New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter suffered a setback this week when re-fractured his ankle for the second time in six months. Jeter now hopes to return to the lineup after the All-Star Break.
“It’s not what we wanted, that’s for sure,” said manager Joe Girardi. “I know it’s extremely disappointing for him because he’s so used to being here with us.
Jeter had been working towards a return, as offseason reports said there was a possibility that he would be able to start Opening Day. Jeter took part in five spring training games, but he wasn’t healthy enough to play full-time when the season started, so he stayed in Florida to continue his rehab. After three straight days of workouts, Jeter went in for a routine check-up to determine how his ankle was healing. Dr. Robert Andrews conducted a CT scan, which revealed a new crack in the bone.
“They did a new CT scan which revealed a small crack in the area of the previous injury, so we have to back off and let that heal,” said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “This is obviously a setback. In terms of speculating on when we might see Derek back with us, we’d be looking at some time after the All-Star break.”
Two previous CT scans showed that the bone was healing properly, but the most recent scan revealed the new crack.
The new break will not require surgery, but doctors have advised Jeter to stop his rehabilitation exercises for four to eight weeks. Doctors will continue to monitor the ankle, and oftentimes this injury heels properly as long as a patient refrains from strenuous activities.
“[The doctor] told me 95 percent of the people that have this, they come back from it fine. You just have to back off,” Cashman said.
The 13-time All Star will turn 39 in June, which leads some to believe that his rehab may take longer than the Yankees believe.
Dr. Silverman comments
The information coming out about Jeter is getting more interesting.
He underwent CT scans to confirm bone healing, two of which showed the bone was fully healed. The new information indicates he had a true stress fracture of one of his ankle bones. But, if he had surgery to fix the fracture, and he had 100% healing on the last CT scan the following questions needs to be answered: Why did it break again, and why does it not need surgery this time?
Stress fractures happen for one simple reason: Mechanical overload to a bone that cannot compensate to the load fast enough. Our bodies wear down each day as we take on weight-bearing activities. When you exercise, your body breaks down faster. When you have a mechanical disorder (high arch, flat foot, bow leg or unstable ankle or hindfoot) you break down even faster and in one specific area. If your body breaks down is faster than it builds up, stress fractures occur.
Jeter’s fracture should not have recurred; something else is afoot. He was healed, but he is breaking down faster than he can build up, and the cause of the stress fracture needs to be addressed.
So, what types of things could be wrong with his ankle?
1. Bone metabolism disorders: The most common disorder responsible for this is Vitamin D insufficiency. Vitamin D is actually a hormone that is produced with sun exposure. You need at least 60% of your body exposed for 20 minutes each day to produce enough Vitamin D. Is it possible that a Baseball player wearing long pants, long sleeves and a hat actually doesn’t get enough sun exposure? Yes.
2. Ankle instability: Another common problem that causes a stress fracture is overload from ankle instability. Lateral ankle sprains are often viewed as innocuous in the history of a patient, but the lack of stability of the ankle can cause he medial (inner side) of the ankle to be excessively stressed. Not fixing the ankle instability surgically will result in recurrent fractures.
3. Subtle hindfoot foot mal-alignment: A heel that is slightly twisted inwards can cause this problem (Think Grant Hill with his recurrent 5th metatarsal stress fracture and his heel varus)
The reassuring words coming from the article are fluff. He is out until the All-star break and somehow another three months of the same thing is going to make him better. I would not be surprised if Jeter did not play again this year because he could easily suffer another setback.
Related source: AOL Sporting News
