Running Injuries

If you are starting on a running program, the first thing to do is to avoid getting discouraged and giving up on the whole thing. Once you decide to stick with it, the thing to do is to avoid getting injured. This is not to give the wrong message though. Lots of people seem to think that running just pounds your joints and destroys them. This is not quite true, in fact runners with a properly managed running program probably have healthier joints. The tendency however is to overdo things and get hurt.

When I began running, I could not manage a single lap around a quarter mile track without serious knee pain. Many people would have concluded that they were too old, running was not for them, and have gone back to whatever regime of neglect and inactivity was ruining their life. In my case though, I would pay attention to the pain, stop and come back again in a day or so. After a while my knee pain began to subside, I could run longer distances, and today my knees are no longer the limiting factor in my running in any way.

There is an often quoted rule, which is to increase the amount of running you do by some carefully limited amount, such as 10 or 20 percent each week. Running lots of hills, doing speedwork, or violating this rule seem to be the most common factors in running injuries.

Another key recommendation if you want to avoid injuries is to work walk breaks into your running. Many macho individuals who once scorned walk breaks, got injured and found that walk breaks were the way to get back into and continue running.

If you do get injured, take some time off and let things heal. While you are at it, analyze what caused you to get hurt and make changes so it doesn't happen again.

Ice

Someone said that Ice is the most potent topical anti-inflammatory treatment available. I used to be a skeptic, but now I believe it. To treat my heel (Plantar Fasciitis), I freeze a water bottle and roll it under my foot. No sock or towel, get that ice on your skin and do everything short of frostbiting yourself. I can tell when I get numb after a few minutes and figure that is good enough.

Stretching

This can be a really stupid thing to do if you are injured. That being said, there is a lot of contradictory information out there about stretching. First of all, don't confuse stretching with warming up. It seems to be agreed that stretching before, during, or after running is a bad idea and leads to a higher risk of injury! The time to stretch is some other time of the day. A common recommendation is to stretch while watching TV (but if like me you don't watch TV, you should figure out some other approach).

Drugs

I find Ibuprofen helpful. It is a NSAID (non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug). I used to think of it simply as a pain blocker (analgesic). It is also (and perhaps more valuable) as an anti-inflammatory. Here is some recommended dosage information. One study I read called 1200 mg per day an "analgesic dose", and called 2400 mg per day an "anti-inflammatory dose".

Another drug (that I have never used) is naproxen. Note that naprosyn is a slower acting version of naproxen used to treat arthritis, and probably not what you want. Naproxen works great for some people but causes troubles for others. A recommended regime is 1500 mg the first week after injury, then 1000 mg the second week (and subsequent weeks if needed). Apparently Aleve is a trade name for naproxen.

Acetominophen has no anti-inflammatory properties and has no relevance other than pain relief. It does seem to do the trick for headaches (for me at least). However, a friend with a tendon injury was told by a doctor after surgery that ibuprofen inhibits tendon healing and acetominophen does not. If this applies to you, take heed.

Aspirin has been praised as a miracle drug. Maybe so, I need to learn more. I have told to research "Bell Tolerance".

Plantar Fasciitis

Here is a link to a good page with information about a variety of running injuries. Take a look at this guys list of cures for Plantar Fasciitis. He recommends the foot log, vibram five fingers, and working on a tight calf. Believe it or not, some doctors have recommended severing the achilles tendon to relieve pain from Plantar Fasciitis!!! Holy Cow man, find another doctor! I think I'll just stretch mine a bit instead.

Have any comments? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's home page / tom@mmto.org
Have any comments? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's home page / tom@mmto.org