Stress fractures are serious problems that need to be addressed before an athlete can attempt running. These thin cracks in your bone tissue that develop under repeated hard impacts and strain. Since you can usually still walk or even run with these small splits, you may not seek treatment like you would for other sports injuries. You shouldn’t, however, attempt running through a foot or leg injury that persists or becomes more painful. Repetitive hard footfalls will put pressure on the crack, stressing and weakening it. Eventually you risk a more serious injury or a complete fracture of the bone.
As much as runners hate to hear this, the only way to truly recover and be able to run without pain—or risk a full fracture—is to take a break and invest in healing your foot. If you catch the injury early, you may only need a few weeks off to allow the bone to heal. If you continue to exercise and allow the fracture to progress, though, you’ll find it takes much longer.
If resting fails to alleviate the pain, you may need to wear a special walking boot or a cast to avoid putting too much pressure on the cracked bone while it recovers. You should also ice the area to combat inflammation and swelling. When your foot has healed to a certain point, you’ll be able to begin cross-training activities to ease back into exercise. Swimming, water aerobics, and other low-impact cardio are great for keeping you in shape and bringing your feet back into action. Once you have no pain and our staff has cleared your return to running, you can begin slowly working your way back to your regular routine.
It is very important to address the underlying biomechanical imbalance that caused the fracture. Custom orthotics address this issue and provide needed shock-absorption while running or participating in sports. If you think you are suffering from a stress fracture, contact Country Foot Care to make an appointment with one of our skilled and caring doctors. Appointments can be made online using the MAKE AN APPOINTMENT button at the top of this page or by calling our offices directly.