Course Description:

As professionals in sports medicine and physical therapy, our goal is to help athletes manage pain and injuries while continuing to participate in their sport as much as possible. However, bone stress injuries are devastating injuries that require time off from sport. These injuries occur when there is an imbalance between bone microdamage and remodeling, which is especially common in endurance athletes. Bone stress injuries can also be an indicator that there are underlying systemic disturbances originating from energy imbalances. Both males and females are at risk for bone stress injuries, but females are at greater risk due to the interrelationship between energy availability, menstrual function, and bone health.

This 2-hour session will dive into the involved anatomy of bone stress injuries as well as teach methods to identify and treat these injuries in a clinical setting based on current evidence. Participants will learn strategies to identify bone stress injuries, phases of treatment and basic principles that include appropriate loading to encourage bone formation, RED-S screening and education, and the importance of a team approach throughout treatment. At the end of the session, participants will leave with the confidence to identify, manage, and educate their athletes on bone stress injuries to promote long-term healthy participation in sport.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Understand basic bone anatomy and the bone remodeling process.
2. Recognize why and how bone stress injuries occur.
3. Understand the common sites (high risk vs. low risk) involved in bone stress injuries, and how to grade them based on MRI findings.
4. Obtain an understanding of conditions that can influence bone health, including RED-S and The Female Athlete Triad
5. Identify common subjective reports that are consistent with bone stress injuries in a clinic setting.
6. Be confident in performing a thorough examination on a suspected bone stress injury.
7. Learn and feel comfortable applying effective interventions to safely progress athletes through phased rehabilitation.
8. Encourage bone formation with appropriate exercise interventions.
9. Be able to progress an athlete from examination to return to sport, and minimize likelihood of reinjury.