I never had an MRI done, just an x-ray, which apparently rarely shows a stress fracture.

What kind of mileage were you doing?

I definitely had phantom pains. Everything from a dull ache in the tibia, to the more painful posterior shinplint pain.

I would suggest doing the standard time off, and then building back slowly...starting with as little as a mile. (I'm not sure how elliptical work impacts the recovery time, but just make sure to take the 6-8 weeks off, whatever the dr. said...maybe add an extra week to be safe). Build back slowly and with confidence. Don't let pain detract from the comeback plan. Integrate the x-training as 'recovery' days...they'll provide a mental break from the pain and keep you in shape aerobically.

I went through a SF many years ago w/little dr support...just told to take 8 weeks off and then start back slowly. I lingered with my injury for close to 6 months b/c every time I tried to run there was pain and I was sure it wasn't recovered. It was not until the pressure from my eminent Senior yr XC season made me push through the pain for several weeks that I realized I had healed.

good luck

I had a tibial stress fracture three years ago, my first true major injury in 25 years of running, and for the very same reason you got yours: upping my mileage too quickly. In my case, I went from 25 miles a week to 45 in about a month. Yes, very stupid at 43 years old...

It hit me on Father's Day '08 on an 8 miler, middle 4 miles uptempo. About 2 miles into my tempo pace I felt a dull pain above my left ankle, which I thought was just some tendon/tissue strain. I backed off a bit, but it got worse. Soon, I knew something was badly wrong and shut it down. I walked/limped the final 2 miles to my car.

The next morning I could hardly take a step from my bed. I was in a boot for 6 weeks. Then I was able to walk for a couple of weeks, then gentle jogging for 2-3 weeks. Altogether, about 12 weeks of recovery before I could do any kind of real running.

Fact is, there's no shortcut to healing from a stress fracture. You just have to take you medicine, which is basically no running for 2-3 months. I don't run a ton any more, but obviously this many years later I'm fully recovered and getting ready for the Bourbon Chase relay in Kentucky in two weeks. You can live to run another day.

What a coincidence, I live in KY. My dad is doing the Bourbon Chase.

Anyway, I am actually closing in on the 7 week mark tomorrow. I ordered a new pair of higher cushioned shoes in hopes that more cushion will make the return to running smoother. Whenever those come in, I am going to give it a shot.

dunder mifflin wrote:

When you were getting back into it, did you have any of the "phantom pains" I've been reading about, or any pain at all, for that matter? I want to be sure of what to look out for, as far as what's normal and what's not.

I had some soreness when starting back up, but I'm not sure if it was due to the injury or just "shin splints" due to a return to running after being inactive for so long. But I didn't experience any pain anywhere near as intense as I had felt during the first few weeks of the injury.

dunder mifflin wrote:

What a coincidence, I live in KY. My dad is doing the Bourbon Chase.

Anyway, I am actually closing in on the 7 week mark tomorrow. I ordered a new pair of higher cushioned shoes in hopes that more cushion will make the return to running smoother. Whenever those come in, I am going to give it a shot.

Cool. It's my first relay race. I'm running on a friend's corporate masters team from Tennessee. Should be a lot of fun.

I encourage you to take it easy and make sure you're healed before trying to run. Swim or bike or do some other kind of crosstraining to maintain some fitness. No sense risking further injury or making this one worse by rushing back into it. Get completely well and live to run another day.

I am beginning to think my stress fracture wasn't due to an increase in mileage. I was averaging 80-90 during May and June after a gradual build up over the duration of the year. Yet I took a full three weeks off to travel to South America. While I was there I did a large amount of walking the cities, as well as hiking, so it's not like I wasn't still pounding on my body.

When I came back I jumped right into 60-70 miles a week for three weeks. Furthermore, I was doing up to twenty minutes a day of jump-roping (including one legged jump-roping) to help shed the ten pounds I gained during my trip due to eating every Chilean and Peruvian delicacy I could get my hands on. Though jumping back into higher mileage probably didn't help, I am thinking it was the jump-roping that did me in.

I am definitely taking my time, though. I like to believe I caught the fracture early, deciding that it would do more harm than good to put off going to the doctor. Thus, I feel like I am close to making a return. A build-up I have devised has me at 20 miles at the end of a six week build-up period. Is that too aggressive, or maybe too conservative? I'd obviously rather be on the conservative side, being that I have no immediate obligations.

Furthermore, how long has anyone that's dealt with a similar fracture waited until they begin to re-incorporate stuff like strides, speed work, and tempos back into their routine? I know this it's variable, depending on the person. I still am curious. As you can tell, I am heavily confiding in the experiences of you all, considering all my google searches have returned minimal advice, and nothing specific to the questions I have regarding returning after a stress fracture.

I was diagnosed with bilateral tibial stress fractures at the end of March this year. I was the same as you--could walk without pain, just couldn't run. I was told no weight-bearing exercise, not even a bicycle. I didn't go in boots because it was both legs. I did pool running for 5 weeks then started the Pfitzinger walk-run program. I did that for about 4 weeks then raced a 10K and when everything was fine started building mileage. I did experience phantom pains the first 8 weeks or so after but they are long gone now. I have since PR'd in the 5K and half marathon, so fitness came back pretty quickly. Sounds like you are safe to mount a comeback--I recomment the Pfitzinger stress fracture comeback plan for a starting place. Listen to your body and back off if you need to. It also helps to run on soft surfaces at first if possible and take it easy on the pace.

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when is a good time to re-incorporate quality workouts and strides into your routine after a return to running after a stress fracture?