Running & Running Injuries

In the UK around 10.5 million people run or jog as a leisure activity and or fitness activity.  Running injuries are common and may variables can contribute.  Running injuries can happen to both experienced and inexperienced runners – up to 79% of runners with get injured in any one year.

Most running injuries occur in the lower extremities as you would expect.  With the knee being the most common injured site followed by the lower leg, foot and upper leg.  The top five injuries are:

  1. Patellofemoral pain – generic term for describe pain at the front and around the knee cap.
  2. Illiotibial band (ITB) syndrome – pain on the outside of the knee.
  3. Tibial stress fractures/syndrome – fatigue induced stress fracture.
  4. Plantar fasciitis – pain in the heel or bottom of the foot.
  5. Achilles tendonitis – pain, swelling and stiffness of the achilles tendon.

All the above injuries apart from stress fractures can be treated with sports massage.

The high rate of injury among runners is a cause for concern so in future posts I will look at the common causes we see in clinic and discuss how to prevent injuries.

Reference

Sports Marketing Surverys Inc (2014) UK’s running population reaches a remarkable 10.5m says Sports Marking Surverys Inc.

A Altman, IS Davis (2012) Barefoot running: biomechanics and implications for running injuries.  Current Sports Medicine Reports 11(5):244-50

JE Taunton, MB Ryan, DB Clement, DC McKenzie et al (2002) A retrospective case-control analysis of 2002 running injuries.  British Journal of Sports Medicine 36(2):95-101

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