The Injured Runner

A lower-limb injury to a runner is almost as bad as having an amputation. The psychological effects are almost the same. The frustration and anguish of being injured are difficult to explain to non-runners. Any injury that prevents you from running leaves a large void in your life which is difficult to overcome.

Many runners become even more frustrated when their family doctor does not have the training and knowledge to help them. The NHS is not designed to help injured athletes. The NHS does not have specific Sports Medicine Specialists though many practitioners do include treatment of injury as part of their practice. Even if you do find someone who can treat you on the NHS there will be the inevitable delay while you wait for the appointment and even further delay waiting for treatment.

Be cautious however, it can be very dangerous and can lead to further injury if you get treatment without having a diagnosis. The "lets try and see" approach from an unqualified practitioner may not only cost you lots of money but may worsen the injury you started with.

Many running injuries are caused by wearing the wrong shoes, not following a proper warm-up and cool-down programme, or doing "too much too soon". One of the most common problems with runners is getting carried away with enthusiasm and running too-far, too-quickly. This is understandable as the cardio-vascular system of the body responds much more quickly to exercise than the musculo-skeletal system. In other words your heart & lungs can cope but the bones and muscles in your legs can't. This can lead to shin pain and other over-use injuries.

You are not Superman or Wonder woman!!

Most of us do not have perfectly designed running legs like Haille Gabrsalassie from Ethiopia. Count yourself very lucky indeed if you have perfect lower-limb function (biomechanics). Most of us (me included) have at least one biomechanical problem which will show itself in an injury at some point in our running careers. However there is no need to hang up the running shoes just yet. Many of these problems can be treated with a combination of the correct running shoes, prescription orthoses specifically designed to counteract your mechanical problems and specific exercises to aid rehabilitation. Allowing you to run painfree once more. The science and art of clinical podiatric biomechanics is allowing many runners to continue their sport painfree. This includes many of our top Olympic athletes who would not be able to compete at international level without the help of Musculo-skeletal Podiatrists.

If you have a running injury and would like my opinion please call for an appointment on 01326 240078