zach, it sounds to me like we’ve had similar problems. It took me two years from the time i admitted that i was injured to get it figured out. I blather on about it here:
http://www.kupka.ca/...ing-injury-recovery/
The bottom line: physical therapy and massage to speed healing, goofy strengthening exercises (bands, jump rope… long list) for the supporting structures. I ran frequently, slowly and short; my focus on building durability. Got my fitness (such as it is) elsewhere.
J
Yeah I have been formerly diagnosed once, back in 2003 with a bone scan. That was the only time I was stupid enough to take it too stress fracture level, I couldnt walk without crutches on it for a week or so…so yeah, I never took it that far again. I had many occurances after that though, but never got another bone scan, I just would seen a PT friend who either does ultrasound or the tuning fork technique to rule out stress fracture. After so many of them though i stopped getting checks b/c I know what a stress reaction feels like now, and that if I keep running on it its gonna be a stress fracture.
I’m not gonna repost all the things I have tried…but stretching is one of them. I havent tried the hot/cold approach to stretching yet though? Maybe worth a try.
A friend told me something that alot of Tim Debooms running injuries stemmed from his cycling…that is through the grapevine though, so I cant really say on that too much.
Do you toe-out on the affected foot or feet? I saw you run by at IMFL but don’t remember.
BigZach - Other posters have alluded to your eating habits as a factor. While I don’t actually know that much about this stuff, I believe that the Amercan College of Sports Medicine recently released their position stand on the female athlete triad. Supposedly there is some consensus building in the medical world that stress fractures and menstrual weirdness in female athletes are largely a consequence of negative energy balance. Here ya go:
See the other research by AB Loucks - she seems pretty fired up about refuting the idea that eating disorders necessarily play a role. Apparently there are lots of myths/addled thinking about this stuff.
I believe that there is also some research (possibly by Loucks?) showing that men may exhibit similar reactions. I seem to recall some results (military studies) suggesting that basic training recruits most prone to stress fractures were those who had lost the most weight - not perfect, but interesting.
The bottom line could be that you have to eat more. Not more of something special, just more.
Zack,
I agree with getting hormones and celiac checked out AND the two often go hand in hand. We know that celiac is grossly underdiagnosed, since lots of people don’t have the classic symptoms. Some, in fact, are constipation prone. they are prone to calcium, iron malabsorption, as well as proteins, fats and others. The diagnosis is made more difficult now that they recognize that many of the previously ‘normal’ biopsies were not ‘NORMAL.’
also, try www.glutenfreemd.com. Dr Pietzak is one of the world authorities on Celiac disease. While she’s a pediatric GI specialist, she cares for a number of adult patients in the LA area.
While it’s unlikely in your case, vitamin D deficiency is increasingly diagnosed in the high SPF sunscreen era.
I would think that a sudden change to full forefoot landing might set you up for other injuries. I would think that a (so called) midfoot transition on the longer runs and more forefoot on shorter ones until you accomodate to it. While it’s not the speed you are looking for, Chi running might be a good transition to forefoot. Ken Mierke’s ‘evolution’ might be easier on your claves and achilles than ‘Pose’ on your shorter runs. He posts here. You might contact him. After reading Dan’s posting about Gordon Pirie really helped me with a lighter touch, particularly the bit about landing on the lateral side of the forefoot. (I land more on the side of the midfoot on long runs).
Now, I haven’t read all of the replies in the thread, so I apologize in advance if this is redundant.
I had a friend and a customer of ours that fractured her tibia last year. She was pretty bummed out but handled it better than I would’ve. She came to Curacao with Tom and I in a brace and decided that she would do all of the swim workouts and bike workouts but no running. She didn’t run for a total of 5 months and then ramped up really slowly. She also made some major changes to her running style. She is able to run now with little problems.
I should mention that she is a PT and worked in a hospital with a ton of doctors. She had the resources to get a full physical and a few different opinions. For someone who doesn’t work in the PT industry, it may be a bit more difficult. However, my suggestion is to get a few opinions and possibly seek a running coach and have your running style evaluated.
Hi Bigzach -
I had shin splints for about 10 years of rec running, then stress fractures (three in one shin at one point) in college when I moved to a more urban area and started running on concrete daily… I did lots of time off, crutches, grass running, the bands and stretches… all that jazz. Then someone told me to rotate my shoes. I assume you’ve tried it, but I didn’t see it on the list so I thought I would bring it up. I have 4 or 5 pairs and I try to go through them all before repeating any. My shins haven’t hurt once in the five years or so since I started rotating, even when running with 30+ extra pounds of pregnancy fat on me.
Good luck - I really hope you can work it out, I know how frustrating it is…
RR
also consider the possibility of compartment syndrome, see http://en.wikipedia.org/...Compartment_syndrome
basically there’s a kind of sheath around the muscles, following the initial stress fracture it’s possible for the chronic CS to develop, the muscle is constrained by the sheath and the swelling/pressure causes constant pain.
I’d also second runlikeamother’s recommendation, to have several pairs of shoes in rotation. This is fundamental to injury prevention in runners, but doesn’t get much press. Go for maximum cushion, I like the Nike air soles and the gel in Asics and Brooks. If the supportive shoes work better for you than the cushioned ones, then the problem would seem to be rooted in overpronation rather than shock, which would be unusual for a stress fracture.
Rehab exercises, http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/...stress-fracture.html
But really, don’t listen to us. At this point you’ve done everything that would normally cure shin splints/stress fractures, and you need expert help from a real doctor. If it is in fact in the bone, there is something badly wrong, some underlying pathology that has to be addressed. Go and see rroof in his office…
Hey guys, out of curiosity, what does a stress reaction feel like?
like a pain in the bone itself. when you press on the bone, IN A SPECIFIC SPOT, it hurts. the pain is very localized.
i have had 2 tibial stress fractures in the last 5 months. i am going to see a physiotherapist who is also a pro triathlete for a professional running gait analysis.
i have so far tried custom insoles, and am changing my pedalling technique (trying to build up less of a mashing technique like you. i may try to get my hand on some powercranks to help, but we’ll see!) but that’s about it thus far.
it’s worth noting that the custom insoles may be what caused my second stress fracture.
you should consider seeing a sports doctor to help you diagnose your problem, rather than posting here. that’s what i am doing, and he’s basically built up a list of things that i should progressively go through to try to resolve the problem.
i would wager a guess that it is probably somewhat patient-specific, so you probably want to do what i have done 
I have stress fxs and found out after a very long recovery that didn’t work that I am vitamin D deficient. Make sure you are taking calcium and vitamin D.
also consider the possibility of compartment syndrome, see http://en.wikipedia.org/...Compartment_syndrome
basically there’s a kind of sheath around the muscles, following the initial stress fracture it’s possible for the chronic CS to develop, the muscle is constrained by the sheath and the swelling/pressure causes constant pain.
I’d also second runlikeamother’s recommendation, to have several pairs of shoes in rotation. This is fundamental to injury prevention in runners, but doesn’t get much press. Go for maximum cushion, I like the Nike air soles and the gel in Asics and Brooks. If the supportive shoes work better for you than the cushioned ones, then the problem would seem to be rooted in overpronation rather than shock, which would be unusual for a stress fracture.
Rehab exercises, http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/...stress-fracture.html
But really, don’t listen to us. At this point you’ve done everything that would normally cure shin splints/stress fractures, and you need expert help from a real doctor. If it is in fact in the bone, there is something badly wrong, some underlying pathology that has to be addressed. Go and see rroof in his office…
There have been many threads about lower leg injuries related to running. Many people seem to have tried EVERYTHING(as many of these posts have indicated)and still nothing worked. But ONE THING almost NOBODY has tried(at least admitted on ST,lol)is MOVE YOUR HEAD BACK an inch or two when you run! Move your head back,stick out your chest,swing your arms and hips and swagger. One major thing this does is take the stress OFF YOUR LOWER LEG and put in on your hips and thighs where it belongs. To see video watch Steve Prefontaine run and he had one leg shorter then the other and his"lean back"style made it possible to be the runner he was,IMO. Try it!
SORRY DOUG,you have heard my theories(maybe everyone has,lol)before! I replied to your post before I noticed it was you. Anyhow it is what it is.