Sacral Stress Fracture Recovery?

Had the same thing happen to me. After about 12 weeks of recovery I eased back into running very similar to you. I can remember feeling like it was returning again after easing back into running. I incorporated a lot aqua jogging to help me get over those initial feelings of it returning. I can honestly say that I had that feeling come back many times over the next couple of years but it never got to the point of keeping me from running. Make sure go get your bone density checked. Good luck.

Thank you for the reply!

I actually did get a DXA scan and came back with a z-score of -0.6 in my lumbar spine and 0.5 in my hips.

I was originally labeled by the radiologist as osteopenic because two of my vertebrae were -1.1 and -1.9. I was referred to an endocrinologist (at Mayo in Rochester MN) who told me that I only need to consider my z and/or t-scores and not look at the individual vertebrae. Basically told me to consume more calcium and Vitamin D.

My daughter is 10 weeks into the same injury. She's 17, 5'2" and 116lbs. She came off of a great XC season, but only averaged 40 miles a week. Her symptoms came on suddenly, the day after running on a treadmill for the first time. Her doctor thinks it is a nutritional deficiency (although she doesn't fit the female triad). Her ferritin levels were slightly lower but other than that nothing was alarming. It took 5 weeks before we found out it was a sacral stress fracture (doctor & PT thought it was SI joint dysfunction or a disc issue). She couldn't bike for 6 weeks because it hurt her back, but swimming was okay. She hated swimming and started aqua jogging (at week 9). She seems to have a setbacks every time she sits on a hard surface (one hour on the bleachers caused pain for days). We really didn't think she would have symptoms after 10 weeks, but it appears this is going to be a very slow recovery (not good since she's running in college in the fall). She was told that once she gets back to running it will be very gradual. She is doing PT to strengthen her hips and glutes (which were weak on the side of the fracture). The PT thought her core would be weak, but it wasn't. I have been researching this extensively and while some people bounce back quickly, others take much longer to recover. I also read that running on softer surfaces when you return to running is important.

Thank you for the response! I'm now nearing 6 months since the fracture occurred and it has been such a rollercoaster recovery process. I haven't run since May 1, yet my back still throbs and aches... much more intensely and consistently than I'd expect. I've even contemplated going gluten-free, because I've read that those with an undiagnosed gluten allergy often do not receive important nutrients--namely vitamin D and calcium. l I would love any other additional resources or information you have on the matter that you may deem pertinent. Best of luck to your daughter! I hope she comes back strong!

Hey, saw you had a question about sacral stress fractures in my post but I don’t think there’s a way for Letsrun to give a notification for when someone responds to it. Sounds like we’re both struggling with figuring out whether the pain is okay or not - hopefully neither of us are actually having any setbacks. I took 12 weeks off and have had all sorts of weird, unexpected, and expected pains since I started running again 4 weeks ago. Things appear to be improving even though I’ve got new pains sometimes that I didn’t have before. Hopefully yours isn’t anything significant. This is just a weird injury where people heal very differently.

https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=9367811

Hey, how’s the recovery coming? Have you determined whether the pain was due to a recurrence of the stress fracture? Our stories are extremely similar and it sounds like we’re both having the same question. Thanks!

Hi! I just wanted to update you on our daughter in case this information can help anyone. She is at week 18 and has seen the her college team doctor and nutritionist. She is biking and/or swimming every day and started a return to running program that includes a few minutes on the elliptical as a warm up and then various exercises. The girl who runs in the mid 18s for a 5K has only been only allowed to do "step ups" and hops.....she is beside herself and so over this injury. I am glad that the doctor is taking it slow though. The doctor said she has seen a SSF take anywhere from 3-6 months to heal. Our girl should hopefully start running around the 5 month mark. The interesting part was the nutritionist said she has a 1,500 calorie deficiency PER DAY. Our girl looks strong & healthy, so this was a complete shock. She has always eaten very healthy, but the nutritionist wants her to eat more vegetables (we had to learn how to cook beets), drink more milk (Lactaid since she has issues with dairy) balance her meals (proteins and carbs every meal), she was not eating enough carbs and not drink coffee. Also, the nutritionist said that the low ferritin (iron) was the main culprit for the SSF. The doctor also said that, and said that running 7 days a week also contributed to the SSF. Her high school schedule didn't accommodate for cross training during the week (meets on Saturdays and not enough time during practice to run her long runs, so they were on Sundays), so we are happy her college coach insists on it (now I'm off to fight for our younger daughter to have a cross training day during high school practice!). The doctor also said that her glutes weren't firing properly, which was actually something I read about early on with her injury. The doctor gave her specific glute exercises to do and also said it was much better to swim laps than to aqua jog. Fingers crossed that the worst is behind our girl and best of luck to those battling a SSF!!!

Hey Murdock!

Sorry, I haven't taken the time to revisit this post in a while and it doesn't help that there are not any notifications.

Following my post back in May, I took 7 more weeks off of running.

My glute and lower back--mainly my glute--ached for the first week-and-a-half during these 7 weeks. After that, the ache was intermittent and nearly cleared up completely about mid-June. Never at any point was it anything close to what it originally felt like back in January. It never hurt with a step or stride like the overwhelming pain I had the first time around. It only ever felt like an ache in my glute that would never go away.

During this time, I saw a spine specialist who told me (without imaging) that it must be refractured since it appeared not to be a joint issue. He then referred me to a bone health specialist who ran every single test on me--many, many vials of blood were taken. All results came back normal (thank god). The bone specialist then issued me an MRI in mid-June to see if it was indeed fractured--it was not! So, going back to the spine "specialist," I concluded that it must be a joint issue (sacroiilitis was something that the radiologist suggested on my MRI in March). I never had SI issues before this whole thing and I have no idea how it's all connected, but it's the only thing that makes sense.

After all this, I said f*** it and started my return to run:

Week 1: 5 miles

Week 2: 11 miles

Week 3: 16 miles

Week 4: 19 miles

Week 5 (this week): 25 miles -- including a 3 mile run with an 6:52 min/mi avg. that felt horrible, but hey at least I can move!

I also bike at 140-160 bpm for anywhere from 50-60 minutes a day and have for the vast majority of the last 7 months.

I don't feel 100 percent -- I still have this constant awareness in my lower left back and glute. It doesn't hurt, but one of those things that I just know isn't right. But I think that this is one of those things that I'll just have to manage, realize that I'm not invincible, and be better about the little things.

I can't pinpoint one thing that caused all this. I think it was a myriad of different issues all converging together at once. Sometimes I get caught up in the "coulda, woulda, shoulda"s and realized that I just need to move forward. It's taught me a lot, but would never, ever want to go through this again.