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Kettlebell How do you identify a stress fracture?

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Football Bat

Football Bat

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Hey! I've been doing lots of heavy TGUs and I noticed a pain slowly building in my right radius over a few weeks. I backed the weight off and slowly built my way back up over 2 weeks until the pain subsided to a mild discomfort. I then attempted to lift the weight I had been working with previously and noticed the pain coming back over the course of a couple of weeks.

It feels like shin splints but it's in my right radius just about where the kettlebell sits. Does this sound like a stress fracture to you guys?
 
Please take this in the kind way it is intended: you just asked a group of largely non medical online forum users to diagnose a problem based on a few sentences of your injury history. :)

Your best bet is to see a health care professional who specializes in musculoskeletal diagnosis and treatment and who can actually examine your arm.

However, is it simply a matter of how the bell is resting on your right forearm as compared to the left? I have had something similar in the past with TGUs, where one arm is more affected than the other midway along the forearm because of the pressure of the bell.

Stress fractures do not like axial compression. If you can do "heavy" TGUs without excruciating pain (or relatively heavy bench press with no pain for that matter), it is very likely not a stress fracture. Don't take my word for it though. I cannot examine you from here:)

Wishing you a speedy recovery!
 
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I experienced annoying, uncomfortable forearm pain while training get ups, and bent presses with a lot of volume and intensity. I attributed it to an imbalance between the wrist flexors and extensors, and wrist strength lagging behind.

I thought about what hurt and how to fix it. I needed wrist, and arm prehab/rehab work.

I started to include:
KB/DB Hammer curls, reverse wrist curls+reverse curls, Rodgers wrist curls, plate curls, short steel bending, sledge hammer wrist turns, various sledge hammer levers and exercises, heavy rack mounted wrist roller, band hand extensions, knuckle pushups, bottoms up clean/carries/presses

High rep rehab, and low rep strength resolved the issues after 1-2 months(cannot recall number of weeks) of hard work, and extra time investment. I did deload get ups and bent presses for a few weeks to recover while adding a few of those exercises to my warmup, and finisher.

That was my experience with a similar sounding situation, not necessarily your issue. My grip strength increased on grippers, one/two hand pinch, and rolling thunder/Axel deadlift as a bonus.
 
Once knew a woman who limped around for nearly 18 months on a very swollen and painful foot. She saw a couple doctors during that time though none took any sort of picture, just diagnosed sprain etc. No improvement. Finally saw a chiro who was smart enough to shoot an xray and duh! stress fracture. Proper treatment and all was soon well.
 
Couple of things
first - back off again/stop doing Get-ups for a couple of weeks
and when you do return to get-ups use a sweatband to pad the area so it is pain free
second - define "a lot" and "heavy"
See my article on adjusting your positioning for the KB during the Get-up:
Under Pressure: A Small But Crucial Adjustment to Your Get-up

Only a Dr. and an x-ray can be definitive on a stress fx but this sounds like too much volume and pressure on the area - stress fractures can be defined as a rhythmically repetitive "impact"/stress leading to a vibratory summation point (this is why they are common in running)
Rest and allow the area heal up - if it does not improve visit a health care provider for more info
 
Quick and dirty home diagnosis

Validation of tuning fork test in stress fractures and its comparison with radionuclide bone scan

"J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. 2012 Jul-Dec;24(3-4):180-2.
Validation of tuning fork test in stress fractures and its comparison with radionuclide bone scan.
Fatima ST, Jeilani A, Mazhar-ud-Duha, Abbasi NZ, Khan AA, Khan K, Sheikh AS, Ali F, Memon KH.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Stress fractures are quite common both in athletes and military recruits. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of tuning fork in stress fractures by comparing it with three phase bone scan.

METHODS:
The current study examined 55 subjects whose age ranged 18-28 years. X-rays of all the subjects were unremarkable. After history and clinical examination tuning fork test (TFT) was performed on each case by placing 128 Hertz vibrating tuning fork on the site of pain (underlying bony surface) of tibia or fibula. Each case was scanned using triple phase bone scintigraphy.

RESULTS:
Fifty-five patients had a total of 67 stress fractures, out of which 53 were picked up by TFT. Sensitivity of TFT was found to be 79% and specificity of 63%. Positive and negative predictive values were 88% and 46% respectively.

CONCLUSION:
Tuning fork test is a simple and easy approach of diagnosing stress fractures which can be performed even by athletics and military trainers. Management should be initiated in patients who have history of stress related below-knee pain and positive tuning fork test without waiting for bone scintigraphy. For complicated cases the bone scan is the gold standard for diagnosis."

​
 
Tuning forks have some value in combination with other diagnostic methods, but are really not a definitive standalone test:) 63% specificity is not that great
 
Brett Jones said:
second - define "a lot" and "heavy"
Click to expand...

Well I've been alternating 10 TGUs one day, with 6-10 floor presses per arm the next day. I've been doing this every day with no breaks. The 40kg is my go to weight while I insert the beast for a few reps each workout.

The pain always appears after repping the beast and gets worse over time. The 40 didn't aggravate it initially but each time I use the beast it makes the site of the pain a little more tender.

I'm a little afraid that one day I'm gonna be reping the beast and my radius is gonna snap resulting in a 48kg iron ball smashing into my face. I probably should go to a doctor but the VA pisses me off and I'll probably be waiting at least a month. *sigh*
 
Stress fractures might occur gradually as small repetitive over-stresses weaken the bone, but they don't hide once the fracture has occurred. It's like bending a piece of metal over and over- it's gets weaker and weaker each time, then finally comes apart. After the bone actually cracks, you have the symptoms of a bone fracture, which can include intense pain with no stimulus, sharper pain when touched, nausea, general soreness, malaise, etc. Best thing is to stop the training and give it a chance to heal the damage that's already occurred, and prevent more. Give yourself more time with the comfortable weight and allow yourself to adapt more before increasing it. If you have to wait 30 days to see a Dr., that's all the more reason to start sooner, not a reason to delay. (haha, I know, cause I always delay seeing one, too, even without any wait)
 
Geoffrey - I'm aware of the tuning fork for stress Fx identification but that is in the hands of a clinician IMO

Football Bat - it might be as simple as taking a two week break from having the KB on your arm and then applying more rotation of intensity, weight and volume into your routine
Trying to floor press the beast every other day x 10 + 10 get-ups on the other days (assuming you are referring to 10 each side?) is a lot of constant pressure on that area
I do between 1 to 3 or so get-ups (on each side) as part of a finish to my movement prep centering around the 24-32 kg

Take a break for a couple of weeks on both exercises and go lighter in general and see how you respond

What is your overall routine?
 
10 TGUs is total, so I do 5 per side. I've been doing pure S&S for something like 6 to 8 months. I start all of my TGUs with a floor press and after I got to the beast I noticed that the floor press was my biggest limiting factor so I started doing an S&S style workout every other day while supplementing with floor presses on the off days.
 
If it's fresh, a stress fracture is sometimes very hard to pick up on an X-ray (but not always). But that being said you should have it diagnosed by a doc. And an X-Ray may be indicated.
 
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