Many runners will experience injury at some point in their running career. Serious runners know that they can prevent running injuries, also termed as ‘overuse’ or ‘repetitive strain’ injuries with proper physiotherapy guidance. Most of these running injuries are minor and will not affect them greatly. But there could be others, that could threaten to prevent them from enjoying their sport temporarily or, in the worst cases, permanently. In this post we detail common running injuries and how you can prevent them.
What percentage of runners get injured?
The American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation researchers suggests a running injury statistic that around 70 per cent of runners, will sustain an injury at some point, meaning, for all 100 hours of running, a runner will sustain one running injury.
Here are some interesting facts about running injuries:
- The regular runner will miss about 5-10 % of their trainings due to injury each year.
- Injuries are significantly more in novice runners than individuals who have been running for many years.
- Most running injuries are lower extremity injuries, with a predominance for the knee.
- About 50 to 75% of all running injuries appear to be overuse injuries.
- Recurrence of running injuries is reported in 20 to 70% of the cases.
What are the most common running injuries?
The most common running injuries include :
- Runners knee (Knee pain)
- Achilles tendonitis or tendon injury (Back of the Ankle and Heel pain)
- Muscle Strain
- Plantar fasciitis (Foot and Heel pain)
- Shin Splints (Shin bone pain)
- Iliotibial Band Syndrome or ITB friction syndrome (Outside of the Thigh pain)
- Stress fracture
- Ankle Sprain
- Patellar Tendinitis (Jumper’s knee)
(We will detail each of these injuries, one by one in the later part of this post]
See: Infographic on Running Injuries and Tips to Keep you running
It is important for first time runners to follow strengthening exercise regime apart from a progressive running schedule. If your body is not strong enough, or if you follow bad training practice, this can often result in overuse injuries.
How do you prevent running injuries?
You could stay injury free while running with these simple measures:
- Improve and maintain your muscular flexibility by stretching exercises
- Keep up with Muscle strengthening exercises
- Increase your mileage gradually and periodize your training schedules
- Cross train
- Wear the correct type of running shoes based on your foot type and running technique
- Never ignore Rest days
- Stay hydrated and eat a balanced diet
If you do feel your legs are heavy and tired while running and you’re carrying a niggle that you’re worried could become more serious. It’s best to stop and rest for a few days, giving the body a chance to recover at an early stage itself.
To understand what pain is ok and what isn’t, one needs to understand the warning signs of injury.
COMMON RUNNING INJURIES
Let us now address the most Common Running Injuries in a little more detail. Knowing what is causing these injuries will help you avoid the causes thereby preventing them effectively.
1. Runner’s knee:
It is medically known as patellofemoral pain syndrome or PFPS. This condition, being so common in runners, is even named after them. Survey shows that this injury makes up to 40% of all running injuries.
Runner’s knee is classically described as intense pain behind or around the kneecap that comes on during a run, or afterward. The pain gets worse when using the stairs, running downhill, after extended periods of sitting or during activities that require knee-bending motions.
Common conditions that contribute to cause a Runner’s knee include:
- Weak hip rotator muscles and/or glutes
- Improper running mechanics
- Runners who over pronate are at a higher risk of being injured.
Prevention of Runner’s Knee:
Strengthen your hip rotator and glutes. Avoid pronating. Go back up and read the popular techniques to prevent running injuries.
2. Achilles Tendonitis:
Survey shows that this injury makes up to 10% of all running injuries. Achilles tendonitis is often seen to have been caused due to:
- Improper running shoes,
- Tight and/or weak calf muscles
- Rapid increase in training volume,
- Sometimes, being flat-footed may also be the cause
- Runners with a BMI over 25 who run fast are also susceptible to this injury.
A runner suffering from this injury will experience tender pain in the lower calf near the heel, or on the back of the heel, while running, tiptoeing or when one first walks in the morning after getting out of bed.
Prevention of Achilles Tendonitis:
Make sure you wear the correct running shoes that support your feet well. Stretch well to loosen your calf muscles. Build-up your runs gradually over a period of time. Scroll back up to read again the popular techniques to prevent running injuries.
3. Muscle Strain:
The most common type of strains that afflict runners among all the various muscle strains are hamstring strains. Hamstring strains occur at the back of the thigh.
Hamstring strain may occur due to :
- Improper conditioning to high impact sports and
- Lack of warm ups
- Doing too much too soon causes the injury.
Strains manifest as tender stiffness and pain along the muscle area, especially when trying to stretch the muscle, speeding up or slowing down while running, or sometimes, anytime you perform the muscle’s action.
Related Reading : Muscle Strain, Sprain & Injury: RICE
4. Plantar fasciitis:
This is the main reason why runners have heel pain. It amounts to 10% of all running injuries. A runner with Plantar fasciitis can experience pain and tenderness along the bottom of the foot near the heel, mainly :
- within the first few steps after getting out of bed in the morning,
- getting up after prolonged periods of sitting, or,
- seemingly, while running.
Overtraining, running in the wrong footwear, extreme pronation or supination of the foot, a very high or very low arch, a lot of standing on hard surfaces, running too fast too soon, and tight and/or weak lower body muscles can cause this condition.
Related Reading: Understand more about Plantar Fasciitis: Heel Pain, its treatment and prevention
5. Shin splints:
This is also known as medial tibial stress syndrome or MTSS. It is found in people running for the first time or those running after a long time. According to surveys, 15% of all injuries are shin splints.
Runners with shin splints experience an aching, stabbing sensation along the inner side of the front of the lower leg during the first few miles of a run.
Common causes for shin splints include:
- Over pronation
- Wearing high heels
- Running on uneven or slanted surfaces
- Improper footwear
- Flat feet or high arches
Related Reading: Read more about Shin Splints, its treatment and recovery.
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6. Iliotibial (IT) band syndrome:
According to surveys, the iliotibial band syndrome makes up roughly 12 percent of all running injuries. It shows up as intense pain around the outside of the knee and/or the hip that is felt all the way down of the leg, while running downhill or while using the stairs.
Even though ITBS is not a knee injury, a burning ache may be felt in the knee due to the friction of the IT Band.
Some of the common causes for ITBS are:
- Leg length discrepancies,
- Over pronation
- Weak gluteal
- Hip abductor muscles
- Sometimes, BMI of 24 or higher
7. Stress fracture:
It is caused by repeated mechanical stress due to the high impact and repetitive nature of running. It is most common in the heel bone, the feet and the shinbone.
Stress fractures make up for 6% of all running injuries and is a serious one at that. A runner who has stress fractures will experience:
- An upsurge of pain that worsens the longer and the further you run but subsides upon rest.
- Tenderness and swelling of the entire bone are also expected.
- When severe, even the simple act of standing on your feet becomes uncomfortable and painful.
Causes of stress fracture include the following:
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Low oestrogen levels
- Drastic increase in mileage and training volume
- Overuse and overstrain
- Running / Working out even if there is a painful condition
If one ignores shin splints and continues to strain this may also lead to stress fracture.
Related Reading:
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Fracture: Leaving it half healed?
8. Ankle Sprains:
According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, 25,000 people sprain their ankles on a daily basis. Runners are no exception to that. Pain in the ankles, when you walk or run on the injured foot, bruising, skin discoloration, swelling and restricted range of movement are all signs of a possible ankle sprain.
Related Reading: Ankle Sprain: Sprain Causes, Symptoms & Treatment
9. Patellar Tendinitis:
This condition is also famously known as Jumper’s Knee. Pain is felt at the bottom of the kneecap. There may be tenderness all around the knee, though. The pain is worse when any knee bending activity, such as kneeling, squatting, sitting, jumping or ascending stairs is done.
Conditions causing Patellar Tendinitis include:
- Over pronation
- Other biomechanical challenges
- Over-training
- Too much hill training
Related Reading: How do you tell if you are overtraining running?
Physiotherapy is a lot like coursework. It is often a frustrating and long-term commitment and it can take an undue amount of time, patience and perseverance. Progress is often slow. Nevertheless, consult a physiotherapist if you think you may need to treat or avoid a running injury and help yourself perform better.
Call us at +91 99209 91584 or ask for call back and we will connect you with a physiotherapist near you.
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