MAIN AREAS OF INJURY

The most prevalent injuries seen in running are related to the knee, closely followed by the lower leg, foot, and the upper leg. Other areas of injury, but less prevalent, are the ankles, hips, and lower back. It should be noted that running is by no means bad for these areas, in fact quite the opposite is true, but increasing your running without doing the necessary strengthening to support your running can result in an injury to one of the above areas. 

The most common injuries for runners include runner’s knee (patellofemoral joint pain), achilles tendinopathy, IT band syndrome, shin splints, hamstring injuries, plantar fasciitis, stress fractures and ankle sprain. This is not an exhaustive, list but merely the commonly seen injuries from running. 

RISK OF INJURY

There are many contributing factors which can lead to an injury in running and include the following:

• Age, Gender, training-related factors such as frequency, volume, load and duration, other health factors including previous injury and co-morbidities and certain lifestyle factors such as alcohol, smoking and sleep quality. 

From what we see in our clinic running related injuries usually present with a lack of a running specific strengthening program or an avoidance of strengthening altogether. 

To note also, different running injuries will have different risk factors. 

TREATMENT

Getting the right diagnosis and plan in place early is the key treating the injury and getting you back running. Just as no two injuries are the same individual to individual, the management for each injury is different also. The initial session within our clinic will focus heavily on an assessment to establish a diagnosis, possible prognosis and a plan moving forward that is tailored to your injury, training type and goals.

PREVENTION

At MVP health we don’t just want to get you back to your previous running/fitness level but we also want to take the steps necessary to PREVENT further injury in the future. 

Strength and conditioning are important for runners in injury prevention, but increasing at the correct load and the correct time is equally important, as sharp increases in activity have been shown to increase the risk of injury in runners. 

Running is a single leg sport which requires strength and stability from the trunk down to the foot. Lack of strength in one area can affect the entire chain and result in injury. That is why a strengthening programming tailored to each individual’s need is key for both progression and injury prevention within running.