#606 Can I run in cleats with a stress fracture?

Imagine your doctor tells you that you have a metatarsal stress fracture and you should not run.

Why would you come home from the doctor and call me asking, “Can I run in cleats with a stress fracture?”

Believe it or not, that actually happened.

In this case we are talking about an athlete who is actually getting better and who wanted to train on the track.

He wanted to run in cleats.

Aside from the uncertainty, he was doing okay. He was a little hesitant and wasn’t sure if cleats would aggravate the injury right or not.

Can I run in cleats with a stress fracture?

Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run podcast.

#526 Is a boot enough for a tibial stress fracture in runners?

Today’s episode is going to be a good one for you to listen to, if you’ve been told that you have a tibial stress fracture, or if you just think you might have a tibial stress fracture. If you get a tibial stress fracture, the chances are really good that the doctor’s going to do something to really restrict your running, and potentially your ability to move around at all. For example, if you get a fracture walking boot and it’s on your right foot, well, you can’t even drive a car so you’ve got to take this seriously. Is a fracture walking boot enough when you have a tibial stress fracture and you’re a runner? Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run podcast.

#521 Running fitness is transient

Yesterday I was giving a lecture at the International Foot & Ankle Foundation meeting in Lake Tahoe. The topic was on protocols for return to running after recovering from over training injuries. One of the most important points I was trying to make to the doctors in that session was that fitness is transient. Fitness is only present in the presence of growth. If you’re an injured runner this is terrible news. Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we’re talking about why running fitness is transient.

#515 I cannot run because it got a running injury

In this episode we’re talking about whether or not you can’t run just because you got a running injury and this is a thing I hear all the time from injured runners. They call me because they’re frustrated because they’re runners, they got a metatarsal stress fracture, or a plantar fasciitis, or a plantar plate ligament sprain, or Achilles tendonitis. They say, “My doctor said I can’t run because I got a running injury. Does that make sense to you?” Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run podcast.

#511 Can a stress fracture spread from one metatarsal to the bone next to it?

One thing that’s really demoralizing if you get a stress fracture is to spend a bunch of time in a fracture walking boot and then go get something like an MRI and be shocked and horrified when the doctor says, “Well, not only do you have a stress fracture in that bone, it looks like you’ve got a stress fracture in another bone as well.” If you think this stress fracture might have spread well, it could. But not the way an infection would spread. There is a way that stress related inflammation in a neighboring bone can spread after getting the original stress fracture. Can a stress fractures spread from one bone to another? That’s a great question and that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.

#507 Good news and bad news

I just saw a comment on our YouTube videos from a runner named Mary. She viewed the video on permanent calf atrophy, and how that can happen if you spend way too long in a fracture walking boot or a cast. Mary replied and basically said, “Great. Now you depressed the crap out of me. Thanks. Ugh.” Realizing that you have lost fitness to the point of atrophy can be really upsetting for any runner. Well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news for you, and that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On the Run podcast.

#503 First aid for metatarsal stress fracture in a runner

Let’s say you’re out on a run and you start noticing this weird aching pain in your foot and so you suspect you have a metatarsal stress fracture. I often get consultation calls and webcam visits, and I even do house calls for athletes who have metatarsal stress fractures. The good news is that a lot of the times, if you actually do something, when you first notice that aching pain in your foot, when you’re running, it may not actually be a true stress fracture. Today on the Doc On The Run podcast we’re talking about the five most important things you can do for first aid for a metatarsal stress fracture if you’re a runner.

#480 Can a 5th metatarsal stress fracture posterior tibial tendinitis?

This is a great question from a runner I’ve been helping in the Monday, Wednesday, and Friday coaching group. She had a fifth metatarsal fracture and wanted to know if this could actually cause posterior tibial tendonitis. Since they’re on the opposite sides of the foot, a lot of people think that it won’t cause the same kind of problem, because you wouldn’t expect to have problems on both the left and right sides of the same foot. Can a fifth metatarsal fracture cause posterior tibial tendonitis? Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.

#470 Doctor has a runner with a stress fracture for 2 months

I was just given a talk at the International Foot and Ankle Foundation’s 40th Annual Hawaii Seminar.
And at the end of the session, we got a couple of questions from the audience during the live Q&A for the doctors.
A doctor in the audience she had a runner who is one of her patients.
This runner had been basically running on a mild stress fracture, which I would really consider a stress reaction, for a period of about two months but wanted to do a race.
Today on the Doc on the Run Podcast, we’re talking about what a doctor should do when she is helping a runner with a stress fracture who has been running on it for 2 months and still wants to run a race.

#459 How bad is Grade 3 Stress Fracture?

Today’s episode actually comes from a podcast listener who had a question:

“I got an MRI just to give me the green light to resume training and it showed a grade three stress reaction of the left tibia. Do you think I can run?”

Deciding whether or not you can run with a stress fracture really depends on understanding how bad it was when it started, and how bad it is right now.

How bad is a grade three stress fracture? Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc on the Run podcast.