17 Dec Most Common Running Injuries: What’s Yours?

Most runners have already suffered -if not, they will for sure- injuries in their lives. This is more common if you are a beginner or an inexperienced runner with no planning. In this blog, I would love to talk to you about the most common running injuries I see in my clinic. 

COVID-19 changed our lives forever in many ways. In many ways, for the better. During lockdown, many people found in sport the best therapy to escape from stress or just to keep fit. After that period, they have kept these good habits.

Without any doubt, running has been the favourite choice. Let’s see: you can practise it alone, at any time and almost in any place. You choose length and duration. And, apparently, you just need comfortable clothes and a good pair of shoes. Simple, isn’t it? Well, not quite.

Most of these new runners come from a sedentary lifestyle or they don’t practise any physical activity at all (does telework sound familiar to you?). From morning to night, they went out running, with no plan at all. And running is an impact sport. What’s the outcome? A sure injury. Matter of time.

But… What Do All These Injuries Have In Common? 

Every running injury is diverse in origin and treatment, but there are many common circumstances to almost every one of them. Let’s see which are the recurrent factors that I see in our clinic: 

• Same posture for too long (sitting or standing)
• No warm-up before running. By the way, here you have a good table of exercises.
• Bad running technique: why is it important?
• Runners don’t train gradually or progressively
• You focus on cardio and forget the strength conditioning

Is It Possible To Run Injury Free? 

To be honest, nobody can guarantee this. No one. As I said at the beginning of this article, almost every runner will get injured at some point of their career. Even the pro ones. However you can reduce the probability of getting injured when running if you stick to these two principles: information and prevention. 

Which Are The Most Common Running Injuries?

If you haven’t got injured yet, you are in time to prevent it. But if you already are injured and you want a quick recovery, please pay attention to this blog post. I am going to tell you about the most common running injuries that I see in my clinic.

The Runners Knee

Without any question, this is the most common injury among runners. Why? The runner’s knee is caused by the usual posture we have in our daily life. We spend lots of hours sitting in front of a computer so a contracture of the popliteal muscle occurs on the back of the knee.

One of the best ways to prevent this injury, in addition to the aspects I referred to above (that is, warm-up, technique, principle of progression …) are the strength exercises. In this PhysioSophy channel you will find some very interesting ones.

If it’s already too late because you already feel pain, then my first advice would be to stop immediately. Time to contact a professional. Of course, in our clinic we can help you. We are supported by world-leading technology that allows us to accelerate healing and get you back to sports more quickly.

Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITB)

The iliotibial band syndrome is another of the most common running injuries when running and probably one of the most complicated ones to be treated. It is caused by the continuous friction of the iliotibial band against the knee bones, which generates intense pain on the outside of the knee when running (even when walking).

As stated in previous injuries, the best way to prevent this annoying injury is to have strong muscles and, especially, to improve running technique. Also, at the slightest pain, I recommend that you stop immediately and ask a professional. If you don’t recover properly, you can suffer from ITB for months. 

Achilles Tendonitis

In short, an Achilles tendonitis is basically an inflammation of the Achilles tendon. An incorrect running technique is usually the origin of this common injury between runners because it results in an incorrect impact on the ground. 

This injury is usually caused by a sudden change in the intensity or the length of your training sessions. That’s why I always recommend runners to planify their training. 

Very often, Achilles tendinitis is accompanied by a second injury: plantar fasciitis. Why? They both share the same myofascial chain.

Lumbago

Although lumbago (lower back pain) is not a lower extremity injury, it is also quite common among runners. Why does it happen? Mainly, due to a weakness in the core area and an overload of the quadratus lumbar muscle.

So, it’s not difficult to find out that the best way to prevent this injury is, again, with strength conditioning in the area. Anyway, if you want to know more about lumbago, we’ve thoroughly talked about it on a previous blog. 

How To Treat Your Running Injury?
 

As long as there is not only one injury, there will be no one-size-fits-all solution to your injury. My first -and most important- piece of advice is you put yourself in the hands of a professional who will diagnose your injury correctly. That’s really important! That’s the first step to running without pain again soon. 

Obviously, at The Manual Therapy Clinic we count on these resources. If you are already injured, we will help you recover. We have been treating runners of all levels for a long time. And not only this: we also have Indiba technology that helps reduce inflammation and shortens recovery times.

If you aren’t injured yet but you are looking to prevent any of these common running injuries, do not hesitate to contact us urgently. We have preventive treatments for your muscles, to protect sensitive areas and, in addition, we have a revolutionary protocol in Indiba designed for runners with some experience to improve sensations during impact and even improve their results.

Pro Tip: Correct Stance

Last but not least, I would love to end this blog with a pro tip I always make to my patients. If you spend too many hours sitting in front of a desk, I would advise you to get a foot rack as soon as possible. 

Why’s that? With a foot rack you can have a good stance: hips, knees and feet with correct 90º angles. An excellent way to avoid injuries in the back side of your feet. As a consequence, you will avoid injuries when running.

Even better… if you can, work at a standing desk.

I would love to finish this article telling you that I am here to help. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me. You can also find me on social media: Facebook or Instagram.