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How to deal with injury (Read 41 times)

Birdwell


    I'm hurt! (Physically at least)

    background: a week and a half ago, on my long run, I noticed some pain flaring up in my knee on the last quarter of the run (last 5 of 20 or so). Didn't think to much of it, until the next morning. I could hardly walk it was so stiff. I didn't fall, trip or twist anything on the run.

    I backed off a bit on the next few runs, the pain turned to discomfort, and I could deal with it.

     

    This week it flared up a lot, turned back into pain and caused me to cut short my Saturday run. The pain/discomfort is coming and going throughout the day, regardless of activity level.

     

    I'm 9 weeks away from my first 50 miler (already registered,got time off work, hotel reservation made) and I'm not sure how to proceed.

     

    Do I push through the pain? Cut back the mileage? take some time off? stretch and cross train more?

     

    What do you think? Thanks in advance. My log is public, you can easily see my mileage progression. The two weeks off in Feb/Mar were to deal with an unrelated foot injury, which has since completely healed.

     

    MTA: the pain is right under the knee cap, not anything related to ITBS.


    Uh oh... now what?

      Look up:  chondromalacia of the patella [ Runner's Knee ]

       

      Read enough to see if that might be it.

       

      Right after that -- can you go to a sports doctor?  Not a General Practitioner, you need a sports MD if all all possible so you can find out as soon as you can (not an emergency thing, but sort of soon).

       

       Tried any icing?  Elevation/ice/NSAIDs ... lots of beer?

       

      No, do not push through the pain.  You push through discomfort.  If it is pain (your call), rest, read, see a doc if the reading doesn't point you at something useful.

       

      Can you bike?  Swim?  Play on the trampoline?

       

      Nine weeks is a world of time away.  You can easily take a week off and not lose any fitness worth worrying over.  Rest is both underrated and widely feared by endurance runners.

       

      Remember--I have no medical credentials whatsoever, but have lots of experience baking muffins.

       

      Oops, sorry to hear you are injured, but remember to believe in your foundation.

      Chnaiur


        Sorry to hear about this. A little less than two years ago, I started feeling soreness in my Achilles tendons during the first few minutes of each run. Over a few months, the soreness gradually got worse, and I started being stiff between runs. I didn't push through anything, and I still enjoyed running.

         

        Finally after one run in October 2011, I realized that I didn't enjoy that run because of the pain. I could still have pushed through plenty of long runs if I had needed to, but I decided to stop running and have it checked. Turns out I had severe inflammation and scarring of both Achilles tendons. I'm just getting back to running after 18 months off, and I believe I will be doing calf raises for the rest of my life.

         

        Just my experience - I hope you are luckier.

        3/8 Way Too Cool 50k WNS

        4/19 Tehama Wildflowers 50k

         

        TrailProf


        Le professeur de trail

          I am becoming an expert on injuries - not medically speaking but personally.  I concur with John - sounds like some form on tendonitis in the knee which I have dealt with.  Do not run through it.  Ice after any workout/run.  NSAIDS might help but rest for a bit is also good.  I have read that strengthening the quads help with the knee tendons.  But yes to John's suggestion of a sports doc or a good PT (who knows running injuries).

           

          Chnauir - I might be heading in the direction you took.  I am currently debating seeing a foot specialist to determine if I have damage.  I have been in some semi severe pain in my feet since my 50k 9 days ago.  Injuries just plain suck...

          My favorite day of the week is RUNday

           

           

          MadisonMandy


          Refurbished Hip

            I dealt with a shin injury about 6-8 weeks before my first 50 miler.  I ended up taking about a month off and biked every chance I had.  I had a strong base and the biking kept my cardio going, so I was able to finish the 50 without any issues.

             

            See a sports doc if you can, rest, cross train if that doesn't hurt.  And also pay attention to what John bolded about time off and resting.

            Running is dumb.


            Uh oh... now what?

              ... The two weeks off in Feb/Mar were to deal with an unrelated foot injury, which has since completely healed.

              Sorry, the quick response last night caused me to miss this line.

               

              During the recovery from any sort of injury the body tends to compensate

              in one way or another.  You might want to think back and see if during your

              recovery you could have been running in a way that favored on side.  That

              act can easily lead to an imbalance in both muscle development (recovery)

              and skeletal alignment... which can lead to...

               

              The weight work for 'runner's knee' is simple, doesn't require a lot of weight

              or a gym.  I do twice as many reps for my weak leg as for the other one--on

              the days when I can remember which is which.

               

              (We don't have a good body between the two of us in this household.)

              FTYC


              Faster Than Your Couch!

                My suggestion is that you should'nt push through the pain. Give it time to heal.

                It sounds like an inflammation to me, so NSAIDs could help, but don't use their pain-killing potential to let you go out and run far. That would be counter-productive.

                 

                Maybe you can get your doc to give you a prescription for Voltaren (diclophenac) gel. That stuff always works miracles for me, it's one of the strongest topical anti-inflammatory meds that actually work in the joints and tendons/ligaments.

                 

                Icing, especially right after the run, maybe at night, and backing off on the mileage for a week or two won't hurt. Keep your fitness level up with cross-training. You have enough time to deal with it properly now, no need to take shortcuts now and find yourself in the same situation again a week before the race!

                Run for fun.

                Chnaiur


                  I learned some stuff on dealing with inflammation from my PT and my own experiences:

                   

                  * There is an acute phase, and a chronic phase of inflammation. You need  to deal with the acute phase before it causes permanent change in the tendon. That permanent change is what causes the chronic inflammation.

                  * For the acute phase, icing is great, and alternating baths are even better: four minutes in hot (110F) water, and one minute in ice water. Switch back and forth until you get bored. I was doing emails on my laptop while doing this.

                  * For chronic phase, massaging the tendon with a smooth edge seems to loosen up the scar tissue. I use a block of ice from a small tupperware container to massage my calf and AT daily.

                  * It takes 60-70 hours for inflammation to flare to its max. So when ramping up, I ran only every three days. That allowed me to assess to response to running better when I was ramping.

                   

                  Maybe this will help someone. 

                  3/8 Way Too Cool 50k WNS

                  4/19 Tehama Wildflowers 50k

                   

                  TrailProf


                  Le professeur de trail

                    I learned some stuff on dealing with inflammation from my PT and my own experiences:

                     

                    * There is an acute phase, and a chronic phase of inflammation. You need  to deal with the acute phase before it causes permanent change in the tendon. That permanent change is what causes the chronic inflammation.

                    * For the acute phase, icing is great, and alternating baths are even better: four minutes in hot (110F) water, and one minute in ice water. Switch back and forth until you get bored. I was doing emails on my laptop while doing this.

                    * For chronic phase, massaging the tendon with a smooth edge seems to loosen up the scar tissue. I use a block of ice from a small tupperware container to massage my calf and AT daily.

                    * It takes 60-70 hours for inflammation to flare to its max. So when ramping up, I ran only every three days. That allowed me to assess to response to running better when I was ramping.

                     

                    Maybe this will help someone. 

                    Wow...that speaks volumes.  Thanks!

                    My favorite day of the week is RUNday

                     

                     

                    Chnaiur


                      Remembered one more thing during my run yesterday: Ibuprofen doesn't do anything for me. I tried 6-800 mg three times daily for a week, and nothing happened. My doctor mentioned there may be some genetic factors involved in how well Ibuprofen works.

                      3/8 Way Too Cool 50k WNS

                      4/19 Tehama Wildflowers 50k