Question about stress fractures

[Sessy]

I dunno I'm beginning to wonder if it even is my ankle ligaments at all which are the problem. I can't put weight on the ankle without pain, all the soft tissues seem to be fine lately...

For those of you who have had a stress fracture, I believe I've read a member saying something about it a while ago - how did it feel exactly, and what did they do to discover it? X-ray? MRI? Cat scan?

I wanna go to my doctor with a clear idea of what I want. I've tried every imaginable cream and they're not helping.

[Clarice]

The problem with stress fractures is that they don't always show up on X-rays. Don't know about MRIs or anything else. I once had a presumed stress fracture, but it didn't show on 2 different sets of X-rays. I had a sharp pain on the outside of my ankle - could have been some kind of tendonitis, too, I guess. It started after I twisted my ankle on a jump landing, and at first only hurt when I did certain skating maneuvers, but progressed to hurting pretty much all the time before it started getting better. I took anti-inflammatories and iced it a lot, but didn't change my usual activity level. It went away eventually, whatever it was, but it took about 6 months. It wasn't a debilitating pain - mostly just annoying, but there were some pretty sharp twinges from time to time.

[xofivebyfive]

It was probably me that you read from. I had a stress fracture in the outside of my right ankle just a little bit above where my skate ends. I got it from landing a couple of flips with loose skates. It hurt whenever I walked on it, and sometimes even when I wasn't putting any weight on it at all. xrays won't show it until it starts to heal; mine didn't show up and the doctor said it was just tendonitis. but if you get an MRI, it should show whether or not you have one. I got an MRI of my ankle about 3 months after I did the damage, and it was clear that there was some kind of a fracture there. I would get it checked out.

Except now I actually do have tendonitis, in both ankles, in the same spot.. so that's fun. But I hope you don't have a stress fracture because that would mean no skating for a month, which sucks big time.

[jazzpants]

A few years ago, I had a tailbone stress fracture that was healing and it was discovered from an MRI, NOT an XRay. Needless to say, I was QUITE surprised to find out that I even HAD a stress fracture!!! 8O 8O 8O

[Sessy]

Except now I actually do have tendonitis, in both ankles, in the same spot.. so that's fun. But I hope you don't have a stress fracture because that would mean no skating for a month, which sucks big time.

A month? I'll take a month any time.. I can't skate or walk since april. I can walk yeah but not without pain but it tends to hurt even at night... Bleh. To the point that I've started taking painkillers for it. Actually I have bitten through till april from february on to be honest. Might not have been smart, or might have been - I'm not sure yet. Anyways the skating camp is only in august and till then there's no ice anyway, so I'd gladly take that month!.. Sigh. And I'm pretty sure all the tendons are okay now, it hurts *inside* the ankle, can't explain it. Very sharp when I put weight on it, otherwise just nagging.
Anyway THANKS! I'm making a doctor's appointment tomorrow again. He ain't getting off the hook THAT easily! :evil:

[rsk8d]

A stress fracture can be seen best from a bone scan, better than an MRI. Have you had physical therapy....?

[Sessy]

Nope, I haven't.

So I went to the doc today. He did some feeling around of where exactly it hurts (now that he could do that without me wincing at everything because of the ligaments) and he says the cartilage is the problem.
I used to have such a lot of problems with that stuff in my knees (still do really, the reason I can't run) - but he didn't know that, since the file on that was lost somehow back when I lived in an other city. So he's probably right... Anyway he did send me to a sport doctor but it's gonna be a few weeks before I can go there.

However meantime, I do have pills for the cartilage stuff with my knees, except I take pretty small dosages - that's when I don't forget to take them in the first place. He told me to multiply the dose I take by 6 (the maximum allowed daily dose). It really helped with my knees within about 3-4 weeks last time (with effects after 2), so if it is that I should know soon.

[Team Arthritis]

FWIW - NSAIDS (Ibuprofen, Aspirin etc) help with cartilage pain but are likely to actually slow down repair of damaged cartilage and bone. Only about 50% of people who use glucosamine and chondroiten get any benefit. Cold packs improve the growth of stronger cartilage over the weaker faster growing variety.

BTW one of the best ways to find a stress fracture is a nuclear bone scan.

Lyle

[Sessy]

A WHAT kind of scan?!


Thanks about the tips. I know glucosamine works like a charm on me from experience. :)


Thanks about the painkillers tip... I'm not the happy pill popping kind of type really, I've taken a lot of painkillers in the past for a chronical condition and they damaged my stomach eventually so I know pills like that can be harmful... Usually when I take painkillers I take aleve, it seems to work the best and I know you can't take it for long without the painkilling effects decreasing, so that keeps me from taking it when not strictly necessary.