Preventing Stress Fractures

[Dawsy]

Hi all,
I've recently been diagnosed with a distal fibula stress fracture. It's my own fault for letting my minimal wearing and mileage creep up.
I was wondering though, are there any exercises you can recommend for preventing this type of injury?
When I get back to fighting fit again I want to ensure that I learn from this experience and take measures to prevent it happening again.
Thanks!

 

[Dr Emily Splichal]

Hi Dawsy - Sorry to hear you stress fractured your fibula - never fun. One of THE most important programs I put all my patients on who are runners - and emphasize in my barefoot programming is eccentric training!

Eccentric contractions is exactly how our body helps dissipate ground reaction forces. Most injuries in the foot and ankle are a result of overuse/repetitive ground reaction forces.

Some of my favorite eccentric exercises are:
1. reverse heel raises (so you focus on lowering the heel down) - as you get stronger add resistance and repetitions
2. walking backward on a treadmill - if you can get the treadmill to decline then you can actually drop the heel lower and get more eccentric stretch - as you get stronger increase the speed or add resistance
3. jumping rope is an awesome way to build eccentric strength in the foot and ankle

In addition to eccentric exercises you will want to strengthen the intrinsic or small muscles on the bottom of the foot. They play a key role in absorbing shock! I like the short foot exercise (google it!) and standing barefoot balance exercises.

Quick recovery! See if your Doc can get you a bone stimulator if you do not have one - and I'd take Vit D3 and K2 to speed things up as well

 

[Dawsy]

Thanks, Doc, those are some great exercises. I never thought of walking backwards on a treadmill! Once I get this boot off, and get back into some semblance of shape again, I'll give these a go. I'll also look into getting my hands on a bone stimulator.

I really appreciate the quick reply, thanks again!

Dawsy

 

[Dr Emily Splichal]

You are so welcome!