Evening all,
Just wondered if anyone has any experience with pubic stress fractures?
I was diagnosed in October (after an 01:25 PB in Dublin half-marathon
) and it's driving me crazy!
I haven't run for five months and stopped cycling as well as that seemed to aggravate it. Instead, I've been desperately trying to maintain my fitness with low impact activities like aqua jogging, swimming, elliptical cross trainer and hiking.
The thing is, it still feels sore after exercise. I had an X-ray yesterday and the doctor tells me the bone is healing but he doesn't seem to know a whole lot about it (apparently it's the first one he's seen in 30 years).
So I don't know whether to ignore the soreness and keep going with the low impact exercises or just rest? I mean, I don't want to delay my recovery by exercising but I don't want to unnecessarily lose base fitness either - I've already gained 4 kilos since I stopped running
I'd appreciate any advice on this, especially from anyone whose been through the same thing and come out the other side.
Thanks!
Answers
Have you seen the xray, do you know where the stress fracture is? It is usually the inferior pubic ramus where the adductors tug.
Successful treatment is usually nonoperative - however, in persistent cases a small screw can be inserted to aid healing.
Soreness shouldn't necessarily mean cessation of exercise. Pain definitely should. I would certainly drop the aqua jogging, elliptical and hiking. Concentrate on swimming until the soreness has gone and the fracture has healed.
I crashed my road bike in May (wheels got caught in tram tracks in Zurich ) and I hit my hip quite hard on the ground so Doctor thinks that might have contributed in some way. But I'm not so sure as I did a lot of cycling and running over the spring and summer and I thought stress fractures were solely from repetitive forces?
'Pain' might not be the right word though. It's hard to articulate exactly how it feels - an unpleasant, weird kind of tight soreness in my groin/hamstring/glute that feels worse when I'm sat down. Like sitting on a marble maybe! But it doesn't feel at all like the kind of muscle soreness you get from a hard workout, more like a strain.
How long did the stress fractures that you've seen take to heal?
Typically, recovery can take anywhere between 4 months and a year depending how disciplined you are and what your day to day life consists of . A period of complete rest is critical after diagnosis to speed up recovery. If you have jumped into alternative forms of exercise too quickly this will delay the healing process.
Has your vit D / calcium been checked?
I tried going to gym, just working upper body (light weights/high reps) and core but still experience some pain/soreness afterwards. Is this is normally ruled out as well due to compression stress on the body?
Although it can be seasonal related it can take several months to increase levels to an optimum level.
Depends which exercises you are doing? Three months of complete rest (no exercise, no unnecessary activity, sedentary lifestyle) followed by three months of gentle swimming has produced the best outcomes in my patients. Scan again and reevaluate from there.
Did any of your patients ever try swimming with a pool buoy during their 3 months of rest?
Was that eight months between your first short jog and marathon?
Just wondered, is that to be expected?
I went for an MRI yesterday. Got the results today and it shows an improvement since December and been told I can start up with a really easy 16 day walk/run program (Day 1 is 20 minute fast walk; building up to 10 minute fast walk, 20 minute slow jog, 10 minute fast walk, 20 minute slow jog by Day 16).
After 6 months of no running at all, I'm thrilled!
One slight hitch though. My groin/glute/hamstring etc. still feels uncomfortable, especially when sitting. The MRI showed bone consolidation and no damage to tissue but I've been told what I'm feeling might be a result of damage to muscles/tendons in the area and shockwave therapy/blood injections were mentioned
What I'm wondering is whether it is normal to still have this kind of discomfort at this stage due to the stress fracture healing or whether it could be some kind of muscle/tendon damage as suggested?
Anyone still reading here?
I‘m so glad I found this post. There isn‘t much on the internet about pubic ramus stress fractures.
I had to stop intervals on the track due to pain in my pelvis. I felt like I was breaking apart. That was 3 months ago.
It got better but I was still cross training a lot (biking, swimming, elliptical).
I finally got an MRI which showed the stress fracture.
After 3 months!!!
I don‘t really know what to do now though. I feel terrible.