Surgery for these fractures usually involves placing a screw inside the bone. The most common metatarsal stress fracture for which surgery is recommended is one at a specific location on the fifth metatarsal, which is the metatarsal toward the outside of the foot. Depending on the location, though, some fractures might require surgical treatment. Avoiding the offending activity, protecting the foot with a boot or protective shoe, and possibly decreasing the patient’s weight-bearing status usually helps the fracture to heal without surgery. The treatment of a metatarsal stress fracture is most often nonoperative. Treatment of a metatarsal stress fracture Several weeks later the physician would repeat the x-rays and determine if a stress fracture is present at that point. He or she might also choose to wait for several weeks and restrict the athlete’s activities. If the physician is fairly concerned about the possibility of a stress fracture, he or she may order a bone scan or MRI. Early on in the process, even if the stress fracture is present, an x-ray can be negative. There may be some swelling at this location, but often the foot looks normal. As it gets even more serious, progressing to a stress fracture, activities of daily living, such as walking, become painful.Įxamination of the injured foot by a sports medicine physician usually reveals a very specific point of tenderness at the stress fracture site. As the problem gets worse, the pain often starts earlier and earlier in the training session, and often the pain will continue despite rest from the activity. Often the athlete will say that the pain comes on after a certain amount of time and goes away with rest. He or she will usually note pain that has been increasing as training or competition has increased. Usually the athlete will not remember a specific injury that initiated the symptoms. Stress fractures are painful injuries to runners and dancers, and they significantly limit the athlete’s ability to participate in those sports. They are prone to overuse injuries, especially in running sports and dancing. If you are experiencing pain in your forefoot give us a call at 40 or schedule an appointment online.The metatarsals are the long bones in the middle of the foot. Our examination involves orthopedic, muscle length, functional tests and gait analysis to determine the cause of your metatarsalgia or metatarsal stress fracture pain. The doctors have treated many cases of foot pain in runners and non runners alike. Behm Muscle & Joint Clinic – Treating running injuries since 2015īehm Muscle & Joint Clinic is a chiropractic, rehabilitation and soft tissue clinic located in Bellevue, NE. Active individuals who enjoy participating in higher impact activities should maintain adequate vitamin D levels to reduce their risk of stress fractures. Vitamin D plays a crucial role in bone health. ![]() The toe flexors help to prevent excessive stress onto the metatarsal bones when running and help to distribute forces through the foot. ![]() Metatarsals are also more prone to injury with weakness of the toe muscles. Tight calf causing metatarsal stress fractures Individuals with tight calves are 4.6x more likely to fracture their metatarsals than a more flexible calf. The image on the right shows a normal flexible calf and normal stress through the forefoot. Take a look at the photo below, the image on the left shows a tight calf and premature heel lift causing high stress to the metatarsal bones into the ground. Several factors play an important role in increasing your risk of developing forefoot pain and metatarsal stress fractures.Ī tight calf while running will cause the heel to lift early driving the forefoot into the ground with excessive force. Metatarsalgia is more common in the second and third metatarsal bones and the third and forth are more common sites for stress fractures. X-rays for stress fractures within the first week of injury often times are useless as the early stages are too faint to detect. Distinguishing between the two if you are experiencing pain in the forefoot can be difficult. Given the excessive forces put through the front of the foot (up to 7x the body weight) during running the metatarsals are a common site of injury. Metatarsalgia and metatarsal stress fractures in running They are the second most common type of stress fracture just second the tibial stress fractures. Metatarsal stress fractures occur when the metatarsal bones fracture. Metatarsalgia is a condition in which the ball of your foot becomes painful and inflamed due to the bruising of the bones themselves. Metatarsal injuries are common in activities that involve running and jumping. ![]() ![]() Metatarsalgia and Metatarsal stress fractures
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