Pelvic Stress Fracture

Hi everyone!

I managed to get a stress fracture of the pubic ramus exactly 5 months ago. I now feel like I have healed, and I'm hoping someone might have some advice about when I should try to start jogging again! I have seen suggestions that you should wait 6 to 18 weeks after injury. I'm female, 29, have completed 2 marathons and around 15 half marathons and here's my timeline:

16 April 2012 – 15KM training run, sudden shooting pain in hip/groin area. I assume it's a muscle pull.

22 April – failed London marathon attempt.   Pain intense, break down, crying.

June/July – occasional very short jogs on treadmill at gym, mild pain. See three physios, all think it's a muscle-related issue.

22 July – slowest half marathon ever completed, occasional mild hip/groin pain

7 August – xrays, diagnosed with pubic ramus stress fracture, complete stop to all running/jogging.

August/September – still no running but cycle at gym 3-5 times per week. Triple dairy/calcium intake – but only in food, not taking supplements.

Today – zero pain in hip/leg/anywhere. Haven’t tried running or jogging. Hip makes popping noise 4-6 times per day but not painful at all.

I feel completely healed, but am terrified of reactivating the injury since I didn't heal for such a long time after the initial injury (although the pain went away quite soon after I stopped running). If you had any suggestions, advice, warnings, war stories - I'd love to hear them!

Hi Rebecca, we have very similar time lines. I also DNF'd VLM this year with a stress fracture, in my femoral neck though not the pelvis.

I got diagnosis/treatment straight away. I was completely non weight bearing for about 6 weeks, on crutches for another 5, and then gradually resumed walking. I'd read that you shouldn't start running until you can walk for an hour briskly without pain. It seemed to take a while to get there but when I did I started following this programme. I haven't progressed through as quickly as it indicates. I had some soreness around the fracture site at first, and now I'm struggling with shin problems, I think because my calf muscles suffered from so much immobility.

All I can advise is to do what feels sensible (I've found throughout all of this that you do tend to have a sixth sense for what will be painful/stupid) and be really prepared to be patient and back off if something starts niggling. My doctor refused to give me advice on returning to running but did say in general to always use pain as a guide and don't do anything that causes pain. I found biking difficult at times but if you're pain free that's great. On a positive note I have been pleasantly surprised that my CV fitness isn't as trashed as I thought it would be.

Hi Weeble!

Thanks so much for your reply! This has been such a difficult injury not just because it has taken so long but because there is a lack of understanding and information about there about it. If your foot is in a cast, people get it, but pointing to your hip and saying that something is wrong makes many people, including runners, look at you a bit funny. So thanks for the response and support! Sorry to hear that you too have been struck down by the horror that is the sfx. (I even know all the lingo now!). You're lucky to have been diagnosed straight away, that was probably the worst of it, not knowing what the damn problem actually was. Shame to hear that the healing is slow. Sounds like you have a pretty zen and sensible approach to it. I'm a bit less unhinged nowadays that it's getting close to the end (I fervently hope!).

The program looks great, I haven't seen it before. I've been cycling a fair bit so I'm hoping that it is not going to be epically difficult or demoralising to start off all rusty. I'm probably another 2 or 3 weeks away from running again, to stay on the safe side.  Keep me posted on your progress - all my fingers and toes crossed that you get back to top notch health soon!