3 wks ago I was diagnosed with a stress fracture on the top of my foot, middle metatarsal. I’m in a boot for 3 more weeks. No cycling or running, only swimming.
Since the feet receive most of the impact during running, I’m curious if I will be told to not do any more run training (had been running ~40 mpw). Has anyone had a fracture in this spot of the foot? And were you able to pick back up run training without re-fracturing it again? What steps did you take to prevent it from happening again? And also how did you resume your training after taking nearly 3 months off running?
You will run again and run just fine in most all cases. Not that a type-A runner can’t develop another (especially an amenorrheic female distance runner)
I developed what were possible stress fractures in my 4th and 5th metatarsal last spring just a few weeks before a planned marathon running ~60 mpw at the time. I say possible since as the DPM was thinking it might have just been a stress reaction and I didn’t do any imaging (just an x-ray, no CT, MRI or bone scan). He said either way I’d have to lay off it for a 6+ weeks. I ended up taking a little over 9 weeks off and then followed the “Pfitzinger Stress Fracture Recovery Plan.” I’m now running 5 days a week and up to 25mpw. Like you I was worried I wouldn’t be able to run much/well afterwards. I did get a fair amount of “fantom” pain when I started back up again, but that is finally starting to go away as well.
The one thing I would recommend looking into is doing a gait analysis with a PT (or someone else) who is trained and well versed. I did this recently and after being video taped on the treadmill, having her look at a plethora of running shoes, and having her put my feet, ankle, and legs through a number of range of motion movements to measure flexibility; she was able to find some biomechanical issues that led to me being more at risk. So now I have a few key stretches and exercises that I work on daily to fix the issues which will hopefully decrease the chance this happens again.
what’s your running background generally?
i’m no foot expert. it does seem like a stress fracture coming after decades of 40-60mpw will mean something different from a stress fracture in a 40mpw runner who just started running last month after a long spell of inactivity.
fwiw, i’m pretty sure i had a stress fracture around 12 years ago, didn’t get it diagnosed (had pretty lousy health insurance at the time). i was back to cycling pretty quickly, and in around a month i couldn’t remmeber which foot it was. but i wasn’t a runner at the time.
The one thing I would recommend looking into is doing a gait analysis with a PT (or someone else) who is trained and well versed. I’ve never had a formal analysis performed but have had at least two coaches watch me and say I don’t have any obvious weirdness going on. But maybe this warrants another look. I tried spending the past 2 years working on strengthening my glutes and focusing on running economy so maybe that caused some issues?
what’s your running background generally? terrible XC runner in middle school, mediocre track in HS, picked up marathon running 2003-2010, started long course triathlon 2010-2012, switched to sprint/Oly distances since then. I feel like I’m pretty conservative: only 1 track or “quality” run per week. Other runs are tempo or easy pace. Have always run in Brooks, heavily-padded shoes. Interesting that the article suggests barefoot/minimalist…maybe something else to try.
Had a stress fracture same place on my foot last year. Doctor didn’t even put in boot, he just said use crutches and be careful with it. He said I could run again when I could walk without pain (but to take it easy at first)… which I did 38 days later. And I was able to swim and bike before that.
For several months I would sometimes get a dull ache at the fracture location, but nothing serious. Eventually it went away entirely. In a little over 2 months I was back to running 30 to 40 miles per week at my pre-fracture paces.
I had a stress fracture in my 2nd and 3rd metatarsal during cross country season my senior year of high school. I was told to take 6 weeks off running and then to ease back into it. I started running again 6 weeks after my diagnosis and have never had any issues or stress fractures since - and that was in 1989. I was never in a boot or anything - just no running. I’m not sure why you would need to be off for 3 months since I’ve always understood it’s usually 6-8 weeks for a stress fracture to heal. If you can’t run or ride you can do some pool running and possibly run on an Alter-G treadmill once the healing is farther along. I don’t recall doing anything special when I started running again. I just started out with 2-3 miles and gradually built back up to my normal daily/weekly mileage.
I had a stress fracture in my 2nd and 3rd metatarsal during cross country season my senior year of high school. I was told to take 6 weeks off running and then to ease back into it. I started running again 6 weeks after my diagnosis and have never had any issues or stress fractures since - and that was in 1989. I was never in a boot or anything - just no running. I’m not sure why you would need to be off for 3 months since I’ve always understood it’s usually 6-8 weeks for a stress fracture to heal. If you can’t run or ride you can do some pool running and possibly run on an Alter-G treadmill once the healing is farther along. I don’t recall doing anything special when I started running again. I just started out with 2-3 miles and gradually built back up to my normal daily/weekly mileage.I just saw the podiatrist today and he says it’s okay now to bike and use the eliptical. I can’t really do pool running b/c my pool is shallow (no deep end). Also I don’t have to wear the boot anymore. He said I can possibly try running in December if the cycling/eliptical don’t aggravate it.
I think the metatarsals are pretty common spots for stress fractures. Lots of people recover from them. I may have had one, my Dr said the only way to tell for sure was an MRI which I declined as it would not change his treatment. Treatment was “stop running.” I think I was off running 6-8 weeks.
When I returned to running, I started on sand for a few weeks, then grass for a few weeks before trying pavement.
For now, work on your swimming, just be careful pushing off. Good luck.
