![]() Both the broken bone and any soft- tissue injuries must be treated together. In addition to the broken bone, soft tissues (skin, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, and ligaments) may be injured at the time of the fracture. The proximal tibia is the upper portion of the bone where it widens to help form the knee joint. (Right) Ligaments connect the femur to the tibia and fibula (kneecap not shown).Ī fracture, or break, in the shinbone just below the knee is called a proximal tibia fracture. (Left) The proximal tibia is the upper portion of the bone, closest to the knee. We offer diagnosis and treatment in over 70 specialties and subspecialties, as well as programs, services, and support to help you stay well throughout your lifetime. He was a competitive cross country runner in college at UNC Charlotte.BMC physicians are leaders in their fields with the most advanced medical technology at their fingertips and working alongside a highly skilled nursing and professional staff. Matt Dobler, PA-C, ATC is a Physician Assistant and former athletic trainer with OrthoCarolina Huntersville. Since making these adjustments, I have enjoyed running injury-free. Post college, I worked on modifying my running form and adding in calf and shin muscle strengthening exercises. The stress fracture was in a different spot but was still a result of the same training problem. Most boots are worn for six to eight weeks.Īs you recover, cross-train with non-weight-bearing activities such as swimming and cycling.Ī stress fracture can return if you don’t modify the factors that led to injury in the first place.Īs a heel striker, I suffered a second stress fracture during my junior year. It helps to slow you down, distributes forces among the bone and decreases the likelihood of repeating trauma. However, the bone won’t heal until it’s allowed to rest and recover.Ī walker’s boot is often recommended. Ice and anti-inflammatory medications can help alleviate symptoms. Mix up running surfaces to give your bones rest. Running surface: running on concrete is harder on your bones than running on a soft trail.Wear properly fitted footwear and replace shoes about every 300-500 miles to ensure adequate padding. ![]() As padding wears, your foot absorbs more impact and can increase your risk for stress fractures. Footwear: padding in running shoes protect you from injury, especially if you’re a heel striker.Slowly try to adjust running form to more of a mid-foot strike to reduce impact. Running form: heel strikers have a higher incidence of tibia stress fractures than other runners.Aim to increase your mileage by only ten percent per week. Quickly upping mileage increases your risk for stress fractures. Rapid mileage changes: the body adapts to stresses that are put on it, but a rapid change in stress does not give the body time that it needs to adapt.If the X-ray shows a healing bone, the diagnosis is confirmed. An X-ray may be used during a follow-up exam. At OrthoCarolina, a stress fracture is often primarily diagnosed by the consistent history of pain progression and localized pain found with a physical exam. X-rays are often used to identify stress fractures, but initially, the fracture may not be seen on x-ray. The painful area can typically be pinpointed with one finger. The pain starts as you begin to run and progressively becomes more painful and localized. Metatarsal stress fractures can cause pain even from simple activities like walking. Metatarsal stress fractures – occur in the middle of the foot.Tibia (shin bone) stress fracture – often starts as shin splint pain but with continued running can develop into a stress fracture.The bone will continue to break down until the repetitive motion is stopped, and the bone is allowed time to heal. This repetitive stress leads to tiny cracks in the surface of the bone that cause inflammation and pain. The repetitive motion of running causes the bone cells to begin to break down. Stress fractures are common injuries for runners. ![]() The day after the conference championships, my foot was put into a boot and I wasn’t allowed to run for eight weeks. I could pinpoint the pain, but I continued to run. This pain became more focal in the middle of the shin as the weeks progressed. Halfway through the season, I began to feel a general shin splint pain. Stress fractures typically cause localized pain that you can put your finger on and know exactly where it hurts.Īs a high school runner, I was consistently averaging 50 – 60 miles a week, but as I began my first collegiate running season, my average weekly mileage quickly increased to nearly 90 miles a week.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |