Sidelined by stress fracture in ankle. Anybody gone through this?

[Shiny]

I have been running pretty regularly for the past 3-4 months with a least 1 day off between runs. Not big distances; about 3-4 miles. About 2 weeks ago, the inside of my left ankle was tingling when I landed. I took a week off and tried it again a couple of days ago. It hurt again so I cut off my planned run and went to see the doc the following day. Turns out the Xray revealed a stress fracture.

I can walk ok it's just the pounding of running that will aggravate it. It never got swollen or anything. Doc told me to lay off running for 4-6 weeks. He didn't give me a cast or anything. Told me to take an advil if it really hurt (which it doesn't and never did). I just went to see him to be cautious.

Apparently, I can swim or bike to get my cardio in. I always feel and look more toned when I'm running, though. Bicycling has never given me these results. And, I don't have access to a nearby pool.

Anyway, kinda bummed about this. I miss running cause it gives me an escape. It's a real destresser. Anybody gone through this? Any tips?

 

[Rusty G.]

Bummer. . .try something that doesn't pound your ankles for a little while. . .maybe spinning classes, or bike riding, an eliptical trainer or something like that.

 

[Shiny]

Also, for those that have had this, does your ankle or bone come back (or fuse) stronger than before? Or, is it some kind of recurring thing that you'll never get rid of?

 

[yarnsforth]

I had a "hairline" fracture on the base of a foot once. Definitely couldn't run; kept my leg up at night; took a bit over a year to heal. Sometimes it felt like it had gotten better and I would hurt it again walking quickly, or stepping off a curb too hard. Sucked. At times I thought it would never get better.

If your ankle fracture heals in 4-6 weeks, I will consider you to be fortunate. I suggest doing what you can to help that process, i.e. put as little weight on it as you can and elevate it when possible. An occasional bath with dead sea salt should help, too.

 

[Raxxman]

The Docs advice is sound.

Only thing I can suggest is change out your running shoes more often, and try to run on soft surfaces more.

But find a pool, Swimming is awesome.