Although the term fracture is included in the definition of stress fracture, it is not a real fracture. During the foot's load bearing, each region has a certain function in accordance with the anatomical structure. Each region carries a certain amount of load during certain phases of walking. In cases where the foot is stressed beyond its anatomical characteristics (walking with the wrong shoes, doing sports with the wrong shoes, excessive walking, excessive sporting activity, foot deformities), excessive load on the wrong places causes the bone to remain under pressure. The increase in pressure causes the bone marrow to develop an edema response in long bones with a cylindrical structure (comb bones and tibia). Developing edema increases the pressure inside the bone, and this pressure is perceived as pain by the patient.
Treatment:
The most important treatment parameter in stress fractures is to eliminate the factor that causes the person's stress load. Use of correct shoes, stopping excessive sports activities, and using insoles to correct foot deformity or incorrect load distribution are among the important precautions. However, when faced with a stress fracture, the most important parameter in the first stage of treatment is to rest the foot. An attempt is made to reduce the patient's intrabony pressure caused by incorrect weight-bearing, first by giving no weight-bearing for about 3 weeks, and then partial weight-bearing for about 3-6 weeks. With physical therapy and rehabilitation during this period, efforts are made to keep the muscle strength of the foot normal and to reduce edema in the foot. MRI is a very effective method when diagnosing a stress fracture, and MRIs taken to follow the healing of a stress fracture will also be an important parameter.
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