Navicular Bone Fracture Symptoms:
The most common symptom of navicular bone fracture is pain. Pain can be acute or chronic. Chronic means it lasts longer than one week. Acute means it occurs within a few minutes to a couple hours after trauma. The pain may be severe enough to cause you to stop your activity immediately.
You might have to lie down. If you are driving, you will probably experience some loss of balance and coordination. Your vision may become blurry. You could lose consciousness due to the pain.
In the case of acute navicular bone fracture, there is no immediate danger. You may experience mild pain and not even notice it. However, if you continue to drive while experiencing pain, you will likely suffer from a car accident.
What Are The Causes Of Navicular Bone Fracture?
There are several causes of navicular bone fracture including:
1) Trauma – Any type of trauma can result in a navicular bone fracture.
The most common causes are motor vehicle accidents, falls from a height, or being kicked by a horse. The force of the trauma is directly related to the bone damage. In other words, more force equals more damage to the bone.
2) Muscle Imbalance – Muscle imbalance can be caused by over-pronation.
Over-pronation means that your arch collapses while you are standing or walking. This causes the muscles and tendons on the inside of your foot to become too long. Meanwhile, the muscles and tendons on the outside of your foot become too short. Over-pronation creates an imbalance of muscle strength. An excessive amount of stress is placed on the navicular bone when you stand or walk.
This can result in a small crack or complete breakage of the bone.
3) Genetics – Some people are born with a greater chance of developing a navicular bone fracture.
This can be caused by either under-pronation or over-pronation. Under-pronation means that your arch does not bend enough when you stand or walk. As a result, your foot lacks flexibility. This causes muscle and tendon imbalance to develop at a greater rate.
Over-pronation means that your arch bends too much when you stand or walk. This causes the muscles and tendons on the inside of your foot to become too long and weak. Meanwhile, the muscles and tendons on the outside of your foot become too short and strong. As a result, excessive stress is placed on the navicular bone.
4) Heredity – A history of bone fractures in your family can increase your chances of developing a navicular bone fracture.
Many people who suffer from navicular bone fracture also suffer from frequent bone fractures in general.
How Is Navicular Bone Fracture Diagnosed?
Your doctor will ask you about your symptoms and medical history. You will be asked if you know what caused the injury.
Sources & references used in this article:
Navicular drop as a composite measure of excessive pronation by MJ Mueller, JV Host, BJ Norton – Journal of the American …, 1993 – meridian.allenpress.com
Fracture of the carpal navicular: diagnosis, non-operative treatment, and operative treatment by O Russe – JBJS, 1960 – journals.lww.com
The accessory navicular synchondrosis by EJ SELLA, JP LAwsON, JA OGDEN – Clinical Orthopaedics and …, 1986 – journals.lww.com
The painful accessory navicular by JP Lawson, JA Ogden, E Sella, KW Barwick – Skeletal radiology, 1984 – Springer
Pathophysiology of navicular syndrome by RR Pool, DM Meagher, SM Stover – Veterinary Clinics of North America …, 1989 – Elsevier
