How can you tell if you have a stress fracture?

Question

I recently injured my ankle to the point i was hoping around the house. I am now in conditioning camp for volleyball and doing a lot of jumping and running. How do can you tell if you have a stress fracture or hairline fracture. My mom doesn't have a lot of money to take me to the dr. please help!!

Answer 1

there is only one way to tell if you have a fracture or not-X-Rays! But you should keep your ankle well supported with tape/ace bandage when playing and elevate and ice when you are through for the day. See if there is a trainer at the volleyball camp who can take a look at it for you since you can't get to a doctor. Good luck!

Answer 2

Contrary to common belief, an Xray will not commonly diagnose a stress fracture. It can for a hairline fracture, but not always for a stress fracture (normally needs to be there for over 6 weeks for it to show up on Xray).

The best way to diagnose a stress fracture is by a Nuclear Bone Scan (need to get a referral from your GP for this).

In saying that though, a very good way to test for a fracture yourself at home is by vibration. If you have a tuning fork or sometimes a good vibrating mobile phone, place this over the affected area.  If this reproduces the pain noticeably it can mean you may have a fracture!!

Additionally other signs of a fracture are intense pain, especially on weightbearing and also pain at night which constantly wakes you up from your sleep