As running season has kicked into full speed, there have been more running related injuries coming into the clinic. To be an efficient clinician, it is important to determine whether the pain is coming from injury to bone or another soft tissue. In this blog post we are going to focus on the 5 most common signs of a bone stress injury.
A previous history of a stress injury
12% of runner patients that have sustained a bone stress injury are likely to sustain a second within the next 2 years.
Aching pain
Pain will begin as a diffuse pain at the site of the injury. As the injury evolves the pain can become slightly sharper with weight bearing activities. It is common for night pain to occur.Pain with weight bearing
Pain will begin as an achiness that increases with weight bearing activities and will progress as the damage worsens. Pain can ultimately cause gait deviations, leading to a limp to avoid weight bearing on the painful side.
Pain with single leg hop
Patients will lack confidence while performing a single leg hop. If the injury has progressed as far as a stress fracture, the patient will be unable to perform the test without a significant increase in pain.
Pain is different than other past injuries
Active runners will come in with a complaint that this pain does not feel like an injury they have had before if this is the first time that they have had this type of injury. It’s important to distinguish between the pain of a muscle strain versus a bony pain.
