FATIGUE FRACTURES IN TRACK ATHLETES

Pain in a foot or in the lower leg, not related to specific injury, in a track athlete who does a great deal of running, is the first symptom of fatigue fracture. X-ray films taken at the time pain begins may show no abnormality. Films taken a month or more later may show formation of callus, and perhaps a fracture line, at the point of pain. Usually no treatment beyond cessation of running for two months or more is needed. Since the incidence is highest in middle-distance runners who train intensively—quartermilers in particular—and may be related to the hardness of the running track, limiting running to alternate days and doing part of it on grass may help in prevention. Images