PT Question -- I'm a little scared about this

[VeloVT]

When you say you can't flex your toes, I am taking this to mean that you can't bring them up towards your shin. Is that right???

Yes. If I'm standing, and I try to flex my foot up so heel is on the ground and toes are in the air, right toes/forefoot can only attain maybe 20% of the height left toes/forefoot can attain. Right foot barely gets off the ground, really. When I'm sitting with my legs outstretched, the difference is not as stark, but it's still quite noticeable.

First hypothesis from doctor at student health clinic is that I have a hairline stress fracture. She did motor strength, range of motion, balance and reflex tests as well as making me touch my nose and then her finger repeatedly as she moved her finger around in a circle, and similar things... apparently I aced all of those tests. She also felt down each bone in my foot starting at the ankle and moving down to the toes. This was fairly gently, not serious mashing (when I had peroneal tendonitis and some serious pain in the bottom/outer edge of my foot and I initially thought maybe I'd fractured it, they really pushed it around -- this was just a little heavier than lightly touching). When she pressed lightly on the second bone, near the toes, I had a very strange sensation -- hard to describe. Not pain, not numbness or tingling, but very similar to the sensation I get when I try to flex that foot as far as possible -- at a certain point, it just feels weak -- it's not that dissimilar to how it feels when you are lifting weights and you try to do one rep past failure, and your muscles just say no, and there's sort of an icky feeling that is different than pain. Anyway, that was the only symptom she was able to produce in the exam, and it was very, very localized.

She sent me for a foot x-ray, but told me that if it WAS a hairline fracture, it was highly likely that it wouldn't show up on the x-ray. Um, what? You're prescribing a test for a condition that probably won't show up on that test? Generally speaking, I think people who try to argue that the rising cost of healthcare is primarily driven by unnecessary tests and if people had to pay for more, it would keep costs down, are full of bunk -- but this seemed a little like healthcare bloat to me. Anyway, I got the x-rays and am awaiting the results...

I also have a referral to the PT department and will make an appointment with them as soon as they call me back or start answering their phone. DR says I'm not to run or bike, and must wear supportive shoes, until I get the OK from PT. Apparently she will stay in contact with them, which is good...



Again, thanks everybody!

***Why should running 5 miles for the first time in a month cause a stress fracture though? I thought stress fractures were usually a result of repetitive trauma?