This episode comes from a question from a runner I saw in person during a second opinion house call.
She had a metatarsal stress fracture and felt like it was more comfortable when she was barefoot.
The more you can reduce the stress and strain to the injured metatarsal bone and the healing stress fracture the faster it will heal.
The types of shoes you wear during the recovery can change those stresses for better or worse depending upon which shoes you are wearing.
You need to focus on protecting and healing that metatarsal stress fracture if you want to get back to running as fast as possible.
Today on the Doc on the Run Podcast, we’re talking about whether or not it is better to go barefoot with a stress fracture.
I just got off a telemedicine second opinion call with a runner who thought she had a stress fracture. She got and MRI. Then her doctor said she has “fraying” of several plantar plate ligaments. She wanted to know if this was serious.
Part of the difficulty lies in determining the severity of plantar plate injury and making the call on when you can run. Most runners want a clear answer. Often times an MRI is performed in the hopes of getting a clear picture of the plantar plate damage.
Sometimes the MRI report not only suggests damaged to the plantar plate that hurts, but may mention “fraying” of other plantar plate ligaments that don’t hurt at all.
This often creates even more confusion and more frustration in recovering runners.
Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast, we’re talking about plantar plate fraying on an MRI a runner with a stress fracture.
Metatarsal stress fractures are one of the most common injuries in runners. Unfortunately for runners, 4 weeks to 6 weeks in a fracture walking it boot is the common recommendation from doctors.
Part of the reason you get the boot for 4-6 weeks, is that you didn’t give your doctor enough information to recommend anything else. The doctor wants you to heal. The way you tell your stress fracture fracture story leaves the doctor imaging the worst possible scenario and you get the worst possible treatment as a result.
To heal a stress fracture you need to stop stressing the bone. You need to stop causing damage. It is that simple.
Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we’re talking about why doctors prescribe 4-6 weeks in a fracture boot for stress fractures in runners.
