Do you have pain keeping you from running as far as you want? Or pain that has made you stop running completely? Tried resting for a while only to find the
pain returns as soon as you attempt to jog again? These things do not mean you throw in the towel and stop running. On the flip side the pain won’t be going away on its own anytime soon.
Running is one of the easiest and most affordable modes of exercise that we can engage in. However up to 80% of people who run for exercise or sport will incur some type of injury and pain at some point in their lifetime. The reason for this is that running is a very repetitive movement, where one person can take up to 5,000 steps in a 30 minute jog. During running the force transmitted through our body is up to 2.5 times the body weight. This is a force that our bodies should be able to handle, after all the human body was initially made for movement and made to be able to run. When injury or pain occurs with running it is because the body has lost its ability to efficiently absorb this force, resulting in pain in the knee, foot, ankle, hip, etc. However, just because you are experiencing pain does not mean that you should stop running, or that your body is “too old” to run.
This is where physical therapy can help identify which joints or muscles are not functioning properly, whether it is due to muscle weakness or a joint mobility issue. We have the ability to take a person through a video running analysis, slow this video down and assess the movement of each joint through each phase of running, from initial contact through push off. We then use this information to help you modify your running pattern to make you a more efficient runner. In addition to the running analysis a full body movement evaluation is conducted to also assess joint mobility, muscle flexibility, strength, and functional movement patterns. Combining these two processes allows us to give you specific exercises and utilize manual techniques to help calm down the pain and normalize your running pattern. Enabling you to return to your exercise goals without fully stopping you from running.
So whether you want to jog for light exercise, train for a 5K or half marathon, or prevent future injuries occurring while you run, physical therapy can help with all of these areas. At Empower Physical Therapy we are here to help you meet your goals, stay active, and stay healthy.
