Help healing a stress fracture?

mrslondon
mrslondon Posts: 146 Member
edited September 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
So about 2 weeks ago, I overdid it. I know I did and I managed to get a stress fracture in my lower left leg. It still hurts to walk and running is out of the question. It has really put me on a bit of a downward spiral of thinking that I am going to fail again. Im not eating as well as I was and I really would like to fix it, so that I can get back on the band wagon again. What can I do to help it heal faster? I always found that walking (no more running until im fully healed!) helped me at least feel like im burning off those extra calories, i feel like im falling back into bad ways, well i know, cause im not logging what im eating because i feel so ashamed. Help me!!!

Replies

  • lilmissy2
    lilmissy2 Posts: 595 Member
    I know this is not what you want to hear, but you need to do NOTHING and let it heal. I had quite a bad stress fracture in my foot and against medical advice I continued to do light activity (spinning etc) on it and I don't think it ever really healed the way it was supposed to, it still gets sore at times. I had a stress fracture in my other foot not long after, rested for 6-8 weeks , and it never gives me any problems. Sorry to hear you are going through this, I know how rubbish it is when you are working toward something but you need to take care of yourself.
  • mistyb47711
    mistyb47711 Posts: 861 Member
    Well you may not be able to run, but you can still burn calories doing ur upper body....let ur leg heal
  • backinthenines
    backinthenines Posts: 1,083 Member
    Has your doctor not told you what you can or can't do?
  • PattiPositive
    PattiPositive Posts: 71
    THERE IS LOTS YOU CAN TO DO TO GET OUT OF THE FUNK!!! 1ST Give yourself permission to take a break from logging. Then pick a day your going to go back. One week. A few days. Then on that day start logging. Check your goals and change it to the activity level your on. Light or none. Then use MFP to maintain instead of lose until you feel better. That is success right there!!!!!! YOU GET SO MUCH SUPPORT HERE. LOG ON EVERY DAY, CHECK IN AND SAY HI!!! WE'RE HERE FOR YOU. OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    The better you eat, the quicker it will heal. Make that your mission: Eat nutritionally rich foods. And rest rest and rest!
  • mrslondon
    mrslondon Posts: 146 Member
    THERE IS LOTS YOU CAN TO DO TO GET OUT OF THE FUNK!!! 1ST Give yourself permission to take a break from logging. Then pick a day your going to go back. One week. A few days. Then on that day start logging. Check your goals and change it to the activity level your on. Light or none. Then use MFP to maintain instead of lose until you feel better. That is success right there!!!!!! YOU GET SO MUCH SUPPORT HERE. LOG ON EVERY DAY, CHECK IN AND SAY HI!!! WE'RE HERE FOR YOU. OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX


    I think that is definitely a problem for me, is feeling really guilty for not logging. I need to cut myself a break and get back on it when I feel ready. I think as long as i dont gain any weight, i wont feel too bad. I was told today that i look thinner which is awesome, that has helped, i think the hardest part is thinking that i havent lost any weight when i have actually lost around 10 inches already. I think i need to get over my fear of the gym and go and maybe bike or something the stationary kind
  • Corinne_Bruce
    Corinne_Bruce Posts: 206
    Listen to your doctor and rest from running, please. I just recovered from a stress fracture in my foot and 6 weeks later I'm 100%. I followed my doctor's orders and don't regret it at all. I was in a boot for 2 weeks and I never want to have to wear that thing again. To burn calories I did cycling and that burns a lot of calories, but if the doctor doesn't recommend it don't do it. For the weeks that I was in the boot I gave myself permission to go over my calories for a few days a week. I still lost weight during my time off, so relax and make healthy food choices during this time.
  • JakeDuron
    JakeDuron Posts: 3
    I will say as a college athlete that stress fractures are very serious, and you really need to be careful on your timing with everything. The athletes here who get them usually get places in a boot cast for several weeks with mostly upperbody training and various stretches and treatment for the leg. Stay off of it as far as running for a couple of weeks, try a bike if you can, and make sure you ice it every day. After a few weeks try to walk/light jog and go based off that.
  • backinthenines
    backinthenines Posts: 1,083 Member
    What is really important is that a stress fracture is properly diagnosed in the first place.

    So many people google & self diagnose and conclude "oh must be a stress fracture" when it could be any number of other things. Stress fractures don't show on general x-rays. You must have an MRI scan to confirm a stress fracture and often it only shows once it starts healing.

    http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/otherfractures/a/stressfracture.htm

    That's why I said "what did the doctor say what you can or can't do?" because he would have seen the stressfracture on an MRI (if this was done properly) and can make a judgement in terms of recovery time based on severity of the stress fracture, location of the stress fracture etc.

    Without that information absolutely no one can advise the OP in any sensible form what to do.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories