Stress fracture, right tibia and stress fracture left tibia. Besides not running for 6-8 weeks, or riding for 2 weeks, does anyone have any secrets to get these to heal properly and quickl?
You have bilateral stress fractures of the tibia at the same time? I think you need to be speaking with your physician more than asking how they heal “faster” with us type-A folks!
How did you manage bilateral sfx? Have you had your bone density checked?
Take a calcium supplement (with vitamin d for absorption…oh, and watch out for constipation). And figure out how you ended up with two sfxes…and fix that problem.
Last May I had a bone scan done and they found a stress fracture in my right tibia, and a shin splint on my left leg. I had already signed up for IMKY and didn’t want to miss it. I went from 0 miles in June and the first half of July to 58 miles the second half of July and 141 in August. I completed the race, so my goal was achieved. I was going to try to do a mary in November, but backed out due to burn out. In December I started doing p90x (plyo might not have been a good idea) and ramping up my miles quickly to get ready for the 2010 season. My guess, and that of my Docs is that they (it) never healed from last year.
8 weeks of no running just cured mine… but the first 4 weeks I kept cycling and felt zero improvement. It took 4 weeks of no run and no bike to really heal. I also iced (with ice cups - massage-ish) 3x a day throughout the whole period.
As for preventing recurrence - rotating through three or four pairs of running shoes each week keeps me healthy. I blew it for a month and that was it - fractured.
Good luck!
Need to heal first. Then you will have to learn how to run once you get back or the problem will either come back or you will develop a different symptom that started with the same running technique problem.
3 x 500 mg calcium a day; no more than 500 mg at one time. Get it from dairy; supplements if you must. Vitamin D supplement is also good since it’s winter; vitamin K is important in bone health as well (leafy greens for that).
All of that is so they heal in 6-8 weeks, it won’t speed it up any, but should keep it in the normal time frame.
You might check out water running.
I am sorry to hear of your fractures. ((((hugs))))
Thanks for the info. I did do a lot of water running last year when I had the same problem w/ just my right tibia. As boring as I thought it would be, running in the water while getting some sun and listening to music at home wasn’t too bad (actually got it up to 3 hours). Unfortunately, I’m in Indiana so we haven’t opened the pool and of course the gym I belong to doesn’t have a deep end. 
Unfortunately, if it’s a stress fracture (and not just a stress rx), you’re looking at 4-6 months off. I had a very small one in my foot, and it took 4.5 months - I thought it would come back faster since mine couldn’t even be seen on xray, but it hurt like heck all the way until 5 months later.
Take a good long break from running and consider short course racing for a while.
lightheir, the standard healing time for fractues is 6-8 weeks. That’s not to say they can’t take longer to heal, but hopefully in the OP’s case it is weeks and not 4.5 months.
Do you know why yours took so long?
lightheir, the standard healing time for fractues is 6-8 weeks. That’s not to say they can’t take longer to heal, but hopefully in the OP’s case it is weeks and not 4.5 months.
Do you know why yours took so long?
6-8 weeks is possible, but likely only for tibial or hip stress fractures that are more stable. Even then, 8-12 weeks is more likely.
For the foot bones such as metatarsals, which are smaller bones and more weight bearing, it will likely take longer. 2nd - 3rd toe metatarsals generally heal better than 4th-5th metatarsals - and the 5th metatarsal in particular will often require pinning or complete immobilization for quite awhile due to the high weight bearing nature of this bone.
I definitely would not recommend 6-8 weeks for recovery unless the person was completely asymptomatic by 8 weeks. Nearly everyone I know with a real foot stress fx has required 3+ months, and usually in the range that I experienced (4 or more).
n = 1 my fibular and metatarsal fx healed in 6 weeks.
Everyone’s body is different though. I am sorry yours took so long.
I think you must have just had a bad break (no pun intended). Most sfx, if properly cared for, and there’s no underlying issues… 8 weeks should be okay. (Complicated ones like Jones fractures or FN sfx aside) You may not walk out the door and run a marathon, but…
My 3rd metatarsal sfx, I was out of the boot just after 8 weeks, and back to a regular land running schedule at 12. Set a 10 mile PR at about 14. My tibial sfxes have all been around 6-8 weeks as well.
Mine was 4th MT. That probably was what took it longer. Unfortunately, 4th MT fxs are not that uncommon in runners. Stress fxs are nasty buggers!
I can’t tell you what makes these heal faster but I can tell you that training/racing on one does make healing a lot slower…
I’m sure several here will confirm…Take time to let it heal.
You can probably swim (no fins, no kick, no push off the walls) and water run.
Become a pullup and pushup fiend.
I can’t tell you what makes these heal faster but I can tell you that training/racing on one does make healing a lot slower…
I’m sure several here will confirm…Take time to let it heal.
You can probably swim (no fins, no kick, no push off the walls) and water run.
Agree with this…as I had to tell a friend of mine one time…that healing time (6-8 weeks, or more) starts with the LAST day that you were doing weight-bearing activities… not just from the time of diagnosis and you kept running on it.
Just back to running from a 2nd metatarsal stress reaction…I didn’t run it into the ground to progress to complete fracture. Some residual soreness (as per rroof’s comment in the other Stress fx thread), and some of that might be that I’m a little hypersensitive to that area since it was hurt.
Took off 7 weeks land running and was in a boot for 6 of those weeks, just to be on the conservative side. Did plenty of water running!
I have one right now. Not fun but I did it to myself…increasing my run volume too quickly, being overweight and not listening to my body. I’m spending the next 6 weeks or so pool running while continuing to ride and swim. When I ride, I pay close attention and avoid standing while pedaling or mashing too big of a gear. I’m following Pfitzinger’s 9-week pool running schedule, which is available for free. Oh, and I’m taking 3 x 500mg of Ca everyday.
You might check the ST tibia stress fracture review I wrote 1/29. Good luck.