A stress fracture in the foot is very painful but is not immediately detected. A physiotherapist explains to us how to recognize it.
The stress fracture of the foot, also called “stress fracture” or “mechanical stress fracture” concerns “20% of foot fractures“, according to physiotherapist Lucas Nedelec. It is not caused by psychological stress or shock but by over-solicitation. It corresponds to the fracture of a bone following repeated and too intense movements : “The parts of the foot concerned are the metatarsus, calcaneus, navicular and sesamoids” the specialist tells us. This type of fracture mainly affects the sporty people, those who change their physical activity too suddenly, those who run or walk intensively, those who suffer from osteoporosis or wear bad shoes: “It’s a overload on a bone or on a bone structure, it does not have time to adapt to this requested load.” Concretely, when a person modifies their physical activity, or even intensifies it, they will require greater mechanical stress than usual from their bones. The bone which only knows certain constraints will not be able to fulfill its role and microfractures may appear. This type of foot injury begins with microdamage which can lead to a fracture: “Generally we classify this type of injury as three categories : banal, medium and complete fracture” continues our expert.
Symptoms that come too late
The stress fracture is not immediately noticed by the patient, it is necessary wait a few days to feel the first pains: “It’s complicated to realize that you have a stress fracture, the symptoms don’t appear straight away. When you realize that you’re starting to have pain, you’re already in a process of overload .”
“The pain is gradually increasing”
Edema may appear, then foot pain will intensify: “The pain gradually increases as the activity that causes it increases, and does not never fade unlike muscle pain”, explains Lucas Nedelec. “This pain can go so far as to causecessation of activity.” To confirm the diagnosis of stress fracture of the foot, there is three criteria : “The doctor realizes that there has been a change in lifestyle habits. Then a complete palpatory examination with loading of the foot to see if certain constraints trigger the same pain. Finally, a MRI or a CT scan showing the bone structures more precisely will confirm the diagnosis.” explains the expert. However, it may happen that the microfractures are too small and not detectable by the manipulators.
Rehabilitation accompanied by a professional
Several treatments are then possible, sometimes going as far as surgery but this is rare. Most of the time, rehabilitation with a physiotherapist is necessary and must be implemented: “There’s going to be a decrease in activities but not a total stop so that the bone can readjust to the new constraints that we ask of it” explains the physiotherapist. Rehabilitation will help to exercise the foot sufficiently so as not to aggravate the situation: “You have to stress the foot enough to not trigger pain. We can increase the activity gradually by being accompanied by a qualified professional.” To prevent stress fractures in the foot, the physiotherapist advises carrying out the efforts gradually and “do not neglect nutrition and break“.
Thanks to Lucas Nedelec, physiotherapist.