With age, the human body becomes weaker. Exercise in large volumes can cause serious consequences, one of which is a fatigue fracture. Most often, these types of fractures are found in athletes. Due to intense stress and heavy loads, the body begins to get tired, and if you do not give proper rest in a timely manner, then microscopic cracks can form on the bones, which in medicine are called stress or fatigue fractures.
Microcrack healing
Bones tend to regenerate. But when microtraumas are repeated regularly, bone tissue does not have time to grow together, which subsequently causes a fatigue fracture. In more cases, this type of fracture occurs in the bones, which have a large load. In rare cases, it is observed on the sacrum and hip bones.
Fracture self-diagnosis
People whose activities are associated with high physical exertion often injure limbs. It is not difficult to determine whether this is a sprain or a fracture, but it is worth knowing how to do it correctly, because a correctly diagnosed timely diagnosis causes a fast bone growth.
The main symptoms of a bone fracture
- Strong pain.
- The appearance of puffiness in the damaged area.
- Limb mobility worsens.
- In some cases, you can hear a crunch when pressing on the damaged area.
In the event of a fracture, seek medical attention immediately. With stress fractures, it is more difficult to diagnose yourself, because bone integrity is only partially violated. In more cases, self-diagnosis is not possible.
Causes
Any tissue of the human body is able to regenerate, but this requires a certain period of time. But since a greater number of athletes are accustomed to overloads, and for them this is the norm, respectively, they try to ignore minor injuries (in their opinion). Constant overloads are accompanied by microtraumas that do not have time to heal, and subsequently fatigue fractures appear.
Most at risk:
- gymnasts;
- Tennis players
- dancers;
- runners.
Often, beginners and professional athletes with extensive experience face such fractures. In the first case, due to the overestimation of their physical capabilities, in the second - frequent competitions, a large number of trainings and lack of time to relax.
Experienced trainers do not allow athletes to overload the body, realizing that training should alternate with a good rest. But properly organized training is not a guarantee of safety. Often the injury occurs due to improperly selected shoes or poor coverage on the training ground.
Another fatigue fracture of the foot may be the result of weakening of bone tissue. Often this is manifested as a consequence of other diseases, taking a large number of drugs for a long time, among professional athletes - as a side effect of large loads.
Symptoms
Fatigue fracture of the metatarsal bone in the developmental stage is difficult to determine even with fluoroscopy, because damage occurs first in the inside of the bone tissue. The surface of the bone remains unchanged. In order to detect the presence of a fracture, it takes 4-5 weeks. You can determine the resulting injury by the appropriate symptoms:
- sharp pain when clicking on the foot;
- hematoma in the area of damage;
- pain when trying to step on a limb;
- swelling.
Complications
At the initial stage, the symptoms of the injury are mild, but if timely treatment is not started, then the signs begin to manifest rapidly. For this reason, it is very important to start treatment when the symptoms are still mild and therapy will take a short time. At the first manifestations of the symptoms of a metatarsal fatigue fracture, it is necessary to undergo a diagnosis to make a correct diagnosis and to avoid complications, which include:
- The musculo-ligamentous complex of the foot weakens.
- The vaults are flattened.
- Depreciation properties are reduced.
These complications cause an increase in the load on the spine and other parts of the musculoskeletal system.
Diagnostics
At the initial stage of development, the marching fatigue fracture is difficult to determine even by x-ray. Bone callus begins to form only two weeks after injury, respectively, then you can see the injury in the picture. In a large number of cases, patients do not remember the day when pain appeared in the damaged area.
The most difficult thing is to identify a new fracture in the hip area. For accurate diagnosis, it is necessary to do an x-ray in different projections. For a more accurate diagnosis, MRI and scintigraphy are recommended.
You can also do a test to make the correct diagnosis. Pain during compression of the muscles of the hip joint indicates a fatigue fracture of the femur or neck. The presence of pain in the knee and hip joint when bending the leg may indicate a fracture in the sacral bone.
Treatment
The main way to treat a fatigue fracture is to rest and rest the damaged bone. If the symptoms that accompany this diagnosis are ignored, then there is a high probability of receiving a more serious injury.
When the first symptoms appear, the following measures must be taken:
- provide absolute rest of the damaged limb;
- make compresses with ice.
After specialists have diagnosed a fatigue fracture, treatment can be of 2 types: surgical or conservative. With traditional therapy, it is prescribed:
- Rest for the injured limb, respectively, you need to fix it in a stationary position until the crack heals.
- If doctors are allowed to walk, then you need to use orthopedic shoes or insoles, which significantly reduce the load on the damaged bone.
- With a large crack, a plaster cast is established.
- Doctors often prescribe painkillers.
If surgical intervention is necessary, then during the operation, spokes or plates are installed to fix the damaged area.
During the rehabilitation period, the patient is prescribed drugs with anti-inflammatory and healing effects, exercise therapy, physiotherapy, compresses and ointments with a warming effect. You can return to physical activity only after recovery. Their number per limb in the first days should be minimal and should be supervised by a specialist.
Preventative measures
In order to avoid the appearance of fatigue and other fractures, you always need to follow safety measures, correctly plan the loads, workouts and their duration. The main thing in the prevention of fatigue fracture is the constant monitoring of the amount of stress, especially when a person begins to engage in a new sport. For example, if this is a run, then you should start from a distance of not more than 1 kilometer per day, then you can increase it to 3-5 km.
If we are talking about professional athletes, then in more cases, their training should be combined and contain several different exercises. In this case, it is recommended to alternate the load, which is aimed at strengthening certain muscles. For example, on the first day of running, and the next can be replaced by cycling. Strength training is well combined with exercises aimed at developing flexibility, such as yoga.
The appearance of a fatigue fracture is also greatly influenced by clothing. For this reason, experts strongly recommend buying quality items and shoes for sports. You should also always have in stock elastic bandages and other useful items that can come in handy if your limbs are damaged.
If during training or other power loads there was pain in the limbs or swelling, then it is necessary to immediately stop the load. Contact a traumatologist for diagnosis. If a fatigue fracture has not been identified, then the training should nevertheless be postponed for 14 days, since a crack may not always be immediately detected. Then it is recommended to undergo a re-examination and only after that return to training, physical activity.