Do you have a stress fracture?

How to know if you might have a stress fracture and a guide to when you need to see a health care practitioner and potentially imaging.

1. What is a stress fracture? First off, stress fractures are the flashy words for big overuse injuries of our bones. When a bone is loaded too much by repetitive activity, particularly impact activity like running and jumping, it can start to break down and weaken. If this is pushed far enough and the bone can’t keep up then the bone can start to break down to the point of breaking. This is known as a bone stress injury and if it reaches the point where the bone is cracked then it’s classed a stress fracture. We have a much more thorough blog on what stress fractures are and why it’s so important not to miss them here if you’d like to learn more.
   

2. The cardinal signs of a stress fracture Any combination of two or more of the above is enough for you to strongly consider a stress fracture. The reasons this is only two out of the three are the following: Generally (this is not always the case), it’s more likely to be a more severe injury if the pain is: However, early stress fractures (know as bone stress injuries) that are less severe the pain can be:
   

3. Pain over a bone

4. Pain at rest or at night

5. Pain greatest on impact loading

6. Common locations Common locations for stress fractures: These are the areas we most commonly see stress fractures of the lower body in any sport but particularly in runners, military personnel, basketball players, dancers and footballers.
   

• Inside of the shin

• Forefoot

• Mid foot

• Heel bone

1. Must check locations Urgent / high risk locations for stress fracture, where any suspicion of a stress fracture in any of the following areas needs to checked by a healthcare practitioner immediately! Again ANY of the cardinal signs or pain in these areas should be immediately checked by a health practitioner!
   

• Front of the shin

• Inside ankle bone

• Inside top of the arch

• Outside knobbly part of the midfoot

• The hip bone (this can feel like a tight groin or even sometimes thigh muscle soreness)

• Any runner, dancer or basketball player with groin pain needs to be treated with a high degree of suspicion for a stress fracture

• Under the big toe
  

1. Why you can’t mess around with stress fractures
   

2. Stress fractures are one of the most significant injuries you can get. They take twice as long to recover from as a normal, traumatic fracture! They also tend to have worse outcomes, with of the high risk injuries requiring surgery, having extensive complications, leading to chronic pain and failure to return to sport. This is just not ok! Missing a stress fracture when it’s small or early on (a bone stress injury not a stress fracture yet) can mean you quickly end up with a much bigger injury with a much longer recovery. In the worst cases a stress fracture can lead to the entire bone snapping, failed healing or dangerous location that requires surgery and/or prolonged time on crutches or a moon boot. Catching these injuries before they become a big deal means you can get back to what you love quicker and you can avoid potentially requiring months off your feet or needing surgery. This is why it’s EXTREMELY important to have any injury that can possibly be a stress fracture checked!

This blog is intended to give you some ideas for seeking care, it is not intended for diagnosis and should not be used as medical advice. If you require medical attention please