Your Checklist for Running Overuse Injuries

As many of you know from personal experience or from friends or teammates, runners often get injuries without any obvious cause.  Most of these types of injuries are the result of several factors that over time lead to chronic problems.  These are known as overuse injuries.  Contrary to what many of you believe they do not “go away” over time.  In fact over time they can impair your performance and shorten your competitive career!

Following is a useful checklist of the more common causes of running injuries and possible treatment options (borrowed from www.sportsmedicine.about.com). 

Too Much, Too Soon!

Increasing running mileage or time too quickly is the leading cause of running injuries.  Use the 10% rule (increase mileage by no more than 10% per week), to help prevent overuse injuries while allowing the body to adopt to training levels.

Many of you just over train and push the envelope too much.  Cutting down on total running mileage and cross training by cycling or swimming will not only help you overcome overuse injury risk but will allow you to train harder on your running days!

Not allowing enough recovery time between training sessions is a huge mistake.  It is during the rest phase after exercise that your muscles get stronger.  Not allowing this rest leads to continual tissue breakdown (i.e. stress fractures).

Running Route or Surface

Hard surfaces increase the amount of stress on the muscles/joints.  Soft surfaces (i.e. sand) may cause heel to sink and foot to slide on push-off, leading to achilles tendon problems. 

Consistently running on one side of the road may cause injuries due to the road camber (or slant).

Uphill running may over-stress the achilles tendon and the muscles in front of the shin.

Downhill running places additional stress on the knees.

Footwear

Shoes are obviously the most important piece of equipment for runners.  Buy a shoe that matches your foot type (i.e. supinator/pronator) and weight.  Flat-footed runners (pronator) should buy stability shoes with support.  Those with high arches (supinators) should look for good cushioning and arch support.

It is recommended that you replace running shoes between 500 and 800 km depending on running style, body weight and running surface.

Running Technique

Every runner has a unique running style and some styles may lead to overuse injuries.

A heavy heel strike can lead to excessive traumatic forces and actually slow you down.

Landing hard on the midfoot or ball of the foot places more stress on the achilles tendon (as seen with sprinters).  For these runners stretching the calves and achilles regularly is recommended.

Biomechanical Issues

Orthotics can correct many biomechanical issues of the ankle, foot, knee, hip and back.

Chiropractic treatment can correct many biomechanical problems with the back, pelvis and hips.

Muscle-Weakness/Imbalance

Lower extremity and core strength training should be added to routine training for runners

Runners (especially competitive/elite) should perform strength training for the following muscle groups!

-         quadriceps, hamstrings, hips (lunges, squats, dead lifts)

-         calves (heel raises)

-         shoulders (shoulder shrugs)

-         upper back (rows)

-         chest ( push ups, chest press)

-         biceps (curls)

-         triceps ( kickbacks)

-         lower back (crossed extension)

-         core and abs.

You can’t always avoid/prevent every injury, but runners who follow some basic guidelines can reduce the risk of developing chronic, nagging aches and pains.  Especially if you are a competitive/elite athlete, on scholarship or work you can’t afford to be injured!  If you have any developing problems seek a healthcare professional with experience and an interest in treating sports injuries.

Have a great season, have fun and good luck!

Dr. Erin A. White is a chiropractor/certified kinesiologist who has practiced in Sarnia for 9 years.  He has a special interest in diagnosing and treating sports injuries.  Treatment options include among others manual therapy, Active Release Technique (ART), PNF stretching, muscle stim, ultrasound and custom stretching/core strengthening programs.