Frequent Stress Fractures...?

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  • youngmomtaz
    youngmomtaz Posts: 1,075 Member
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    I got stress fractures over and over again in a three year period. What finally corrected it for me was slowly switching to a different running form. I was a heel striker wearing oversupportive shoes. I slowly transitioned to a barefoot shoe(over 2 years slowly reducing the support in my shoe purchases until I was wearing vibram toes shoes. The distance in each shoe started very gradually to ramp up as well each time I “graduated” to a new shoe. Within those two years I started running half marathon distances regularly, and my pace got faster. I will never be FAST, but I had improvement. The most notable, my lower legs, which were always skinny no matter my weight, gained 1.5” in diameter. So, I am not saying transition to barefoot style(even though it rocks!), but do look at your gait, your shoes, and for sure the muscle mass in your lower body.
  • marmaladepixie
    marmaladepixie Posts: 83 Member
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    Curious... you aren’t on any meds for heartburn are you? I was on PPIs for a little over a year for ulcer/GERD. I kept getting stress fractures. Apparently you don’t absorb as much minerals and it gets pulled out of your bones. Just a thought
  • maureenseel1984
    maureenseel1984 Posts: 397 Member
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    youngmomtaz wrote: »
    I got stress fractures over and over again in a three year period. What finally corrected it for me was slowly switching to a different running form. I was a heel striker wearing oversupportive shoes. I slowly transitioned to a barefoot shoe(over 2 years slowly reducing the support in my shoe purchases until I was wearing vibram toes shoes. The distance in each shoe started very gradually to ramp up as well each time I “graduated” to a new shoe. Within those two years I started running half marathon distances regularly, and my pace got faster. I will never be FAST, but I had improvement. The most notable, my lower legs, which were always skinny no matter my weight, gained 1.5” in diameter. So, I am not saying transition to barefoot style(even though it rocks!), but do look at your gait, your shoes, and for sure the muscle mass in your lower body.

    That's what I don't get though. I wear really good shoes, have proper form and had no fractures up until that stretch of time I was training for my marathon. I did PT to analyze and correct any problems with my stride. I'd been doing long distances before but...who knows.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,718 Member
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    maureenseel1984 wrote: »
    That's what I don't get though. I wear really good shoes, have proper form and had no fractures up until that stretch of time I was training for my marathon. I did PT to analyze and correct any problems with my stride. I'd been doing long distances before but...who knows.

    But you already mentioned upthread that you did your marathon training under conditions of low energy availability. This reduces your body's ability to repair damage and increases the likelihood of stress fractures and overuse injuries...
  • maureenseel1984
    maureenseel1984 Posts: 397 Member
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    PAV8888 wrote: »
    maureenseel1984 wrote: »
    That's what I don't get though. I wear really good shoes, have proper form and had no fractures up until that stretch of time I was training for my marathon. I did PT to analyze and correct any problems with my stride. I'd been doing long distances before but...who knows.

    But you already mentioned upthread that you did your marathon training under conditions of low energy availability. This reduces your body's ability to repair damage and increases the likelihood of stress fractures and overuse injuries...

    I just don't get why it continues to happen. It's been over a year at this point. :(
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
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    maureenseel1984 wrote: »
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    maureenseel1984 wrote: »
    That's what I don't get though. I wear really good shoes, have proper form and had no fractures up until that stretch of time I was training for my marathon. I did PT to analyze and correct any problems with my stride. I'd been doing long distances before but...who knows.

    But you already mentioned upthread that you did your marathon training under conditions of low energy availability. This reduces your body's ability to repair damage and increases the likelihood of stress fractures and overuse injuries...

    I just don't get why it continues to happen. It's been over a year at this point. :(

    While I didn't actually intend this pun, it could be that your body more or less reached its breaking point physically. You weren't doing yourself any favors, physiologically, when you trained for your previous marathon under less than ideal circumstances and you're likely seeing the results of this combined with damage that's been done previously. I wonder if the type 1 diabetes might have something to do with this as well with regards to your risk of fractures. Very very cursory research on my part says there is some correlation. I would discuss this explicitly with both your endo and your ortho.
  • maureenseel1984
    maureenseel1984 Posts: 397 Member
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    aokoye wrote: »
    maureenseel1984 wrote: »
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    maureenseel1984 wrote: »
    That's what I don't get though. I wear really good shoes, have proper form and had no fractures up until that stretch of time I was training for my marathon. I did PT to analyze and correct any problems with my stride. I'd been doing long distances before but...who knows.

    But you already mentioned upthread that you did your marathon training under conditions of low energy availability. This reduces your body's ability to repair damage and increases the likelihood of stress fractures and overuse injuries...

    I just don't get why it continues to happen. It's been over a year at this point. :(

    While I didn't actually intend this pun, it could be that your body more or less reached its breaking point physically. You weren't doing yourself any favors, physiologically, when you trained for your previous marathon under less than ideal circumstances and you're likely seeing the results of this combined with damage that's been done previously. I wonder if the type 1 diabetes might have something to do with this as well with regards to your risk of fractures. Very very cursory research on my part says there is some correlation. I would discuss this explicitly with both your endo and your ortho.

    Yeah. The tests should give us more information as to what's going on and what we should do next.

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