Biking during stress fracture?

If I am put on crutches and cant run (or walk) for 6-8 weeks for a stress fracture, can I still bike without causing any problems to the healing process? If so, is there anything I should avoid while biking? Thanks.

What’s the injury site?
I’d be spinning only. No hills, big gear or strong wind rides.
But only start it once all NWB pain has gone

Injury site is left medial tibia. NWB?

Depends on A) where your sfx is B) if you have any pain while doing it C) what type of riding you’ll be doing and D) what your doctor/PT says (<—probably the most important of the items)

I’ve always been cleared to ride on the trainer–light resistance to middle resistance, no climbs–as soon as I could do it pain free. But mine were all mid-metatarsal or tibial. If I had something like a FNSF, I’d probably baby the hell out of it, regardless of how it feels.

I biked through a metatarsal stress fx, no crutches or boots, was told that I could. It not only didn’t hurt to bike, it felt really good to be in a Shoe. I was told I could try running after 6 weeks and I did okay for 20-30 minutes on a treadmill really slow. I went for a 40 minute run and it hurt, so I stopped running. at 10 weeks I got an MRI which revealed no healing whatsoever. when I questioned my ortho he said the biking probably slowed the healing, but he didn’t want to take both biking and running away from me. so what could have been a 6-8 weeks off from activity, for me was 15 weeks off with no running. :frowning:
My biking improved a lot!!! :). Ask your doctor if any activity will slow your healing…and then maybe you have to decide.

Injury site is left medial tibia. NWB?

NWB=non-weight bearing

I was told I could do anything that didn’t cause active pain with my femoral shaft Sfx. I biked the hell out of the 6 weeks it was healing. The only time it hurt was when I made weird twisting motions while clicked into my pedals

I stress fractured my left medial tibia last year. I would agree with sticking to the trainer. I would go out on my bike and end up with a strong head wind coming back, or hit some small rollers, or try to keep up with a group, and end up with pain at the fracture site and still have to get back to my car. I slowed down the healing process this way which can get very frustrating.

I’ve had more stress fractures than I can count but never a tibia. What has been okay for metatarsal fractures: stationary bike, no standing, no super-high resistance. The vibration of trainers/spin bikes was bothersome for me until the last couple weeks. The bottom line is you need to ask your doctor.

Get some Twin Labs Tri-Boron Plus and/or Bone Support. An elite running friend told me he uses the Bone Support stuff when he is running lots and/or gets a fracture and he felt it helped them heal faster. I am not sure about healing faster but they are a good Ca+ supplement, and in my case seemed to help - I suspect I wasn’t getting adequate calcium from foods/beverages alone. The tri-boron plus supplement has a bunch of Ca+ in it too. They are superior to other ca supplements - viactiv, for instance, is calcium with a little D and K; these have all the trace minerals needed for building bone.

i would definitely ask your doc, but i had a stress fracture in my foot in the spring and was cleared and able to swim and bike, but i took it easy on the walls swimming as well as putting too much pressure on the pedals. i eventually healed up and got back to normal training. i know it sucks but taking it easy right now at this point in the season is much better than trying to train through it and being in the same boat or worse off in another couple months. hope you heal quickly.

ps - stay away from nsaids - my doc told me they can hinder healing of fractures.

So basically my best bet for continuing to bike through the recovery is to ride low resistance efforts and just work on like medium to long easy aerobic rides? As long as the pain subsides and does not come back from running… I will ask the doctor as well.

Injury site is left medial tibia. NWB?

NWB=non-weight bearing

yeah

I’ve had more stress fractures than I can count but never a tibia. What has been okay for metatarsal fractures: stationary bike, no standing, no super-high resistance. The vibration of trainers/spin bikes was bothersome for me until the last couple weeks. The bottom line is you need to ask your doctor.

Get some Twin Labs Tri-Boron Plus and/or Bone Support. An elite running friend told me he uses the Bone Support stuff when he is running lots and/or gets a fracture and he felt it helped them heal faster. I am not sure about healing faster but they are a good Ca+ supplement, and in my case seemed to help - I suspect I wasn’t getting adequate calcium from foods/beverages alone. The tri-boron plus supplement has a bunch of Ca+ in it too. They are superior to other ca supplements - viactiv, for instance, is calcium with a little D and K; these have all the trace minerals needed for building bone.

I looked at the two supplements are they alright to take both together? Found them much cheaper on other sites. Do you take the bone support long term? Or can you just take lower dosages?

I had a femoral stress fracture in June this year making it impossible or very painful for me to run for about 2 months and broke my ribs in the first weekend of august also limiting my capabilities to run. I continued to do all my bike training with powercranks (as I always do) and still managed to be fastest in AG35-39 in Kona and do a relatively decent marathon. IMHO the best tool to keep your running form while not running. Almost a similar story for Stephanie Adam, also powercranker, that won in Kona despite injury trouble the months leading to the race.
Always discuss with your doctor first of course.
I wish you a speedy recovery!
Sam
samgyde.com

you could but calcium supplements can be constipating so I’m not sure you’d want to take both. You only need 1500 mg of it a day, split in 500 mg at a time.

that’s kind of what i did, but i had my stress fracture in the spring so i was more worried about losing fitness than you should be. i pushed it a little and did not heal as fast as i should have. since it is december, i would take care of healing and then once you are close to 100% then start doing your normal thing. i also would advise watching how hard you kick and push off walls when you are swimming. i noticed that either of these actions hurt more than riding with some resistance. hope you heal fast and get back at it.

oh and yes definitely ask your doctor…he/she knows your condition much better than any of us here on ST.

I have trained and conditioned a few basketball players and runners during their recovery from tibial stress fractures.

In all cases, cycling (both spinning and road) was used as a non-impact form of exercise / training to maintain aerobic conditioning during weeks 2-8 of the typical 8-week recovery period and never seemed to pro-long or inhibit recovery.

Don’t forget that the soleus muscle is also likely damaged- so dorsi-flexion with a bent knee against high(er) resistance loads will stress it.

Any self-induced or physio-therapy regimens that you can use to break down residual scar tissue in the soleus will likely result in less aggravation when you return to running.

Have you ever helped anyone through a heel stress fracture? If so do you have any advice?

Thanks,

Will

A few of the athletes here have had calcaneal stress fractures as well. In their cases, an air-cast was used in lieu of crutches to marginalize impact during walking. Walking should still be kept to a minimum.

In runners with a heavy heel-strike, a calcaneal stress fracture usually begins with a contusion on the bone. The calcaneus is normally protected by a pad of fatty tissue that gives way to bruising and eventually the fracture.

Walking, and even standing without some form of protective cushionong during the early stages of the fracture seems to be able to aggrevate the injury and cause pain symptoms to arise in many athletes.

Do you wear an air cast while walking?

Cycling during a calcaneal sfx would be fine as there is no particular muscle or connective tissue involved in that injury that is also stressed during the pedal-stroke.