Possible stress fracture in foot

[NotAgain77]

I have pain on a specific point of a bone - causing pain walking, climbing stairs. Spoke to gp they said to go to urgent care as might be a stress fracture. Went to urgent care, it presented as a stress fracture from the physical exam, 5th metatarsal, but the X ray was clear. The nurse said they're not sure what it could be and suggest I go see a physio - there will be a further wait for this.

From what I've read stress fractures might not show up on an x ray.

I don't have a plan for my foot or the pain when walking. And I am not sure of the assessment of it's not a stress fracture. Not sure where to go for advice next. Any suggestions?

How long ago did the pain start?

A couple of months ago

Definitely MRI territory then. Could you afford a private opinion?

I've had countless stress fractures in metatarsals over the years (distance runner here). The only "cure" is rest. And as you say, they often don't show up on x rays, so going down that route is a bit of a waste of time.

All you can do is rest it as much as possible until you no longer get pain from walking, and then gradually progress to more high impact activities from there. From extensive experience, treatments such as a boot; ice; elevation etc might speed up the healing process slightly, but not discernibly.

I've also been through physio for mine previously (different physios and different approaches) but honestly, rest is the best thing you can do, and allow it to heal.

I had a stress fracture on my foot diagnosed via an MRI. I also had an xray which showed absolutely nothing so it's normal I think that your X ray would be clear. I had to wear a boot thing for 6 weeks.

Do you know why you keep getting stress fractures? And when you have them do you weight bear at all on the foot or just stop running and walk around normally until you have no pain?

I had one once; I had to wear stiff walking boots every waking hour for several weeks and that did the trick. Was a slight pita as during a spring heatwave. The podiatric surgeon blamed it on carrying baby DD2 in a sling everywhere while wearing converse!

Do you know why you keep getting stress fractures?

Yep. It's because I run very high mileage at times, and tend to land on my forefoot. Specialist insoles have helped ward it off in more recent years though, as has much more strengthening and weights work alongside the running. .
When it does happen I don't stop weight bearing altogether (eg I don't stop walking around day-to-day!) but I put as little weight through the foot as possible by staying off my feet til it's healed.