Old stress fracture causing pain?!


Question: Old stress fracture causing pain?
My girlfriend does ballet and she got a stress fracture in her third metatarsal about 3 years ago, which went untreated (and unnoticed) for about 6 months, since she assumed that it was cramp. It was caused by a broken pointe shoe, which meant that when she went en pointe, she was putting all her weight on the middle of her metatarsal (for about 3 hours at a time).

She has since continued to dance on the injured foot without treatment. There was no swelling and the pain was manageable with strong painkillers. Before Christmas, she was weaned off the painkillers and she was fine without them.

The other day, she was sitting on a kitchen cabinet, with her feet about 30cm from the ground. When she jumped down, she complained off a strong shooting pain up her leg, radiating from the middle of her foot (only on the injured side). She said that it felt like she had jumped off a much higher structure, perhaps 2m tall. The pain went after about 30 minutes to an hour. Apparently, this happens now every time she gets down from that height (eg when sitting on the edge of a stage, sitting on a high stool, etc). She doesn't intend to stop dancing unless absolutely necessary.

Has the bone re-fractured? Is it ok to leave it and let it heal on its own or will it require medical intervention?

Answers:

Go get it checked out. Fractures can cause permanent damage to dancers if left untreated. They're going to get fractures, especially ballerinas, but when left unchecked they can cause permanent damage. What's better three weeks not dancing now and the rest of her career dancing or dancing for another couple of years before her foot is too ruined to dance? With proper training and treatment, you can even dance on a fractured toe. Recuperation often involves physical therapy so it's better to do it now rather than later




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