Stress fracture or Stress reaction

[lukeman89]

i had an MRI of my leg done and i have gotten conflicting opinions from a radiologist and an orthopedic surgeon.  one thinks it is a stress fracture, while the other believes it is a stress reaction.  A stress fracture means no running for 6 weeks, and a stress reaction means no running for 3 weeks.  Heres the mri of my leg that shows the white line down part of my fibia.
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/2746/stress5sf0.png

the ortho did a tuning fork test which came back negative, and also had me jump on the injured leg which also resulted in no pain. he cleared me to do a few light miles on the grass today which i did and was completely pain free.  Afterwards, my mother told me that a radiologist at where she works believes it is a stress fracture.  


what are your thoughts on what this could be?

[hanaguchi]

That MRI looks nearly identical to the one I had. I had a stress fracture (not sure what stress reaction is) from playing too much squash. I initially took 3 weeks off and started playing again but it hadn't healed. The second time I took 6 weeks off and it healed completely. It was really important to stretch to maintain flexibility. The good news about stress fractures is they heal perfectly and you will be back exercising pain free.
Good luck

[jessica38]

given that the orthopedic surgeon thought that it was a stress fracture as well as the 2nd radiologist, I'm guessing that it's most likely a stress fracture. if you're still unsure, you could always get a 2nd opinion from another doctor.