The only definitive way to tell if you have a navicular stress fracture is with imaging such as an MRI. However, it can be suspected from the history and pattern of symptoms.
A navicular stress fracture typically hurts on the top of the foot at the top of the arch just in front of the ankle joint. The pain can be located to the navicular bone The pain starts off slowly but progressively gets worse with more and increased activity.
A characteristic feature of a navicular stress fracture is what is called the ‘N’ spot. If you palpate the navicular bone over the top of the arch area, there is often a smallish tender spot right where the stress fracture is on the bone.
There may be a history of an increase in either the volume and/or intensity of activity levels.
