Running Pain & Injuries
This Running Pain web site is for the thousands of runners, joggers, and even walkers who are not concerned with how fast they can finish a race but who want to run without running pain & injury and be able to enjoy it. Running is an enjoyable and healthy sport, but it can be tough on the body, including the legs, feet and especially the knees.
The impact and stress of running is sometimes hard on the muscles and joints; especially if you ignore early warning signs. One of the early signs is Pain. Any structural flaws in your feet or slight imbalances in your stride will eventually result in an ache here or there. Pain while running, is common, and it often affects the hips, knees, ankles, and feet of runners. An injury means taking a break, and runners hate the thought of gaining weight, losing fitness, or missing an endorphin rush. So use this site to take a look at what injuries you are likely to face — before a single problem occurs!
Pain, while plainly irritating, actually serves a useful purpose; it’s your body’s way of telling you to stop. You are not doing yourself any favors by covering up that pain and ignoring it so that you can run through an injury. In fact, you’ll only do more harm. Using pain killing products like Ibuprofin, or Alleve masks the pain, and continuing to run while “hiding” the pain only serves to worsen the injury. You have silenced your body’s warning system and further more serious damage is almost certain to take place Use painkillers to speed your recovery and ease discomfort, but only after you have identified and eliminated the cause of the pain in the first place. Consider an all natural anti-inflammatory such as Flexcin, (our sponsor) to eliminate the inflammation completely. Its feature ingredient, CM8, has recently been revealed to be significantly more effective than glucosamine in treating running injuries.
Two types of Pain from Running Injuries
Most injured runners are suffering with an overuse injury, rather than a traumatic injury. A traumatic injury would be something that happens abruptly to an area of the body that was perfectly healthy until that unexpected moment. Overuse injuries are damage to tissue that builds up over time until eventually revealing itself as pain. Commonly known as “repetitive motion” injuries, they are identified by the full range of pain thresholds: from dull aches, to twinges to debilitating pain.
Avoiding Painful Running Injuries
If you run long enough, you are likley to suffer some type of injury. The trick is to prepare for it and minimize it. With a good injury prevention plan, you can participate longer, with less pain, and an overall more enjoyable experience. Preventing running injuries can be broken down into several general areas of focus. Proper conditioning, flexibility, strength training, nutrition & proper equipment are just a few of the areas of focus for running injury prevention. Here are a few hints to help you maintain a healthy stride for a long time:
When it is time to start jogging, it is important for the jogger to find and keep a steady stride. Most people start out running too quickly and end up exhausting themselves in a short amount of time. A good rule is to start out consciously thinking about slowing down. Focus on how it feels to run at a certain stride, and maintain that stride. Keep a slow pace and concentrate on placing each foot down so that it hits the ground in the middle of the foot instead of the toes or heels. Make sure to look up and enjoy the scenery. Looking down can make the run seem long and monotonous and can create a poor running attitude, leading tobad posture. Many people end up tensing up their muscles and focusing on every little discomfort when running. Instead, focus on relaxing, staying limber, and enjoying the run. Loosen hands and fingers and make sure that shoulders are kept down. Keep the pace relaxed and not too bouncy.
In order to prevent pain one can refer to the following guidelines:
- Always warm up for a run by walking for 5 – 10 minutes first, especially if you are new to it.
- Limit mileage increases to 10 percent per week.
- Add speed-oriented training in small doses.
- Don’t overstride; develop a short, economical stride.
- Stay off the hardest and softest surfaces, like sidewalks and tall grass.
- Replace shoes within every 500 miles.
- Regularly strengthen and stretch your running muscles and tendons, especially those you’ve injured before.
Running pain doesn’t need to stop you from enjoying your hobby. As long as you take the proper time to prepare for your exercise, and use the right equipment just like in any other form of exercise, you should be able to avoid any pitfalls. And if you do suffer any pain, by knowing the symptoms, you can treat it and eliminate it before any serious injury is caused.
