Once a tibial stress injury is diagnosed, the physician will order a major reduction in running frequency and mileage. In the case of a stress fracture, running must stop entirely for 4 weeks to six months, depending on the extent of the fracture. Like other overuse injuries, a stress fracture results from repetitive stresses rather than from a single traumatic event. Stress fractures usually develop over time and the runner is unaware of a specific moment of injury. If left untreated, a crack in the cortex can develop into a full fracture of the bone.
Stress fractures exhibit a variety of symptoms that are common to other injuries as well.
According to Ellerbusch, around 15 percent of all overuse injuries experienced by runners are stress fractures. Most of runners' stress fractures, however, involve the bones of the feet, and about half of those occur in runners who run more than 25 miles per week. Stress fractures of the foot require an immediate halting of all running. Exercise programs are used to increase flexibility and muscle mass, and it is often a good idea to change to an alternate form of aerobic exercise like swimming or biking to maintain cardiovascular conditioning while overuse injuries from running are healing. Prevention These are the most common of a long list of overuse injuries that plague runners.