15 Frequent Symptoms of Stress Fracture

A stress fracture can affect anyone but they are most often seen in athletes, members of the armed forces and those in the healthcare field. Most regular fractures are caused by some form of blunt trauma, pressure or even a fall from a moderate height. Stress fractures, on the other hand, are caused by the bone is subjected to repeated actions. This overuse can cause serious injury to the bone over time. Your bones are made to withstand a wide range of movements and activities. As such, your bones are in a constant state of change.

When your bones are placed under pressure, they automatically begin to heal the damage caused by the stress. Bones that are subjected to repeated actions are not afforded enough time to heal properly which can cause a stress fracture. When stress is placed on a bone, the more calcium, the body sends to that area for its repair.

With repetitive actions, the body is unable to send enough calcium which causes cracks to develop in the bone over time. 

1. Night Aches 

Stress fractures are hard to notice in most patients because they occur over time as opposed to in a single traumatic incident. Stress fractures are caused by repeated actions such as playing tennis or working in warehouse lifting boxes. Stress fractures cause several small cracks in the bone that can become painful over time.

While working in manual labor will leave you sore, rest and pain relievers should resolve the issues. The same goes for those who are playing professional sports. Intense training will leave your body well worked and sore, but rest and therapy will heal the damage.

When you suffer from chronic pain and night aches that don’t go away even with rest or therapy, it is presumably because your pain is a result of a stress fracture. Pain and aches that last nightly for more than two weeks should be x-rayed to rule out stress fractures or other ailments.