A mere week from my next race and I suspect I have broken, hopefully just fractured my right foot. I have no recollection of injuring my foot. I just know it hurts. I ran 30K last weekend but it was at work a few days later when I first noticed a sharp pain in my forefoot (at first I thought I had tied my laces too tight) but upon further inspection I discovered pin-point tenderness and noticeable swelling at the top of my foot. The pain was not enough to keep me from getting around but it was nagging and it could not be good.
When I got home I perused the Internet for information on running related foot injuries in an effort to confirm nay disprove what I had already suspected. One site stated that common symptoms of a stress fracture included but were not limited to; foot pain which comes on gradually, pain located towards the mid/front of the foot, pain aggravated by weight bearing activities such as walking, running or dancing, pain to touch, swelling, pain may persist at rest and may even be severe enough to effect sleep. Even an x-ray will often not show the fracture until two or three weeks after it has started to head. The similarities of my symptoms mirrored those of a "Metatarsal Stress Fracture".
Crap just what I thought, now what do I do? I continued reading; re-reading and searching. I needed information on what to do if a stress fracture is suspected. That is just what I found; one site had it broken down like this;
Seek professional help as soon as soon as possible
Keep weight off the foot, a removable cast is ideal
Ice the top surface of the forefoot for about 20 minutes every hour. To reduce swelling, wrap the foot in a tensor bandage with moderate compression
Wear running shoe with stiffer sole or sports insole
You may need x-rays or a bone scan to confirm fracture
A sports podiatrist may apply orthopedic taping and padding to relieve stress from the metatarsals
Silicone padding can be used to enable pain free walking and running during the healing process
Occasionally a plaster cast is necessary
Nutritional and hormonal deficiencies or irregularities must be addressed
A bone scan? Sports podiatrist? Hormonal deficiencies oh my! YA, YA, YA.... how long, how long? What can I do? I had suspected a stress fracture. I had already decided I should see our doctor, even though I had discovered that an x-ray often does not show a fracture until it starts to heal. What I was really looking for were concrete answers, something in writing, an idea of how long it may be until I could resume training?
I uncovered an article from Runners World addressing rehabilitation after a stress fracture of the metatarsal, also referred to as marcher’s foot; because so many new recruits suffer them during boot camp. The article stated that a stress fracture requiring only a reduction in weight bearing for 2-4 weeks can begin rehabilitation once full weight bearing and the exercises involved are pain free. However, before returning to sporting activities, ensure that full mobility, strength and balance are regained. It stung to read that if not addressed properly that I could be away from running for 2-8 weeks or longer. After a roller coaster hour of emotional research it was exciting to find that activities such as swimming and biking could be considered if they did not aggravate the fracture site. Now I was getting somewhere.
As disappointing as it is to find my self sidelined again…. with an injury I realize the importance of taking the time to allow my foot to heal properly so that I can get back out on the trail sooner rather than later. Not running for a couple weeks is nothing in the grand scheme of things, a little time off isn’t going to stop my progress; it is just going to drive me crazy!
