Update - Received MRI Results (L5 Pars Stress Fracture)

Hello everyone, I’m 27 (M) and am very active (lifting, running, sports). About 5 months ago, I noticed mild to moderate nerve pain in the outer part of my shin after tweaking my back. I went to the doctor who took X Rays which showed that I had minor scoliosis (24 degrees) in my lower back and that I needed to do 6 weeks of PT to recover from my injury, which without an MRI they believed to be a herniated disc. I did the PT, felt decent improvement, and finished it 6 weeks later.

With the PT’s approval, I began reincorporating weight lifting (all machines) back into my workout regimen along with the PT exercises I had been doing. I noticed a plateau in progress over the next month or so. I went to Europe for 10 days in late August which involved an extreme amount of walking (20k steps/day) and hills (75-100 flights/day). Toward the end of the trip I had experienced a “flare up” with my nerve pain in my outer shin and the pain was moderate, but after a few days of resting when I got back it had eased back to a 1-2 out of 10 pain.

I took it easy for the rest of September (8-10k steps/day broken up throughout the day and no lifting), and I’ve seen notable improvement! I was able to get an MRI scheduled for the first week of October because the doctor had said my pain should have ceased by now.

I just received my MRI results and it turns out I actually have an L5 pars stress fracture along with a mild disc bulge in the same area. Hearing the word “stress fracture” really freaked me out considering I thought my condition has been improving. The doctor instructed me to wear a low back brace for the next 8 weeks and then do another circuit of PT after, and then I should be fine.

Has anyone dealt with an L5 pars stress fracture before? Does the back brace work and were you able to make a recovery? Any tips or recommendations? Thank you.