Yep, my foot is broken. Not really, of course - that sounds more hardcore than it is. :) Just a stress fracture, and all it means is that my foot really hurts and I'm supposed to stay off it and wear an Ace bandage for comfort.
This didn't happy quickly, like I stepped the wrong way and something snapped. I just noticed my foot was sore, and then it kept getting worse and three weeks later by the end of the day I can't walk without limping.
I had to walk home from lab on tiptoes on my right foot because if I stepped flat, my foot cramped so hard my toes curled. Now THAT's an awkward way to waddle home - one tiptoe and one flat. Couldn't decide if it might have been less awkward to just walk both tippitoes!
I asked why this type of fracture happens, and I was told usually because of over-exercise, particularly in bad shoes. Strange thing is I have been so busy lately, I haven't really even had time to exercise. (I miss basketball! Very sad that I haven't played in a month.)
And I swear I don't wear crappy shoes - I have decided that I am too old to be wearing paper-thin Payless flats, and so most of my shoes are Naturalizer or Born or Clarks or some similar quality. This girl does love her shoes, so I do have a variety and I rotate what I wear.
So who knows. Last time this happened, I was completely stressed out over quals. And now, I am completely stressed out because I am trying to do too many things at once. Maybe I just need to start taking calcium as my own personal way of handling LIFE. :P
"Hey Miss Outlier, why are you taking a vitamin supplement all of a sudden?"
"Oh, right, I'm just worried about a test coming up, and so I figured I'd better prevent my bones from breaking from anxiety..."
Uh-huh. Maybe that theory needs some work still!
Stress fractures without overuse are not normal. You might want to consider getting a a bone-density scan—you may indeed have a calcium deficiency.
ReplyDeleteI have had a stress fracture in my foot once (only broken bone I've ever had). In my case it was from hiking 55 miles in 30 hours in a new pair of boots that turned out to have essentially no padding or support. So it was definitely an overuse injury.