stress fracture

Find a different doctor. Seriously.

Mike C

Quoted message said:

From: [email hidden] (Pat Carterette)

Quoted message said:

The doctor first told me it would take 4-8
weeks to heal. At 6 weeks, he revised the healing time to be from 6-10
weeks. It is now 10 weeks and my ankle is still not healed enough to
run or even to walk briskly. I'd like to hear about others experiences
with stress fractures and how long it takes to heal. Is physical
therapy going to be needed?

Pat Carterette said:

After running 11 miles on July 25, I suffered a stress fracture of the
fibula bone at my ankle. The doctor first told me it would take 4-8
weeks to heal. At 6 weeks, he revised the healing time to be from 6-10
weeks. It is now 10 weeks and my ankle is still not healed enough to
run or even to walk briskly. I'd like to hear about others experiences
with stress fractures and how long it takes to heal. Is physical
therapy going to be needed?

I know people who've had stress fractures, and it can take a while. If you
try to run on it while it's injured, it will take longer.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi
http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/

"Pat Carterette" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

After running 11 miles on July 25, I suffered a stress fracture of the
fibula bone at my ankle. The doctor first told me it would take 4-8
weeks to heal. At 6 weeks, he revised the healing time to be from 6-10
weeks. It is now 10 weeks and my ankle is still not healed enough to
run or even to walk briskly. I'd like to hear about others experiences
with stress fractures and how long it takes to heal. Is physical
therapy going to be needed?

I'm also dealing with a probable stress fracture of the fibula, so I feel
your pain. I don't have any idea of how long it will take for you to heal,
but my one bit of advice is don't try to run through it. It won't heal and
you'll injure yourself in other ways if you try to limp on through it.

Good luck.

Quoted message said:

From: "joe positive"

Quoted message said:

I'm also dealing with a probable stress fracture of the fibula, so I feel
your pain. I don't have any idea of how long it will take for you to heal,
but my one bit of advice is don't try to run through it.

Let me expand on my flippant response of "find another doctor"...subsequent
posters have pointed out that there are a lot of variables to healing time for
stress fractures---presuming, of course, that is really what you are dealing
with. Your current doctor sounds like he/she is shooting in the dark with the
diagnosis, as though they really don't know what is happening.

Based on the ever-changing time frames for healing, it is possible you are
suffering from something else besides or perhaps even in addition to a stress
fracture.

Was the initial time given for healing too optimistic? Probably, but now
you're at 10 weeks and counting, and in the OP's own words "still not healed
enough to run or even walk briskly..." How much longer do you really want to
wait before you know you are truly healing?

Hope that makes more sense than before... ;-)

Mike C

Hmmm, sudden onslaught of posts from Mike C. Must be taper time for IMH
😉 Good luck!

Dot

--
"So many people get stuck in the routine of life that their dreams waste
away. This is about living the dream." - Cave Dog

Quoted message said:

From: Dot dot.h@#duh?att.net

Quoted message said:

Hmmm, sudden onslaught of posts from Mike C. Must be taper time for IMH

Yeah, pretty much...could see right through me, huh?

Quoted message said:

😉 Good luck!

Thanks a lot....a report will follow, for those interested in reading unusually
long and verbose tomes...!

Mike C

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Mike Conway) said:

Thanks a lot....a report will follow, for those interested in reading
unusually
long and verbose tomes...!

I'll do a word count of your report vs. a few of mine to see who wins!

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night,
and party every day.
Then it was every other day. . . ."
-Homer J. Simpson

"Pat Carterette" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

After running 11 miles on July 25, I suffered a stress fracture of the
fibula bone at my ankle. The doctor first told me it would take 4-8
weeks to heal. At 6 weeks, he revised the healing time to be from 6-10
weeks. It is now 10 weeks and my ankle is still not healed enough to
run or even to walk briskly. I'd like to hear about others experiences
with stress fractures and how long it takes to heal. Is physical
therapy going to be needed?

I do not know all the names of the bones, but I know my Physical Therapist
told me I had a "Stress Fracture."

He said, put your thumb on the pain and move my foot all around. Then he
asked if I felt anything. I said no. He said, that is because there are no
muscles or ligaments there, so it has to be a "Stress Fracture."

He gave me a large rubber hose and then an exercise to do. A few days later
the pain was gone. I ran a marathon and I figured it only set me back one
week in the recovery.

When I was being treated by a Chiropractor, he thought it was a "Shin
Splint" and under his treatment, it just kept getting worse and worse and I
could hardly walk. Since I have no x-rays of the fracture, people keep
trying to tell me it could have been shin splints.

I reply with, it really doesn't matter to me what it was, only that the
exercises given me by the Physical Therapist got rid of the pain instead of
let it get worse.

-2k-

Quoted message said:

From: Harold Buck

Quoted message said:

I'll do a word count of your report vs. a few of mine to see who wins!

For reference, look up my 2001 IMH report to see what you're dealing with...!

;-)

Mike C

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Mike Conway) said:

Quoted message said:

From: Harold Buck

Quoted message said:

I'll do a word count of your report vs. a few of mine to see who wins!

For reference, look up my 2001 IMH report to see what you're dealing with...!

Couldn't find it via google groups. Any idea what keywords I should use?

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night,
and party every day.
Then it was every other day. . . ."
-Homer J. Simpson

Leafing through rec.running, I read Harold Buck's message of 08 Oct
2004:

Quoted message said:

Couldn't find it via google groups. Any idea what keywords I should
use?

Subject: Ironman race report...long, indeed!

Phil M.

--
"Coming off the last turn, my thoughts changed from 'One more try, one more
try, one more try...' to 'I can win! I can win! I can win! -Billy Mills,
U.S. Olympic 10,000 meter champion

Quoted message said:

From: "Phil M." [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Couldn't find it via google groups. Any idea what keywords I should
use?

Subject: Ironman race report...long, indeed!

Phil M.

Or try here:

http://rec.running%20race%20reports/

....and look for it under "Multisport reports"

Mike C

Pat Carterette said:

After running 11 miles on July 25, I suffered a stress fracture of the
fibula bone at my ankle. The doctor first told me it would take 4-8
weeks to heal. At 6 weeks, he revised the healing time to be from 6-10
weeks. It is now 10 weeks and my ankle is still not healed enough to
run or even to walk briskly. I'd like to hear about others experiences
with stress fractures and how long it takes to heal. Is physical
therapy going to be needed?

I'm going to tell you more or less the same thing as Mike Conway. You don't
necessarily have to fire your doctor. Get a second opinion. Try to find
someone who is board certified in sports medicine. The thing is, some (perhaps
most) stress fractures can be difficult to diagnose. In some cases, the stress
fracture does not show up on a standard xray and a bone scan is necessary.

The standard healing period for stress fractures is 4-8 weeks. It IS possible
that your MD did a bone scan to confirm healing and the scan showed a fracture
that was more extensive than originally believed, hence the longer recovery
time. But it is also possible that there is a true fracture (that's why you
feel it) and your MD just didn't find it on xrays. If there is something that
needs to be stabilized (and presently isn't) you need someone who knows what
they're doing.

Lyndon

"Speed Kills...It kills those that don't have it!" --US Olympic Track Coach
Brooks Johnson

Mike Conway said:

Quoted message said:

From: Harold Buck

Quoted message said:

I'll do a word count of your report vs. a few of mine to see who wins!

For reference, look up my 2001 IMH report to see what you're dealing with...!

;-)

I still remember parts of that report 🙂
The ease of finding your bike and the fish and divers on the swim.

You've set a tough standard for succeeding reports 🙂

Dot

--
"So many people get stuck in the routine of life that their dreams waste
away. This is about living the dream." - Cave Dog

Leafing through rec.running, I read Mike Conway's message of 09 Oct 2004:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

From: "Phil M." [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Couldn't find it via google groups. Any idea what keywords I should
use?

Subject: Ironman race report...long, indeed!

Phil M.

Or try here:

http://rec.running%20race%20reports/

http://kinder.cis.unf.edu/rec.running/multi/iron01-mik.html

You're too kind...

....but thanks!

Mike C

You're too kind...

....but thanks!

Mike C

Quoted message said:

From: Dot

Quoted message said:

I still remember parts of that report 🙂
The ease of finding your bike and the fish and divers on the swim.

You've set a tough standard for succeeding reports 🙂

Dot

--
"So many people get stuck in the routine of life that their dreams waste
away. This is about living the dream." - Cave Dog

I saw the xray myself and the doctor pointed out where the stress
fracture was located. I know better than to run right now - it's
really impossible anyway. I have an appointment with the doctor next
week and depending on what he says, maybe it IS time to find another
doctor. And what about physical therapy? Does it help after this type
of injury? What about massage therapy or other alternative treatments?

[email hidden] (Mike Conway) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

From: "joe positive"

Quoted message said:

I'm also dealing with a probable stress fracture of the fibula, so I feel
your pain. I don't have any idea of how long it will take for you to heal,
but my one bit of advice is don't try to run through it.

Let me expand on my flippant response of "find another doctor"...subsequent
posters have pointed out that there are a lot of variables to healing time for
stress fractures---presuming, of course, that is really what you are dealing
with. Your current doctor sounds like he/she is shooting in the dark with the
diagnosis, as though they really don't know what is happening.

Based on the ever-changing time frames for healing, it is possible you are
suffering from something else besides or perhaps even in addition to a stress
fracture.

Was the initial time given for healing too optimistic? Probably, but now
you're at 10 weeks and counting, and in the OP's own words "still not healed
enough to run or even walk briskly..." How much longer do you really want to
wait before you know you are truly healing?

Hope that makes more sense than before... ;-)

Mike C

I'm no doctor, but I don't think that massage or physical therapy will help in
the actual healing process of any kind of fracture---only time will do that.
PT and massage will help with coming back after a layoff, as well as help with
the strength of the muscles in the areas surrounding the injury.

But again...I am not a doctor. A second opinion, especially if in your next
exam it appears that there is no or little healing, would definitely be in
order. Others in the group who are more medically inclined can list the other
possible injuries you might have in addition to or instead of a "mere" stress
fracture...but so can a doctor, and as Lyndon suggests, one that has a
specialty towards sports medicine.

Most "normal" docs (yeah, big generalization here) will do more or less what
your current quack--er, I mean M.D. has prescribed, which is something along
the lines of "well, if it hurts while you do 'x', then don't do 'x' until it
stops hurting..."

Press any doctor for more specific info regarding any diagnosis---don't let
them brush you off.

Good luck...

Mike C

Quoted message said:

From: [email hidden] (Pat Carterette)

Quoted message said:

I saw the xray myself and the doctor pointed out where the stress
fracture was located. I know better than to run right now - it's
really impossible anyway. I have an appointment with the doctor next
week and depending on what he says, maybe it IS time to find
another
doctor. And what about physical therapy? Does it help after this type
of injury? What about massage therapy or other alternative treatments?