Marathon Weekend 2022

[jpeterson]

If you don't mind me revisiting your old post, what happened with your suspected tibial stress fracture? Also, what symptoms were you experiencing that led you to seek medical treatment and made you believe that you might have a stress fracture? I ran way too fast going downhill chasing after a 2:07 POT and I was subsequently feeling pain in my right shin when I started running again following a week off of running. Additionally, I was aware of the pain in my shin when walking up stairs. Does this sound at all like what you were experiencing? Thank you for any feedback that you can give me. It's rather frustrating not knowing what's wrong with your body.

I had bad shin pain after MW 2022 and went to the doctor just to be sure. Didn't have a stress fracture but did have some inflammation that was very bad. a bit of PT helped me out enormously. Might be worth getting it checked out just to be safe.

 

[Jillfo]

As I understand it, an x-ray can confirm the presence of a stress fracture if it's bad/advanced enough, but it can't rule one out because they often don't show up in mild or early stages. That's where the MRI comes in.

I had a femoral stress fracture in 2011. It did not appear on the x-rays but was clear on the MRI. I had to insist on getting the MRI.

 

[kps7795]

As I understand it, an x-ray can confirm the presence of a stress fracture if it's bad/advanced enough, but it can't rule one out because they often don't show up in mild or early stages. That's where the MRI comes in.

If anything, mine is just beginning or is rather minor. After less than a week's rest, I was already pain-free walking up stairs. That tells me that whatever is wrong is not that serious. Nonetheless, I believe that I would exacerbate a stress fracture if I begin a training plan now even though I am currently not experiencing symptoms. What I don't want to happen is to take an injury which will resolve itself in 4-6 weeks and make it so bad that I can't run for months. My intuition tells me to just get an MRI, but I believe that the proper protocol would be to first get an X-ray and follow-up with the MRI if the X-ray proves inconclusive.

 

[DISfam2401]

If you don't mind me revisiting your old post, what happened with your suspected tibial stress fracture? Also, what symptoms were you experiencing that led you to seek medical treatment and made you believe that you might have a stress fracture? I ran way too fast going downhill chasing after a 2:07 POT and I was subsequently feeling pain in my right shin when I started running again following a week off of running. Additionally, I was aware of the pain in my shin when walking up stairs. Does this sound at all like what you were experiencing? Thank you for any feedback that you can give me. It's rather frustrating not knowing what's wrong with your body.

I had pain in my shin, about a third of the way up on the inner side and it was very painful to touch, just in one specific area. I ignored it for a while but then for days after each long run I was limping and going up/ down stairs was really painful. Originally, my primary sent me for an x-ray which was suspicious for a stress fx but I told her I wanted to be sure because I really wanted to run my race. So I then got an MRI about a week later and ortho told me it was a benign tumor (osteoma) and I was fine to run my half if I felt like it. Spoiler alert - it wasn't! (which I never thought it was...) I ran my half and made it through 7 miles before I had to run/walk the rest. We had a week at Disney after that and I went to the parks every day but it was really painful and I took a LOT of Tylenol. I called ortho again when I got back and he sent me for a CT but it took another 2 weeks and lo and behold no tumor but what looked like a healing stress fracture. It took over 6 weeks before it wasn't painful to walk and am just now getting back to running. Soooo... long story short definitely get it checked out!

 

[camaker]

If anything, mine is just beginning or is rather minor. After less than a week's rest, I was already pain-free walking up stairs. That tells me that whatever is wrong is not that serious. Nonetheless, I believe that I would exacerbate a stress fracture if I begin a training plan now even though I am currently not experiencing symptoms. What I don't want to happen is to take an injury which will resolve itself in 4-6 weeks and make it so bad that I can't run for months. My intuition tells me to just get an MRI, but I believe that the proper protocol would be to first get an X-ray and follow-up with the MRI if the X-ray proves inconclusive.

Yes, they'll generally do an x-ray first, if for no other reason than it might show a stress fracture, or could even show something different, while waiting for insurance authorization for an MRI.

The orthopedist was convinced my shin pain a couple of years ago was due to a stress fracture. After x-ray and MRI all turned out negative, he basically told me it must be soft tissue and good luck. It took going to a running specialist PT to finally get a diagnosis and treatment plan that set things right. I apparently have atypical curvature in my tibia that leads to strains of the posterior tibialis muscle.

 

[kps7795]

I had pain in my shin, about a third of the way up on the inner side and it was very painful to touch, just in one specific area. I ignored it for a while but then for days after each long run I was limping and going up/ down stairs was really painful. Originally, my primary sent me for an x-ray which was suspicious for a stress fx but I told her I wanted to be sure because I really wanted to run my race. So I then got an MRI about a week later and ortho told me it was a benign tumor (osteoma) and I was fine to run my half if I felt like it. Spoiler alert - it wasn't! (which I never thought it was...) I ran my half and made it through 7 miles before I had to run/walk the rest. We had a week at Disney after that and I went to the parks every day but it was really painful and I took a LOT of Tylenol. I called ortho again when I got back and he sent me for a CT but it took another 2 weeks and lo and behold no tumor but what looked like a healing stress fracture. It took over 6 weeks before it wasn't painful to walk and am just now getting back to running. Soooo... long story short definitely get it checked out!

I'm really glad to hear that you're feeling better now. Thank you for the feedback. If anything, I believe that mine is either just starting or is quite minor. It was never painful to the touch and I would only describe the pain as noticeable when walking up stairs. That being said, I'm going to an ortho this afternoon who specializes in sports medicine.

 

[kps7795]

Yes, they'll generally do an x-ray first, if for no other reason than it might show a stress fracture, or could even show something different, while waiting for insurance authorization for an MRI.

The orthopedist was convinced my shin pain a couple of years ago was due to a stress fracture. After x-ray and MRI all turned out negative, he basically told me it must be soft tissue and good luck. It took going to a running specialist PT to finally get a diagnosis and treatment plan that set things right. I apparently have atypical curvature in my tibia that leads to strains of the posterior tibialis muscle.

Ouch. I hope that you're feeling better now.

 

[camaker]

Ouch. I hope that you're feeling better now.

Oh, that happened like 3 years ago, so everything is good now! Turns out all I needed was dry needling and some custom inserts that the PT makes herself to reduce stress on the muscle. I go back about once a year for new insoles and dry needling as needed to keep it tamped down. I just like to throw it out there as a cautionary tale, as I might still not know what the problem was if I hadn't searched out the running PT. As runners we're almost conditioned to jump straight to stress fracture as a worst case self-diagnosis when there's a lot that can go wrong down in that region.

 

[XoxoAmy]

As I understand it, an x-ray can confirm the presence of a stress fracture if it's bad/advanced enough, but it can't rule one out because they often don't show up in mild or early stages. That's where the MRI comes in.

Right - I didn't get an xray because my doc could tell mine wasn't incredibly bad (I could walk on it just fine) so we went right to the MRI to get a better sense of what was going on.

 

[Onceuponamarathon]

"That tells me that whatever is wrong is not that serious. "

Just want to say a word of caution. Depending on the location or type, it actually can be serious. Even with the pain going away. I had a femoral neck SF and at it's worst, the pain was a 3/10. A week of rest put me at 0. Due to the location though, it's very high risk. They usually put you on crutches and go completely non-weight bearing for weeks if you have one. And even walking with no pain can extend the fracture, prompting the need for surgery to put in pins for stabilization during the healing process. The best way to avoid surgery (really the only way), is to catch it in the earliest stages and take immediate action. Most don't catch it in the early stage because it feels better with rest and they figure it must not be that serious. MRI would give you more info.

 

[kps7795]

I had bad shin pain after MW 2022 and went to the doctor just to be sure. Didn't have a stress fracture but did have some inflammation that was very bad. a bit of PT helped me out enormously. Might be worth getting it checked out just to be safe.

I'm getting a MRI on Tuesday of my Right Tibia, but I don't think that it is actually a stress fracture because the pain that I had been experiencing was not specifically localized. I don't know what is actually wrong, but I walked with my daughter for five minutes before her run on Tuesday and I could feel my right shin swelling. It was a rather sore feeling like I could sense the muscles and/or tissues expanding as I walked. Does this sound at all similar to what you experienced?

 

[jpeterson]

No, I didn't really have the swelling. I had some tenderness in the area and pain as I walked or ran. Mine was inflammation along the bone and probably would have developed into a stress fracture if I had pushed through and kept running.

 

[kps7795]

I'm getting a MRI on Tuesday of my Right Tibia, but I don't think that it is actually a stress fracture because the pain that I had been experiencing was not specifically localized. I don't know what is actually wrong, but I walked with my daughter for five minutes before her run on Tuesday and I could feel my right shin swelling. It was a rather sore feeling like I could sense the muscles and/or tissues expanding as I walked. Does this sound at all similar to what you experienced?

Update: Grade 1 Stress Reaction. Specifically, "Mild anterior tibial periosteal edema along the proximal/mid diaphysis consistent with a grade 1 stress reaction." I know that this basically means I won't be running anytime soon. I just hope that I can be running again sometime this summer to prepare for Goofy. My follow-up appointment is with a sports medicine doctor on Friday morning.

 

[jmasgat]

Update: Grade 1 Stress Reaction. Specifically, "Mild anterior tibial periosteal edema along the proximal/mid diaphysis consistent with a grade 1 stress reaction." I know that this basically means I won't be running anytime soon. I just hope that I can be running again sometime this summer to prepare for Goofy. My follow-up appointment is with a sports medicine doctor on Friday morning.

Sorry to hear. Feel free to join me on the injury bus. Sending pixie dust and patience your way for a speedy recovery.