Positive stress fracture on x-ray but MRI came back negative.
X-ray showed a tibial stress fracture, but MRI was completely negative — has anyone experienced this?
I’m an female ultrarunner and I’ve been having pain in my tibia on and off since March 2025. Sometimes it’s just an aching pain, but at times I’ve had quite sharp, localized pain in the shin. I’ve also noticed a small, palpable bump on the tibia in the painful area.
Recently, I had an X-ray because of the persistent symptoms. The radiologist’s report described a subtle horizontal radiolucent line reaching the cortex on the anterior side of the tibia, which was interpreted as being consistent with a stress fracture.
However, I subsequently had an MRI, and the MRI did not show a stress fracture or any other abnormality in the tibia.
I’ve now seen an orthopedist, who told me that there is nothing wrong with the tibia and that I can run again.
I’m confused because I’ve had quite localized pain for a long time, there is still a small bump that I can feel, and the X-ray appeared to show a fracture line, while the MRI was completely negative.
Has anyone else had an X-ray that looked positive for a tibial stress fracture but a negative MRI? Could the finding on the X-ray have been an old/healed fracture line or something else that mimicked a stress fracture?
I’d really appreciate hearing from other runners, especially ultrarunners, who have experienced something similar.