Maybe you’ve spent the winter months training for an upcoming race or maybe you slipped and twisted your ankle on a patch of black ice. You haven’t quite recovered and can’t pin down what’s wrong. We wanted to outline common causes of stress fractures in runners, so you can address your injury and heal in time for the upcoming warm weather.
Increase in Physical Activity
If you’ve been training harder and more often than usual, your body might have a hard time adjusting. Stress fractures can even occur if you switch up the surface on which you’re running, so be careful not to overdo it on the snow and ice.
Bone Weakness
Bone strength naturally decreases over time. But if you have a condition such as osteoporosis, you’re at an increased risk of getting a stress fracture in your foot or ankle. It’s also important to note that your body produces less Vitamin D in the winter, making stress fractures more common. Women, take special note: as female athlete’s bone mass decreases, her chances of getting a stress fracture increase.
Improper Running Technique
Maybe your running technique isn’t as tightly zipped as it should be. Or maybe you’ve recently developed a blister or pain in another area, which requires you to adjust your form to accommodate it. This may cause you to add extra weight to certain bones, resulting in a stress fracture.
Old Shoes
Those old, beat-up running shoes you just can’t seem to get rid of have probably lost their shock-absorbing abilities by now. You might want to consider investing in a new pair.
Some signs of a stress fracture in your foot or ankle are bruising, tenderness, swelling, intensified pain during day-to-day activities and pain that lessens during rest. If you think you have a stress fracture, call us today! We want to help you get healthy and, on your feet, as soon as possible.
Source: Ortho Info