AVOIDING STRESS FRACTURES

    As fall sports begin in earnest Dr. Cohen starts to see a fresh round of athletes complaining of lower leg pain.  Often this pain is caused by a stress fracture or stress reaction.  Stress fractures are very common in athletes but they can also be easily avoidable.  These injuries occur when an overused muscle becomes stressed and pulls on the bone at the attachment.  This causes inflammation and possible fractures and can be  painful to athletes while running as well as causing an athlete to miss up to six weeks of play.  These injuries also have the tendency to recur as the underlying cause of the injury is almost never treated.  Stress fractures and stress reactions are often caused by alignment problems in the hip, knee, or foot that put too much pressure on certain muscles causing them to damage bones.  Many times this problem can be fixed with a better shoe or an over the counter shoe insert to support the arches of the foot but more severe problems may require a custom insole to alleviate the pain.  For an up close and personal look at stress fractures with Dr. Cohen visit his youtube account here.