Help: Stress Fracture in Rugby Player

[Guest guest]

I have been asked to post this on this site by a friend. I think he is quite

desperate:

<Will it be possible for you to maybe help me?

I'm a rugby player. I'm 1.98m tall and weigh 105kg. The last 3 years I

suffered a stress fracture in my left tibia, according to Dr Cohen of

the Sports Science Institute.

The injury happened in a game. I was running and suddenly it just got very

sore when I ran. I left the field and went for a MRI after that. I sat out

of rugby for about 4 months and did very little other exercise other than

diving. I started playing rugby again in February this year and got fit

again and started playing some good rugby. After 10 games I were driving a

long road when suddenly the familiar pain was back in my calf. I didn't play

rugby for 6 weeks and it was better when I started again. I finished all the

games this year with very little discomfort. I then started to play squash

again and indoor soccer. I do all this with my inserts in my trainers. I was

trying to lose weight to get down to about 100 kg since that is when I'm at

my fastest and most mobile. Then I got that old pain back again.

I will have to probably sit out again to allow it to heal or what can I do?

I have recently started to take a calcium supplement that contains 600mg,

once a day. All I'm doing to try and keep fit now is swimming with flippers

on 3 times a week and riding a stationary bike and rowing and weight like

bench and free weights.

How can I sort out this problem once and for all? I'm tired of working hard

to improve my game and then when I get better I get injured again.

PS. I'm the primary jumper in the lineout. We practice lineouts in the week

and on Saturdays I also jump. I try to land mostly on my right leg.

Any pointers that you can give will be appreciated very much.>

Regards,

Grant

Strength and Rehabilitation Consultant

B.Sc. (Hons) Ex. Sci.

M.A.A.E.S.S., M.A.S.C.A.

PHYSIOKINETICS

Gold Coast, Australia

(+61) 409 625 263

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[Guest guest]

My advice for stress fractures, is first to make sure of the diagnosis, which

seems to have been done. Get a good biomechanical analysis, and check for things

such as pelvic alignment, patellar tracking etc. Third, and most to the point,

begin a program of running barefoot, start on soft grass and doing easy strides

and gradually work your way up. Why? because most of us have neglected the

ability to use our feet correctly in absorbing shock, barefoot running

re-establishes that. You can do a search under barefoot running if you like or

here is an article to start with:

http://www.sportsci.org/jour/0103/mw.htm

Randy Dixon

Harlingen, Texas USA

PS. I'm the primary jumper in the lineout. We practice lineouts in the week

and on Saturdays I also jump. I try to land mostly on my right leg.

Any pointers that you can give will be appreciated very much.>

Regards,

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/16/2004 4:14:45 AM Central Standard Time,

wolvhund@... writes:

Third, and most to the point, begin a program of running barefoot, start on

soft grass and doing easy strides and gradually work your way up. Why?

because most of us have neglected the ability to use our feet correctly in

absorbing shock, barefoot running re-establishes that. :

To ST Members:

Excellent observation. That was certainly on the minds of Toby Hatfield and

Avarmind when they designed a new training shoe called the Nike FREE.

A recent article on the shoe noted the following:

But today's forward thinking, discussed in research centers across the

world--and in the bars at big races where running geeks congregate--is that

maybe,

just maybe, supination and pronation are natural, and that shoes should be

designed to work in tandem with the feet, not to replace the feet.

Regards,

Ken Jakalski

Lisle High School

Lisle, Illinois

[Guest guest]

Couple of things come to mind:

what position? If you jump, then you probably play lock: which side,

if you play left side, then you're prob driving more w/the left leg--

causing excess tightness in the gastroc/soleus complex? What type of

boots do you wear? Are the studs consistent with how you need them?

What surfaces were you playing on when the soreness occured: hard

ground, or long grass?

You might want to have a gait assessment to ID any potential

imbalances in the left ankle/foot complex. Without watching you

move, it'd be hard to determine what is happening. The other issue

might be a leg length difference, if the left is a little shorter, it

will be going into plantar flexion to try to keep up with the right,

especially when pushing in the scrum.

But I'm just a front row player, what do I know?

Pete McCall, CSCS

Washington DC

USA

(we're sorry, we didn't want him back!)

>

> I have been asked to post this on this site by a friend. I think he

is quite desperate:

>

> <Will it be possible for you to maybe help me?

>

> I'm a rugby player. I'm 1.98m tall and weigh 105kg. The last 3

years I

> suffered a stress fracture in my left tibia, according to Dr

Cohen of

> the Sports Science Institute.

>

> The injury happened in a game. I was running and suddenly it just

got very

> sore when I ran. I left the field and went for a MRI after that. I

sat out

> of rugby for about 4 months and did very little other exercise

other than

> diving. I started playing rugby again in February this year and got

fit

> again and started playing some good rugby. After 10 games I were

driving a

> long road when suddenly the familiar pain was back in my calf. I

didn't play

> rugby for 6 weeks and it was better when I started again. I

finished all the

> games this year with very little discomfort. I then started to play

squash

> again and indoor soccer. I do all this with my inserts in my

trainers. I was

> trying to lose weight to get down to about 100 kg since that is

when I'm at

> my fastest and most mobile. Then I got that old pain back again.

>

> I will have to probably sit out again to allow it to heal or what

can I do?

> I have recently started to take a calcium supplement that contains

600mg,

> once a day. All I'm doing to try and keep fit now is swimming with

flippers

> on 3 times a week and riding a stationary bike and rowing and

weight like

> bench and free weights.

>

> How can I sort out this problem once and for all? I'm tired of

working hard

> to improve my game and then when I get better I get injured again.

>

> PS. I'm the primary jumper in the lineout. We practice lineouts in

the week

> and on Saturdays I also jump. I try to land mostly on my right leg.

>

> Any pointers that you can give will be appreciated very much.>

>

> Regards,

>

> Grant

> Strength and Rehabilitation Consultant

> B.Sc. (Hons) Ex. Sci.

> M.A.A.E.S.S., M.A.S.C.A.

>

> PHYSIOKINETICS

> Gold Coast, Australia

> (+61) 409 625 263

>

> NOTE

> 1. The contents of this email and any attachments are confidential

and privileged. Any unauthorised use of the contents is expressly

prohibited. If

> you receive this email in error, please contact the sender and then

delete the email.

> 2. Before opening or using any attachments, please check them for

viruses and defects. The sender does not accept any liability for any

damage caused by such viruses and/or defects. Please notify the

sender of any virus and/or

> defect should you discover same.

> 3. This email is also subject to copyright. No part of it should be

reproduced, adapted or communicated without the written consent of the

> copyright owner. Any personal information in this email must be

handled in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

>

>

> --

> ___________________________________________________________

> Sign-up for Ads Free at Mail.com

> http://promo.mail.com/adsfreejump.htm