Stress fractures take 6-12 weeks to heal **unless you have an underlying disease such as myself..(osteoporosis) my fractures would get better then they would return as soon as I was allowed to walk without a cast.
if you stop doing what caused the stress fracture. Foot stress fractures are often from repetitive high impact activities (running, jumping, kicking). They can be turn into real fractures if you don't stop the aggravating activity. They also can return, and they are easily misdiagnosed as the stress fracture doesn't show up on X-rays **correct it had to be a detailed scan with nuclear medicine for mine to show
until 4-5 weeks later usually. Any number of things can cause a leg to externally rotate (turn out) though - a stiff ankle being a big culprit, and hip pathology a distant second behind that. A fracture can heal, but that doesn't mean someone couldn't be left with stiffness or weakness 8 months later if they didn't properly rehab it. *again I agree, I have terrible pain therefore I walk different and have been told I will never be the same even with surgery.
People I see usually have no idea they are still walking with a foot turned out months later, it becomes their new normal.