Stress Fracture

by Devan Hauck
(Orlando, Florida)

I was diagnosed with a stress fracture in my lower left leg appriximately ten weeks ago. For the most part the pain has gone away. However I have been feeling a pinching sensation after biking. The sensation is not exclusive to the area of the fracture. It is not painful but I am not certain what the feeling means. What sort of sensations are normal, when recovering from a stress fracture? It has been ten weeks and I am anxious to start running again. Thank you for your suggestions.

Hi Devan,
For the most part ten weeks is still not that long a period of time for a person to still have some kind of abnormal sensation post stress fracture.
Your best bet might be to have the leg re-xrayed (or an MRI if that is how it was originally diagnosed) to make sure that the fracture site has healed.
If so, I do not consider the "pinching" sensation to be anything to worry about and will eventually subside.
You should be able to start running again, BUT, you need to address why or how you got the stress fracture in the first place. Orthotics may become part of your running equipment.
Good luck.
Marc Mitnick DPM