Suggested Lifestyle Changes

Dietary Recommendations:

1. To prevent stress fracture, New York University Langone Orthopedic Center recommends eating food that are rich in vitamin D and calcium. For example, leafy greens, yogurt, eggs and salmon.
2. Include calcium and vitamin D in your diet or supplement. Daily intake of 2000 mg calcium and 800 IU vitamin D can protect you from stress fracture.
3. Individuals who are active in sports are advised to maintain adequate vitamin D intake as it has been shown to reduce the risk of stress fracture.
4. Reduce caffeine intake as it is negatively associated with bone mineral density and increases the risk of stress fracture.

Lifestyle Recommendations:

1. Having a healthy BMI is important as having a lower BMI (underweight) is shown to have an increased risk of fracture.
2. Smokers and individuals who drink more than 10 alcoholic drinks in a week are more likely to develop stress fractures. Thus, it is recommended to reduce or refrain from smoking and drinking.

Exercise Recommendations:

1. Be sure to warm up before starting your exercise.
2. Wear proper footwear that is suitable for your feet and the physical activities that you participate in.
3. To reduce the risk of stress fracture, corrective sports movements are recommended to reduce bone overloading.
4. Avoid or reduce training exercise in a bad training area (eg. uneven, irregular, or very rigid surface) that may cause bone overloading.
5. Avoid abrupt increases in the intensity and volume of training. If you intend to increase your exercise intensity, do it gradually.
6. Exercise regularly as studies have shown that a longer history of exercise further decreases the relative risk of fracture.
7. Have a properly planned physical activity program with adequate recovery time. Adequate amount of rest and recovery period after participation in training and competition is necessary to allow for healing of microtrauma to bones.
8. Individuals at risk of stress fracture should do cross-training and alternative training using devices like aquatic treadmills or anti-gravity treadmills. These allow runners to maintain cardiovascular fitness and running form while minimising ground reaction forces to the lower extremities.

Result Explanation Recommendations: