Stress Fracture in Figure Skaters

This figure skating season is nearing an end as only a few more international and national level competitions are left. Also, this is about time of the season when athletes get injured as an intensity of competitions increases. Those skaters who qualified for the nationals are probably training harder to do well in the competition. Some may be trying to secure a spot at the Worlds. Or some may already been training for the next season. Training hard is necessary to be successful. However, training too hard can be potentially damaging to the body. One of the common injuries suffered by figure skaters is stress fracture. The common injury sites are foot, lower leg, hip, and lower back. Stress fractures are categorized into 2 categories. One is a high risk fracture and the other is a low risk fracture, depending on where the fracture is located. High risk fractures are treated more aggressively because of their higher chance of non-union fracture. Many cases may require a surgical fixation of the fracture. Low risk fractures are usually treated with relative rest, partial or non weight bearing, activity modification, and rehabilitation. In case those do not work, then, it may be treated more aggressively. One of the reasons why it makes it challenging is that a lot of skaters will ignore a pain and keep training until it gets to the point that they cannot. By the time it becomes that painful, it may be too late. Once diagnosed with a stress fracture, a skater will be off the ice for a long time, probably around 6 weeks to a few months. Good news is that it is preventable. Causes of stress fractures include sudden increase in training intensity and time, a change of skates, nutritional factors, over training, not having proper mechanics, etc to list a few. Female skaters are more prone to stress fracture than male skaters. A study done at BYU showed that figure skaters sustain about 8 times of their body weight when they land on ice from a jump. That means that they have to be able to sustain that much force only using knee and hip muscles (and core muscles play an important role as well). When we jump and land on the ground, we can use ankles, knees, and hips and muscles around them to absorb the force. However, when skaters jump on ice, they are forced to use only knee and hip because of rigid type skates they wear. It becomes very important that they have enough muscle strength in their knees and hips to sustain that much force. By being evaluated for any risk factors they may have and by eliminating those factors when they are healthy, injuries such as stress fracture can be prevented.