Common injuries in runners

Patellofemoral pain syndrome

• Pain at the front of your knee, around your kneecap. Sometimes called runner's knee, and more common in sports that involve running and jumping.
• Knee pain often increases when you run, walk up or down stairs, sit for long periods or squat.
• Treatment is generally conservative with anti-inflammatories and exercise. Strengthening and stretching the quadriceps and hamstrings is first-line therapy, and terminal knee extensions are a main quadriceps exercise.
• As with all running injuries, replace running shoes around every 300 to 500 miles.

Achilles tendinitis

• Most commonly occurs in runners who suddenly increase the intensity or duration of their runs, and typically begins as a mild ache in the back of the leg or above the heel after running.
• It is characterized by pain with heel strike, pain when the foot lands on a curb, when running up stairs or with a sudden change of direction.
• Most cases can be treated with relatively simple at-home care under your doctor's supervision. More serious cases can lead to tendon tears that may require surgical repair.

Iliotibial band (ITB) syndrome

• Pain on the outside of the knee while running, often noticed more on slower runs, hills, or going up and down stairs.
• Potential causes include overpronation, running on a banked surface, increasing mileage or intensity too quickly, weak hip abductor and extensor muscles, or the wrong shoe type.
• Treatment is conservative: anti-inflammatories plus therapy to strengthen the hip abductors and extensors, and ITB stretches.
• Home exercise: stand with the affected leg toward a wall, cross the unaffected leg in front, place your arm on the wall and drop the hips toward the wall. Hold 15 seconds, repeat three times.

Shin splints

• Pain in the shin while running that is most intense when you start and decreases through the run.
• Diagnosis is clinical, with tenderness along the inner lower shin that worsens with plantarflexion. X-rays are needed to rule out a stress fracture.
• Risk factors include shoes without enough shock absorption, running on cement or uneven surfaces, a sudden increase in training, running more than 20 miles a week, and overpronation.
• Treatment is conservative, with rest and activity modification first. Cross training with biking or swimming is another option.
• Home treatment: freeze water in a foam cup, peel the top off and rub up and down the painful area of the shin after running.
• The best prevention is good shoe maintenance.

Tibial shaft stress fractures

• An overuse injury where bone is subjected to repetitive stress, resulting in microfractures.
• Diagnosis can often be made on X-ray, but MRI should be obtained when X-rays are normal and suspicion is high.
• Treatment is activity restriction with protected weight bearing in most cases. Surgery is recommended for an anterior tibia tension-sided stress fracture.
• Risk factors are similar to shin splints, but symptoms can progress to pain with daily activities rather than only with running.

If you are concerned you have one of these injuries or any sports injury, call 985-262-1639 to make an appointment.