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Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
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Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffThese factors may put you at risk of a broken ankle or broken foot:
- Being overweight. Carrying too much weight can make you more susceptible to rolling your ankle or stressing the bones in your feet.
- Participating in high-impact sports. The stresses, direct blows and twisting injuries that occur in football, hockey, gymnastics, ballet, tennis and soccer are common causes of foot and ankle fractures.
- Using improper sports equipment. Faulty equipment, such as shoes that are too worn or too stiff, can contribute to stress fractures and falls. Improper training techniques, such as not warming up, also can cause foot and ankle fractures.
- Working in certain occupations. Certain work environments, such as a construction site, put you at risk of falling from a height or dropping something heavy on your feet.
- Keeping your home cluttered or poorly lit. Walking around in a house with too much clutter or too little light may lead to foot or ankle injuries.
- Having certain conditions. Having fragile bones (osteoporosis) or poor sensation in your feet (neuropathy) can put you at risk of injuries to your foot and ankle bones.
References
- Ho K, et al. Ankle and foot: Foot. In: Marx JA, et al. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2006. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/119940582-3/803115108/1365/151.html. Accessed Feb. 11, 2009.
- Ho K, et al. Ankle and foot: Ankle. In: Marx JA, et al. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2006. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/119940582-3/803115108/1365/150.html#4-u1.0-B0-323-02845-4..50060-3--cesec26_2557. Accessed Feb. 11, 2009.
- Toe and forefoot fractures. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic=A00165. Accessed Feb. 11, 2009.
- Ankle fractures. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00391. Accessed Feb. 11, 2009.
- Stress fractures of the foot and ankle. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00379. Accessed Feb. 11, 2009.
- deWeber K. Overview of stress fractures. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 11, 2009.
- Hatch RL, et al. Metatarsal shaft fractures. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 11, 2009.
- General nuclear medicine. Radiological Society of North America. http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?PG=gennuclear. Accessed Feb. 12, 2009.
- CT: Body. Radiological Society of North America. http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?PG=bodyct. Accessed Feb. 12, 2009.
