What Is the Fastest Way to Heal a Stress Fracture? 5 Proven Strategies for Recovery
Key takeaways:
A stress fracture is a small break in a bone that develops over time due to repeated stress. Pain, swelling, and tenderness in the affected bone are common symptoms.
Stress fractures occur most often in the bones of the foot and lower leg. These injuries result from high-impact activities like running and jumping, especially when done on hard surfaces.
Resting from the aggravating activities, getting rehabilitation, and focusing on proper nutrition are the best ways to heal a stress fracture quickly.
A fracture, or broken bone, is a serious injury. But what about a stress fracture? A stress fracture is a small break in a bone caused by repeated stress. While “regular” fractures develop from significant injuries, stress fractures develop slowly over time.
A stress fracture most often occurs in the weight-bearing bones of your foot and leg. This results in pain, swelling, and tenderness around the affected bone. Stress fractures can limit your daily activities and ability to exercise and play sports, but many can recover with at-home treatment.
Learn more about stress fractures, including causes, symptoms, and how to heal a stress fracture.
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Quiz: Do I have a stress fracture?
What’s the fastest way to heal a stress fracture?
A combination of different factors can help a stress fracture heal. This involves avoiding additional stress on your bone, managing pain, and taking care of your body to promote healing. Extra treatments, like electrical stimulation or ultrasound, aren’t proven to help with or speed up recovery.
But not all stress fractures heal in the same time frame. The location and severity of your stress fracture will help your primary care provider determine the best care plan for your healing. In the meantime, here are five proven strategies that you can focus on to help support your healing.
1. Rest
To heal a stress fracture, it’s important to rest from aggravating activities. Stress fractures develop from repeated stress on a bone, causing it to break down. Rest allows new bone growth to keep up with the stress. So, stepping back from the aggravating exercise or activity is important. Avoid any activities that cause pain.
Some stress fractures are at greater risk of progressing to a full break or nonunion (failure to heal). In these situations, you’ll need to avoid putting any weight on your affected bone. Using crutches or another assistive device can help you get around until it heals.
2. Ice
Applying ice for 15 minutes at a time to the area can help calm down inflammation and pain. This can help manage your symptoms as your stress fracture heals. Be sure to put a cloth or towel between your skin and the ice to prevent cold injury to your skin.
3. Pain medication
A short course (7 to 10 days) of over-the-counter (OTC) medication can help manage your symptoms during your recovery from a stress fracture. These include medications like acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or naproxen.
Runners are at higher risk for stress fractures. There are many other injuries to know about as well. Learn about these common running injuries.
Shin splints or a tibial stress fracture? The symptoms can be similar. Here’s what you need to know about shin splints, or medial tibial stress syndrome.
A stress fracture can progress to a full fracture. Here, three people describe what breaking a bone feels like.
It’s important to note that medication should only be used to help with initial symptoms. Don’t take it to mask your pain during training or a workout.
4. Proper nutrition
Good nutrition is key for making sure that your body has the nutrients it needs to heal properly. Vitamin D and calcium are crucial for proper bone healing, and low levels can increase your risk of stress fractures. If you’re not getting enough calcium or vitamin D through diet and sun exposure, ask a healthcare professional about supplements.
5. Physical therapy
While many stress fractures are due to overtraining, some are also due to biomechanics. In other words, how your body performs your chosen activity might be to blame. A physical therapist can assess your movements and walking pattern to help identify any imbalances or weaknesses.
A physical therapist can also help you modify your workouts during recovery and prepare you to return to exercise gradually. These steps are important as you recover from a stress fracture to prevent further pain or injury.
What does a stress fracture feel like?
A stress fracture often feels like a dull, achy pain in your affected bone. The bone is typically tender to the touch, and there may also be swelling around the area. At first, the pain from a stress fracture gets worse with physical activity that stresses the bone. Over time, the stress fracture can get worse, causing pain during walking or even at rest.
What causes a stress fracture?
Repeated stress to bone can cause stress fractures over time. This occurs when bone breaks down at a faster rate than it can rebuild. This mismatch between bone breakdown and new bone formation leads to bone damage. This damage can lead to a fracture if the stress to the bone is not stopped. This typically happens through overtraining without enough rest.
How do healthcare professionals diagnose stress fractures?
Healthcare professionals can usually diagnose a stress fracture based on your symptoms and a physical examination. Imaging tests are also helpful. While X-rays don’t show stress fractures for at least the first few weeks, an MRI is much more sensitive for detecting this type of injury.
Frequently asked questions
Women are at greater risk for stress fractures than men. Repeated high-impact activities, like running and jumping — especially on hard surfaces — also increase the risk of this injury. Examples include runners, track and field athletes, dancers, gymnasts, and military trainees.
Additional risk factors include:
A history of stress fractures
Low BMI
Decreased bone density
Low calorie intake
Most stress fractures can fully heal with adequate rest. The healing time depends on the location and type of bone, as well as the amount of weight the bone bears. Some stress fractures may require surgery to fully heal.
You usually know when a stress fracture is healed when your pain goes away and you can resume physical activities without symptoms. Sometimes repeated imaging, like another X-ray or MRI, is helpful if your symptoms don’t improve with treatment or get worse.
Yes. Stress fractures can result in delayed healing, chronic injury, nonunion, and bigger breaks in your bone if enough rest isn’t taken. Complete fractures require much more involved treatment, including wearing a cast or undergoing surgery, and usually you’ll have to rest for even longer.
The bottom line
Stress fractures are small breaks in bone that occur from repeated stress. They most often affect the bones of your foot or lower leg due to high-impact activities like running and jumping, especially on hard surfaces. The fastest path to healing involves resting from aggravating activities and following any instructions regarding weight bearing. Applying ice, taking over-the-counter (OTC) medication, maintaining proper nutrition, and seeing a physical therapist can also help with recovery.
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References
Aicale, R., et al. (2018). Overuse injuries in sport: A comprehensive overview. Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research.
Costa, T. M. R. I., et al. (2022). Stress fractures. Archives of Endocrinology and Metabolism.
Knechtle, B., et al. (2021). Vitamin D and stress fractures in sport: Preventive and therapeutic measures—a narrative review. Medicina.
McInnis, K. C., et al. (2016). High-risk stress fractures: Diagnosis and management. The Journal of Injury, Function, and Rehabilitation.
Warden, S. J., et al. (2021). Preventing bone stress injuries in runners with optimal workload. Current Osteoporosis Reports.
