Bruised bone?

Dear Ask The Doctor: I am in high school and I am currently playing softball. Recently I have been repeatedly getting hit on the lower half of my left leg and I have a ton of bruises covering my leg. Today at practice I was running for a ball in the outfield and tripped. When I hit the ground my leg hit first and I immediately felt intense pain. I am used to playing through injuries but this was definitely not something i wanted to play with. I can"t put any pressure on my leg or even move it without it hurting. My coaches kept telling me to shake it off and made me go back out and play after I asked to take a break numerous times. Its is about an hour and a half after that happened and my leg still feels worse now from having to practice on it. I think I may have bruised the bone but I am not sure. Could you help me? Thank you

Dear Mary:Repetitive stress injuries (RSIs) are injuries that happen when too much stress is placed on a part of the body, resulting in inflammation (pain and swelling), muscle strain, or tissue damage. This stress generally occurs from repeating the same movements over and over again, or in your case getting repeatedly hit, with no enough healing time so they are also called “overuse syndrome”. The concept is that overuse injury is associated with repeated challenge without sufficient recovery time, and this is true for Body Building, Running, Jogging or any other sport or activity in which you exceed the guidelines and your own limits or capacities, which is your problem here. Overuse injuries or repetitive motion injuries make up over 50% of all athletic-related injuries seen by doctors. Simple everyday actions, such as throwing a ball, scrubbing a floor, running or jogging, can lead to this condition. The most common types of repetitive motion injuries are tendonitis and bursitis. The “shin splint” is a stress fracture, is a common overuse lesion seen in athletes (running sports, dancing or ballet) and also in military recruits. The typical presentation is a complaint of increasing pain in the lower extremity during exercise or activity. The patient's history usually reveals a recent increase in either training volume or intensity. The suggested strategy would be:  using a heating pad for periods no more than 15 minutes each time during the day, limit activities that produce pain or discomfort, and for to control the pain you can keep on  taking anti inflammatory medication (such as “Motrin” or “Aleve”). Try to use the right padding equipment to minimize injuries. The healing time is different for each patient, and also depends on the severity of the initial injury.