One of the many areas that a good foot doctor can help with is the prevention and treatment of running or any other sports injuries. If you love the feel of the open road under your feet, chances are good that you will have experienced some pain at one point or another. Perhaps you have had a specific foot injury caused by running, or maybe you have been finding it harder than usual to avoid pain in the foot after a run. Whatever the case, you can learn more on how to prevent and treat some of the most common running related injuries that affect the lower limbs, so that your runs remain enjoyable rather than painful.
Before we go into further detail on the types of injuries that can occur during or after running, it is important to understand what we mean when we talk about running injuries in the foot. If you have an uneven gait, or an issue in your foot or leg that you already know about, and is under control, chances are good that you either have special running shoes or orthotics that fit into your shoe to help you run. A newly healed broken limb, general sore foot, plantar wart or similar type of problem is not usually considered to be an injury specific to running as these can happen to anyone – non-runners and runners included.
An injury that is more likely to either be caused or worsened by running however, or a specific problem that affects your ability to run is slightly different. This is what we refer to as a running related injury, as it is specific to the movements that your feet and legs make during the run.
The top five injuries and how they care caused:
THE BEST WAY OF PREVENTING RUNNING OR SPORTS INJURIES IS TO ENSURE THAT YOU ARE IN THE CORRECT RUNNING SHOES AND THAT THEY FIT PROPERLY. I STONGLY SUGGEST THAT IF ANY INDIVIDUAL IS CONSIDERING EXERCISING MORE WHICH INCLUDES RUNNING, TO FIRST HAVE AN ASSESSMENT WITH A PODIATRIST TO GUIDE THE INDIVIDUAL IN WHAT TYPE OF SHOES TO PURCHASE. THIS COULD PREVENT YOU FROM CHOOSING THE INCORRECT RUNNING SHOES, AND MOST DEFINITELY AID IN PREVENTING INJURY.
One of the most tried and tested treatment options is to immediately submerge the foot in ice water for 15 minutes, until numb. Then to elevate the affected area to relieve the initial pain and swelling, this can shorten injury time. For almost any injury in fact, your first course of action should be to stop running and rest the foot. It is best to seek professional help from a Podiatrist or foot specialist rather than trying to guess what is wrong.
Stretches and aids such as orthotics may also help. Your Podiatrist will advise you on the best treatment for your specific injury, and recommend whether further action such as surgery is required. For the most part, if you follow your specialists orders and rest it out, surgery should not be necessary. Anti-inflammatory medication and pain medication can all help too. Changing your running habits may be needed in some cases, and a gait analysis or biomechanical assessment might help a great deal in identifying any potential areas for improvement.
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