Running Injuries

Running Injuries
The hugely popular sport of running has excellent health benefits. It burns a number of calories and improves muscular and cardiovascular endurance...while increasing stamina. It is easy to forget that jogging puts repeated strain on your joints and can lead to serious injuries like ankle sprains, stress fractures, plantar fasciitis, runner’s knee, and arthritis.

Hamstring Trauma—Often trauma to the hamstrings will reduce function so gradually that it may not be detected until there is a serious problem. Hamstrings are often exposed to repeated micro-trauma with change of pace and overstriding. Running downhill, often places the hamstrings under excessive eccentric load as the muscle works to stabilize the knee joint. Excessive load may result in micro-trauma to the muscle fibres, leading to injury.

Runner’s Knee—Characterized as a sharp pain right behind the kneecap or a dull pain in the front of the knee. Runner’s knee, or patellar derangement syndrome, occurs when the surface behind the patella, or kneecap, is damaged. The feeling may be a sensation of giving way or buckling of the knee.

ITB—Iliotibial band friction syndrome is an overuse injury in the knee that occurs mainly in runners and cyclists, affecting the outside of the knee where the ligaments attach. When the knee flexes and extends, the IT band rubs across the outside of the knee. Improper or excessive training can cause irritation and lead to pain, swelling, and problems with training. Increased intensity or duration of a training program, training on uneven surfaces can cause ITB. Running on the same side of a tilted, unlevel road or trail, the leg on the downside will be predisposed to get ITB friction syndrome. Athletes who are flatfooted or hyperpronated (irregular foot rotation) produce unusual pressure on their legs, which puts extra strain on the IT band.

Common Running Injuries—Achilles Tendonitis • Chondromalacia (Runner’s Knee) • Iliotibial Band (ITB) Syndrome • Plantar fasciitis and Shinsplints • Hamstring Strains • Stress Fractures