Previously reported on this blog, I am both a foot doctor in Sarasota, Florida and a New York Giants football fan. The latest out of New York is that Eli Manning has more to worry about than his long suffering plantar fasciitis. Now it has been reported that Eli has a "stress reaction" in a bone called the cuboid bone of his foot.
Well, what is a "stress reaction?" In order to explain that I want you to think of a dimmer switch on a light. You see, a bone can be either broken or not, just like a light can either be on or off. That said, there are also the dimmer options. Using an MRI (a special medical device that takes images of the bones and soft tissues and feeds the results into a computer) a radiologist can add more options to the mix. Thinking of a spectrum, where one end is normal bone and the other is a broken bone, now we can add stress reaction and stress fracture.
Eli has a stress reaction. The treatment for this is rest, stiffer shoes and time. If he continues to play on this foot he can end up with a stress fracture (the next phase on the dimmer switch) or ultimately a fracture of his cuboid bone. If he does fracture the bone he is looking at 6 weeks of healing time, which basically means the season is over for him.
With Eli hurt and the Giants on a 5-game-out-of-6 losing streak the stress is affecting all Giants fans.
Committed to your health,
Dr. Craig Conti
Sarasota Foot Care Center
Sarasotafootcarecenter.com
