Running Injury Treatment

Most running injuries are overuse injuries, and with these type of injuries I think that WHY they are happening is more important than WHAT is happening.  As long as more serious conditions are ruled out, I don’t think that the exact tissue and the exact pathology of that tissue is the issue.

You have knee pain, then you see someone and now you have Patello Femoral Pain Syndrome.  That may be true, but that is just a different name for your knee pain, and you already knew you had knee pain.

We need to know WHY you have knee pain, especially if that pain is activity related and you want to keep doing that activity.  Sure, stopping the activity will probably make the pain better, at least in the early stages.  But you don’t want to stop.  If you know WHY, know what is causing the injury or damage, then you can deal with the cause and, regardless of which specific tissue the pain is radiating from, you would have a solution. If you  are just interested in the pain going away, you can take pain killers.  They are cheap, easy and effective.  The pain is telling you something though, and it is often your body’s last warning signal about a problem that has been creeping up for a while, a problem that it wants fixed so there is not worse damage done down the road.

If your ankle is collapsing like this every step, you may be getting pain in your foot, ankle, knee or even hip and lower back.  Unless the underlying cause is dealt with (collapsing ankle), you are not going to find a long term solution for the pain.

If you want to truly heal the part(s) of the body that are in pain, you have to understand WHY the pain is coming and correct those underlying functional issues.  This can often be done without complete rest, although rest may speed up the process.

So for treatment you need to find someone that:

• Understands running injuries
• Can help you fix the underlying mechanical cause of the injury.

As far as specific therapy, I would look for some mechanical therapy like Acupuncture/IMS, Graston, ART, manipulation, etc.  RMT’s, PT’s and Chiros will be the most common to dish out these things in Canada.  Something that is actually going to change the tissue.  It is also necessary to do exercises to rebuild and retrain how you move and work.  Getting back to 100% may not be enough, you already got injured at 100%.  The goal should be to get you back better than before whenever possible so you are less likely to be injured, can perform better and stay healthy.

See our recommended page for great facilities and people in our city, find your friendly neighborhood chiropractor, or come check us out.

Be Well,

Tyler Fix, DC, CCWP