Professor Karen Troy was recently awarded a R15 grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to study the Biomechanical factors affecting metatarsal fatigue and bone stress injury risk (stress fractures in the feet of runners).
Running is one of the most popular sports in the world. However, more than half of all runners become injured at some point. Bone stress injuries are a common type of injury that can progress into a full stress fracture if left untreated. They are overuse injuries that occur when damage accumulates in the bone faster than it can be repaired. Our research aims to understand how and why bone stress injuries occur in the metatarsals (bones in the mid-foot), and to identify the role of the foot structure and biomechanics in causing or preventing these injuries.
