In many sports, the foot can take quite a beating, and over time, this can lead to a stress fracture. The navicular, a bone in the foot that sits atop the heel bone, can be vulnerable to stress fracture, and this injury is rather common among athletes who do a lot of jumping and running.
Sports that particularly increase the risk of navicular stress fracture include track and field, ballet, football, basketball, rugby and gymnastics. Common symptoms of the injury include swelling in the midfoot and pain that may last for months. This pain may fade away with rest, but tends to return when you resume activity. In addition, pressing on the so-called “N spot” between the foot’s arch and the heel on the bottom of the foot causes tenderness if a navicular stress fracture is present.
If you think you might have a navicular stress fracture, you should consult a medical injury specialist as soon as possible. That’s because letting this injury go untreated can cause long-term foot pain; early treatment is crucial. The specialist may use a bone scan or magnetic resonance image (MRI) to look at your bone and see whether it has the tiny cracks characteristic of a stress fracture.
If you do have a stress fracture, you likely will need a cast for at least six weeks, or until the tenderness in your foot is gone. Your sports medicine specialist might recommend physical therapy and rehabilitation and strengthening exercises to strengthen the foot and regain range-of-motion.
To prevent a recurrence of your navicular stress fracture (or to prevent it in the first place), make sure your equipment and footwear fit properly, and increase training and mileage gradually. Shock-absorbing inserts for your shoes can also protect the bones of your foot from the stress of your own body weight.
