Strange behavior of a stress fracture – best rehabilitation strategy
Dear Doc,You wrote: >If this is a fairly simple stress fracture, then I am>at a loss to explain why a young healthy active man >with apparent good bone density is still having >problems after this length of time.
I am confused too. I’ll see my doctor in a couple of weeks, he said if weight-bearing doesn’t help he’ll put a cast on it. And I’ll probably do an MRI in that case, too. But what do I do meanwhile? When I wasn’t weight-bearing I was having pains and swelling – when I started partial weight-bearing these symptoms got greatly reduced in a matter of days, so is it probably the right strategy? Does the painless swelling that I got afterwards mean that I should take a couple of days off and start again? If mild pain appears again should I stop any weight-bearing or can it still be normal? I know there might not be a clear-cut answer, but there’s no doubt you have a much better idea than I of how much pain/swelling is normal and not normal in the process of training the bone, so any guidelines you can give will be of enormous help to me.Dmitriy
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Vivian Abrams DPM
I am not sure that I agree with the “no pain no gain” theory. As I have already mentioned, there are many variables involved. If the foot is elevated higher than the heart, then swelling will decrease. If it is hanging and there is no activity, then it will swell. I am also not in agreement with your statement “of how much pain/swelling is normal and not normal in the process of training the bone,” What you have been experiencing is certainly not the norm. You should discuss this with your doctor. I am sorry I can’t be more help.You might try wearing support hose with a mild compression to help with the swelling.