Why stopping running isn't going to solve your pain.
As a runner who experienced chronic pain for 8 years, I know how challenging it can be to find a provider that understands you and your goals. I had gone from provider to provider with no long-term solution. The treatments I received included full rest, ultrasound, ice baths, paraffin, e-stim, massage therapy, adjustments, strengthening and rehab plans, and plenty of testing such as orthopedic and neurological exams, x-ray, MRI, EKG and a full blood panel. To say I felt more broken than ever after receiving treatment would be putting it lightly. Providers tried everything under the sun for me, except one vital component in treating runners: a full return to run program that includes a detailed running prescription.
Traditional treatment and rehab consists of everything I experienced in my own chronic pain journey: passive treatments, advice such as stop running or only cross train, and/or strengthening exercises to do.
Here’s why that often isn’t enough for runners:
While a plan with just passive treatments and strengthening exercises might be incomplete, they both are a valuable part of a rehab plan. But, this is not the case for advice to stop running, stop all activity, or fully rest. This advice, when not necessary, can derail a runner’s training or even their running career.
There are very few cases in which stopping running and activity to heal your pain is medically necessary. One example would be when experiencing a stress fracture, they do often require a period of full rest to heal. But, even in this case, a return to activity can and should be sooner than often recommended. Most other aches, pains and injuries do not have the same full rest requirement as stress fractures do, yet it is still often recommended that you stop running.
This is a huge mistake, and in many cases, a recommendation based on the fact that the provider might not be sure what else to do. One of the easiest ways to make activity-related pain go away, is to simply stop the activity. But, that’s not why you’re seeking help for your pain. You’re asking for help because you want to keep running and your treatment plan should reflect that. When it is safe to do so, a runner needs to keep running during rehab.
When you stop all running and activity, you lose cardiovascular fitness and strength. Losing fitness and strength is the exact opposite thing we want to accomplish in the rehab process. Taking a runner out of running without medical necessity can lengthen the rehab process, as you will have to regain this fitness and strength at some point in addition to overcoming pain. Keeping a runner running, when it’s safe to do so, will allow you to keep the focus primarily on just overcoming that pain.
In some cases, instead of taking you out of activity, providers will give you rehab and strengthening exercises. Many of these exercises are helpful in overcoming your pain. You may have been given calf raises, clam shells, or planks just to name a few. This rehab is beneficial, but it's still leaving the biggest and most impactful piece on the table: your actual running plan.
It’s no secret that healthcare professionals don’t learn running-specific protocols and running programming in school. And this gap in knowledge becomes incredibly obvious when a runner needs running specific rehab. Prescribing specifically the amount of running along with the speed, surface, incline, shoe, exertion, etc. is a vital component of the rehab plan for a runner. This does require that you find a provider with an extensive running background and programming knowledge- but the search for one is well worth it.
If you’re a runner experiencing pain and all you’ve tried so far is passive treatments, stopping running, and adding in strength exercises, there is still so much more you can do to overcome your pain.
Our approach to treating running-related pain:
Utilize passive techniques as needed to calm down pain.
Prescribe strengthening rehab and exercises to assist in quick progression and reduce the risk of future injury.
Prescribe your running plan in detail: time, speed, distance, exertion, surface, shoe, incline, etc for each running session.
Educate on your condition. Understanding how to manipulate your running program to allow for progression without pushing yourself into injury is vital to future success and health as a runner.
Completing my first marathon after overcoming 8 years of chronic pain.
If you’re a runner who feels stuck with their pain, don’t lose hope. In the 8 years of my chronic pain, I surely did. We’re here to show you that you don’t have to. Book in a complimentary consultation call below to see if a return to run program with us is the right fit for you.
