Any experience with stress fractures or any reg. dietitians on boards

[Tiggeroo]

My son is a distance runner. He is currently recouping from his second stress fracture. He has also had a couple of non-fracture injuries. We go to an orthopedist who is also supposed to be a sports medicine specialist. He seems to only treat the injury and never look at what might be causing this. This time I insisted and got some referrals, one for a gait analysis and one for a nutrition analysis. But it seems that every dietitian I call doesn't do things like this. They only deal with people with diabetes or heart disease. We just want to make sure that his diet isn't contributing to this problem. He eats like a typical poor eating teen. Any advice?

 

[KimR]

My DD is a gymnast and is currently recouperating from a stress fracture. Like your DS's Dr, her orthopedist is also a sports medicine specialist and he explained that stress fractures are quite common in athletes due to all the pounding and stress (hence the term 'stress fracture'! ) To tell you the truth, I never even thought about the nutrition angle. She eats a farily good diet, although she cannot remember to take her vitamins, and I can't seem to remember to remind her

It seems this past year has been awful for injuries. She was diagnosed with Sever's disease earlier in the season as were many of her teammates (not an injury per se, but made worse with all the pounding her feet endure). At any rate, her Dr. explained that so many times the coaches just push them too hard. At the same time, the girls are very competitive and don't know when to listen to their bodies and slow down. It's a tough balance - you want them to do well and excel, but not overdo it to the point of injury. I don't know how much your son practices but it could be that he is pushing himself too hard. I think oftentimes, athletes get used to dealing with and working through aches and pains that they don't know when to stop.

Another thought (and this is coming from someone who knows absolutely nothing about running): I know you said something about gait analysis, but have you spoken to his coach? Maybe he could pay closer attention during practices to see if there is something with the way he is running or warming up that could be contributing to the problem.

Good luck! It is no fun dealing with these constant injuries from something that is supposed to be good for them!

 

[Tiggeroo]

Kim, I can absolutely relate to everything you wrote. My son is so competitive, and he's also very private about his running.It's not so much his coach that pushes him as his fellow runners, and himself. He's missed most of spring track season with injuries and it seems he gets a different one every season. He's a junior this year and wants to run in college on certain teams and that stress doesn't help.
He doesn't like to tell me when he's hurt. He thinks I'll make him stop, when most times if he caught the injury early enough he would just have to ease up for a week or so.
My son eats a bad diet, with very little protein unless you count pizza or cheese steaks. He majors in pasta during race season, but at least he puts some cheese on it. Runners deal with pain all the time. And there are times when it's appropriate to run with some pain. But sometimes you have to stop.
I walk the line between wanting him to want to push himself and do his best, and not wanting him to do too much and get hurt. Whatever I say it's often the wrong thing to my son. After a bad race if I encourage him he hates it. If I get happy for him when he's had a good race, not often a good thing either.
Normally the diet isn't much of a concern with boys. If a girl gets a second stress fracture on the running team they automatically run her blood. They could be anaemic and not be getting enough calcium. Male runners are also sometimes anemic especially when they put in high miles and eat poorly. It's most likely nothing, but they want to look at it closer. Talked to coach, he sent me to dr.

 

[Nebsky]

I ran Cross Country in High School and College.

During my senior year in high school, about 3/4 way into the season, my left leg hurt really bad. Won Districts race, 4th in Regionals, then 12 at State. I went to Raleigh NC to run in the Eastern region high school championship and I could not run hard. My leg hurt so bad. I ended up finishing middle of the pack but well behind the winner. What stinks is that I could have probably contended for the a trip to the National Finals.

I went to the doctor right when we got home. XRays showed a stress fracture in the upper ball joint of my femur. Doctor said had I kept running, it probably would have snapped. After 3 months, it finally healed enough, but I developed another one, albeit to a lesser extent during track season.

My diet was horrible. Cokes, sweets, etc. I never took it eating serious. Heck I didnt break 100 lbs until my freshman year of college and my coach there force feed me. After eating better that season I didnt have any problems.

What you might want to do is call one of the colleges or pro sports teams around you. Ask to speak to the head trainer or his assistant. They might be able to steer you towards a sports dietitian that can help your son.

 

[Mimi Q]

Hi, I am a registered dietitian but specialize in geriatric nutrition. I consult in long-term care facilities. Check out the ADA website at www.eatright.org and you should be able to find an RD in your area that can help you out. There is a nutrition professional locator on the home page- just type in your zip code.

 

[Tiggeroo]

Nebsky
Freshman year he ran xc and made it thru counties, sectionals, states and to MOC where he did so-so and was in alot of pain. Turned out that for 3 weeks he had been taking like 8 motrin on race day and running with a stress fracture. Last year it was a groin injury, now another stress fracture. He ran FootLocker with tail end of pneumonia this year. IT's tough running all 3 seasons. He's finally willing to work a bit more on the stretching and the diet.
Just out of curiousity, what college did you run for. My son is lucky to weigh 125lbs.

 

[Nebsky]

It was a Junior College up in Kansas.

My neighbor across the street in high school had a brother who was the Head Cross Country/Track coach from Univ of Virginia. He said he would have loved to have taken me but my grades were not up to UVA's requirements. I was a C-B student and they wanted A's. He suggested Highland Jr College in Kansas. Keep running and get the grades higher. Grades did get higher, but I could not stand the coach. Ran all the way through cross country season and we won the division champ. We finished 4th at regionals but I missed out on Nationals by 2 spots. Bummer

I ended up walking away from my scholarship because I felt like I was going nowhere and i was regressing.

Then I started playing ice hockey. Man. that is a sport....whew!!

 

[Tiggeroo]

Thanks Mimi. I'm going to check it out right away.
Nebsky,
The junior colleges in Kansas are known for their running prog. My sons grades aren't the greatest and they were something he was considering. He is likely going to do 2 years at Liberty in Va. to get his grades up and keep running. There are a couple of other less selective D1 schools he's looking at as well. If you don't like your coach it bites. I see so many runners switching schools just over coaching problems.
About the hockey, ds played hockey for years. He still plays it for fun. Coach freaks about the hockey, surfing and skating since sometimes when he gets hurt it's from one of those things. His schedule goes get up at 6am, go surfing, school, running practice put in 8 miles, go home eat, surf, then night time stuff. No wonder he gets hurt and can't keep weight on.

 

[Nebsky]

It sounds like your son and I have alot in common...

I surf too. Usually get in 6 days a year. Jump on a plane on Friday nights, Fly to Orlando or West Palm Beach and drive up to Cocoa Beach. Rent a board from Ron Jon Surf Shop, then jump on a plance that same day and fly back to Dallas.

Coaches sometimes ruin it for people. Had my college team had my high school coach, there is no doubt we would have qual for nationals. His philosophy was so much better. The coach in KS was just average, at best. He didnt bring out the best in me thats for sure.

In HS, best times were:
3.1 miles 15:01 I could never go under 15:01...
10k 31:20

1600 meter 4:18
3200 meter 9:32 I hated track...Running in circles...

Marathon 3 hours 7 mins.

Tell your son good luck...I wish him the best.
Have him catch a few rides for me.

 

[Tiggeroo]

Stinks to have a bid coach. Glad to see you are trying marathons though. That's a good marathon time for somebody so young. My son much prefers xc to track. He also really doesn't like running any distances less then the 3200. He is a junior but his times aren't as good as yours.
3.1 - I believe 16:04
3200 - 10:00
1600 - around 4:30 I think
If he could get thru a whole season without getting hurt he might improve. Also, I think part of the problem is that during track seasons we are short runners. The distance guys fill in all over the place as they are the most dedicated bunch. So they do multiple events and go as low as running 400's. Right now I want to see him get thru til end of winter track without a serious injury. Summer is when he tries to put on more mileage. After this stress fracture he will have not run for like 4 weeks. It's going to be hard to get him to start out with a low mileage and work up slowly because I think he wants to be doing 75mpw comfortably by camp time. Runners probably like surfing for the same reason they like running. It's an independent sort of sport where you can improve on your own.

 

[Nebsky]

I was 18 when I ran my last marathon.
Im 33 yrs old now. If its 26 miles anywhere, Im driving..

Now, its mainly Golf (2 or 3 times a week) Hockey (1 - 2 times a month) and a few surfing days each year. I dont run anymore. Have some cartilidge in my knees that act up. I can run some, but im paying for it the next day thats for sure.

My times really took off my senior year. Like I said, I was under 100 lbs and I was maybe 5ft 5in tall at that time. Funny thing was my stride was as long as one of the tallest guys who was 6ft 1in.

Solitary sports are fun because you can track your own progress easily.

 

[Rafikifan]

I am no expert, and this is probably something you are already aware of but I wasn't until my son fractured his arm. The dr. told me how vital calcium was to his diet which I knew but I did not know that drinking cokes and caffeine in general negates the absorption of calcium into the body. Therefore, every time he drinks a Coke, it is offsetting the milk he drinks, and calcium he gets from other dairy products. Sorry if this is something you already knew but thought I'd pass it along.

 

[Tiggeroo]

Aack Nebsky, I figured you were just out of college.
Rafikifan, this is one of the things I"m trying to explain to him. Also you need to take in certain vitamins for calcium and iron to absorb properly. He has quit the soda because carbonation is bad for your muscles.