[mmoonptdeux]

Hi all - I was wondering if anyone has ever had to deal with a stress fracture of the lower fibula, or more specifically, know what the symptoms are for one.<br><br>
I have this sore spot in an area behind my lower fibula located a couple inches above the bony potrusion on the outside of my right ankle. I started feeling this spot on my runs held after the HM at the Philly Marathon in mid-November. I thought it might be my peroneal tendons in that area, but the work my PT did there last week has not alleviated the dull pain from this sore spot.<br><br>
I have some downtime from running because of another couple of injuries with the foot on the opposite side (sesamoid fracture and a case of hallux rigidus), so I want to come back with as clean a slate as possible. Should I have this checked out, and if so, what should I asking be done? Thanks!

 

[Nettie]

You didn't ask the PT about it. When I thought I had a SF, I went to a free screening at my gym done by a physical therapy group and they were able to discount my assumptions pretty easily.

 

[mmoonptdeux]

No, I didn't - I thought it was muscular/tendon related because I had been having bouts of peroneal soreness for awhile. Now that he worked on the tendons in that area, it didn't really alleviate the sore spot, so I've been trying to pinpoint the sore spot better.

 

[corrade]

When I had a tibial stress fracture it was tender to the touch, pressing on the back ridge of my tibia. I'd think you can press on that bone, move slowly up from your ankle and if it radiates serious pain you'll know what you got. That routine has avoided flare-ups in my case, bone pain is tough to locate and way different than tendon pain.

 

[runbikesink]

The only way to tell for sure is a bone scan or an MRI...x-rays aren't ususally helpful. Stress fractures usually show up on x-rays after they heal if at all.<br><br>
I had a tibial stress fracture, and how I could tell was the hop test...If you hop up and down on one foot, a tibial stress fracture will hurt A LOT and you won't be able to do it for very long..Mine took nearly 3 months to heal, and that is how I could tell how much better it was getting. I would hop on it a little every few days to see if it was just as bad or better....of course the Dr. told me not to hop on it, so I did it sparingly.

 

[joy2theworld]

I had a fibular stress fracture about a year and a half ago...just above the bony protusion. I can't say that I had one particular sore spot. My entire ankle was swollen with the pain localized to the outside of my ankle. Walking was painful; running wasn't even an option. It was getting worse every day, to the point that right before I went to the ortho I could actually feel the weakness in the bone from the fracture.<br><br>
The fracture showed up on an x-ray. Ortho put me in an air cast and on crutches. I was non weight bearing for about 2 weeks. Then, I was able to start slowly putting weight on it for a couple more weeks. I then got rid of the crutches, but kept the air cast for another couple of weeks. I missed a total of 7 weeks of running.<br><br>
Definitely have it checked out. You don't want to make it worse. Best of luck to you.

 

[mmoonptdeux]

Thanks for all your responses, guys. From what you've all said, I guess it's basically time to get another appt. with the doctor to see what she says.<br><br>
This one would really really suck if my suspicions are correct, but it's not like I haven't been laid up before - the proverbial lemonade out of lemons, right?

 

[runxc09]

My fibula stress fracture was located to a spot less than an inch long. You could press on the site of it and generate serious pain, but move an inch up or down and the pain was gone... It hurt all the time, not just when weight bearing or pressing on it, and occasionally woke me up at night.<br><br>
Good luck!! stress fractures aren't fun...

 

[corrade]

My first bone injury was a stress fracture last year at this time. I'd been familiar with scrapes, bruizes, tendonitis, sprains - but bones were a whole different thing. Your bones can grow stronger and will adapt to any sort of strength imbalance or poor mechanics of your stride that could have caused the injury. Also I think they'll respond if you do strength training to address imbalances and carefully return to your running stride with slow, even footstrikes. I look at normal recovery period after races etc. as more productive since my SF.

 

[RunsTheBitterroot]

Sounds simular to what I had. A small bump a couple of inches above my ankle on the outside. You could push on a certain muscle above it and it would hurt at that spot. It would become so painful that I could not run more than 2 miles. My pt had me doing stretches, used ultrasound on the bump. Basically all this was doing was keeping that tendon inflammed. Finally started deep water running for a couple of months, didn't allow anyone to touch the sore spot nor would I stretch it. It healed to the point where I was able to get back on the road and run a marathon. Still I got it back only in the other leg but not as bad as I did not stretch it or touch it. I think what finally fixed it was joining a running club with a coach who helped me with my form and got me started trail running. Havn't has a problem like that since. Good Luck on your injury, Larry