Stress fracture (foot) recovery time?

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MsEmmy
MsEmmy Posts: 254 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Last week I started C25K with no problems. At the weekend I went to a music festival and was mostly wearing supportive boots (Doc Martens. ) However, the third day was a washout - torrential rain and the arena was a mudbath. Because of the conditions I wore wellies for walking/ dancing/ jumping around etc and by Monday morning I noticed a pain along the top of my foot. It is worse if I've been sitting down for a while or am walking barefoot. I can walk fairly normally if I wear good walking boots but anything loose sends a sharp pain down my foot, particularly as I lift my foot. I definitely haven't injured my foot by dropping anything on it or bumping into something so am assuming it is a mild stress fracture

I know I should go to the doctor's but was wondering if anyone else had had this, and how long recovery time was? I can't stay off my feet completely as I have three dogs to exercise and two teenagers to look after, but how long do you think I should wait before getting back to C25K and my Kinect workouts?

Thanks for any advice:flowerforyou:

Replies

  • MrsRobertson1005
    MrsRobertson1005 Posts: 552 Member
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    I did a 3 day 60 mile walk last year and ended up with stress fractures on both my feet, they hurt a lot. I wore house shoes that were super padded to work and stayed off of them as much as i could. I also wrapped them and it seemed to help. After a couple of weeks they didn't really hurt any more
  • HealthierIn2011
    HealthierIn2011 Posts: 69
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    I had stress fractures in my ankles when I ran track in HS (many years ago). I don't remember all of what the Dr. told me but I do remember that styrofoam cups filled with water and put in the freezer make an amazing ice pack. Just tear off the cup as the ice melts.
  • 01elizabeth59
    01elizabeth59 Posts: 59
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    After a mission trip spent building a school I ended up with a stress facture. Dr put me in a walking boot. I think I wore it for 2 weeks and wore good supporting shoes after that. I worked in a school and was on my feet constantly but that did the trick.
  • mlb929
    mlb929 Posts: 1,974 Member
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    Obviously without a medical diagnosis it's hard to tell what's going on. When I thought I may have a stress fracture, I was told to take 3 full days off of NOTHING - and then try to work out again, see what happened. In my case, the pain was gone and I was back on the road.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    I thought I had a stress fracture once, but xrays couldn't confirm anything, and my foot hurt for about two months. Another time, I dropped a full 4x8 foot sheet of plywood on my bare foot (don't try this at home, kiddies!) and STILL didn't break anything according the xrays, and that was about 2 months, too. My husband had a fractured heel and partially torn achilles and recovery time was also about two months.

    Knowing all the crazy things I've done in poor shoe choices (I'm lookin' at the 5" stilettos I wore dancing all night at my niece's wedding) or poor choice of not wearing any shoes, I'd guess it's more of a tendonitis issue than a stress fracture. Either way, the treatment is the same: rest.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    If you indeed have a stress fracture (which is NOT something you should be trying to self diagnose), avg recovery time is around six weeks.

    I have seen numerous people try to shorten the recovery time by going on "instinct"--in many if not most cases, they end up back in the boot for another 6 wks.

    Foot stress fractures are nothing to mess around with if you plan on continuing an exercise program for the long-term, esp if you would like to return to running.

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