As the footy season comes to a close here in Australia, the cross over between winter and summers codes increases the stressers placed on the feet of our eager amateur athletes. Injuries sustained on the cricket ground will mostly come from repetitive action or direct impact. When comparing the amount of reported injuries by the British Sports Council during cricket (2.4 per 10,000 hours played) to that of the Australian Cricket Board (24.2 per 10,000 hours played), we can see a dramatic difference in the number of injuries sustained.
That being stated, only 11% of injuries sustained during cricket have been found to affect the foot and ankle with no dissection of rearfoot, mid-foot or forefoot acknowledged. With this in mind it should be noted that sesamoid stress fractures have been identified as being responsible for up to 5% of all stress pedal stress fractures.
A stress fracture can be defined as a complete or partial continuity of bone. Stress fractures develop due to an overloading of a particular hard tissue structure where; increased forces lead to the stimulation of osteoclast activity and eventual bone resorption which outweighs the bone’s strengthening and adaption to stress by way of osteoblasts remodelling. This can occur due to a number of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors.
The sesamoids are found on the plantar aspect of the first MTP head, imbedded within the plantar plate. Of the three sesamoids of the first toe, these are the most likely to develop an injury. Sesamoid injury is responsible for approximately 9% of foot and ankle injuries and 1-2% of running injuries. Sesamoid pain is commonly localized but can be associated with joint aches, sharp stabs or irritating niggles.
A sesamoid stress fracture is considered a high risk injury due to poor blood supply, which requires a significant modification to activity and offloading of the area for a minimum of six weeks. If conservative treatment fails, surgical intervention may be deemed appropriate.
Until Next Time
Jackson McCosker
Director/ Chief Editor
FootNotes Publishing 