4 Common Running Injuries and How to Avoid Them

Its that time of the year again. Whether your in Squamish or Whistler, every weekend there seems to be some sort of race or event going on. 5km, 10km, ½ marathon, ultra marathon or just trail running; whatever your running goals are this season acupuncture can help you achieve your goals and excel your performance.

1. Stop being a Lazy BUM!

It’s very common in runners to have inactive lateral glutes. These lateral Glutes provide stability to the pelvis as you move. Without the proper engagement from these muscles it will create instability in your knees, ankles and feet and can increase your risk of injury. Runners make sure when you are doing your training that your entire focus isn’t just on the “driving” muscles such as your quadriceps. Have a well balance-training program that incorporates your stabilizing muscles will decrease your chances of creating an injury. If you are having trouble with a lazy butt and finding it difficult with engagement. Acupuncture can help! Acupuncture can help activate the muscles and restore the connection between your brain and the muscles that are firing correctly.

2. Unwinding the Tension

Fascia is a hot topic right now. Everyone from your yoga teacher to your personal training has mentioned it as some point. Fascia is a biological fabric that holds us together. No wonder everyone is talking about it. It’s pretty important. Fascia is the 3D spider web of fibrous, gluey and wet proteins that hold them all together in their proper place. Understanding fascia is essential to the connection between stability and movement and is crucial to performance and recovery.

Many runners create repetitive stress that transfers along the fascia lines. Many runners hold extra tension along the back fascia and lateral fascia lines such as the hamstrings, Achilles, and IT band. This extra tension can cause an increase in injuries. Such things as rolling your feet out with a ball or a foam roll on your hamstrings or IT band can help relax some of the fascia tension.

If you are still having trouble with the fascia tension acupuncture can help. The fascia line and the meridians on the body correspond on the same or similar pathways. When an acupuncture needle is places in the body it can penetrate to the fascia level and can bring about cellular changes in the fascia. By releasing adhesions and trigger points along these facial chains, acupuncture can correct the imbalances in the body, thus reducing your risk of injuries.

3. Burning ring of fire

We have all had some sort of inflammation at one time or another. And not all inflammation is a bad thing. Acute inflammation is actually good. Why? Well while most of us associate inflammation with pain, inflammation is a necessary part of the body’s response to injury and infection. The swelling and increased blood flow is necessary for healing. Improper biomechanics, overtraining, stress, poor diet can all lead to an impairment of the body’s natural ability to fully recover. Thus, can result in chronic inflammation problems. If you are having inflammation that is lasting longer then it should or are having pain accompanied with the inflammation you need to get some acupuncture! Acupuncture is effective at getting to the level of inflammation even if its stuck in pockets such as around the sheath of the Achilles tendon, joint spaces such as knees and ankles, or behind the insertion of IT band. Acupuncture can help any lingering inflammation, speed up the bodies healing process and help restore strength, mobility and function back to the body.

4. How Much Is To Much

Many runners don’t believe there is a thing as too much running. But just like any other athlete you can over train. Rest and recover are essential components to any training program, even for runners! You need to achieve an appropriate balance between training competition stress and recovery to maximize your performance. If you are always stressing the body faster then it can recover, you will develop over training systems. Such symptoms of overtraining are fatigue, lack of concentration, poor sleep, depleted immune system and not recovering from your workouts. If you are experiencing overtraining, taking time to allow your body to heal will help you excel your performance. Acupuncture is also very successful to help you speed up your recovery and boost your performance. Acupuncture has been shown to activate your parasympathetic nervous system, enhance your rate of blood lactic removal and reduce severity and duration of exercise induced injury and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). If you are an athlete and have experienced any over training symptoms, regular acupuncture treatments can help keep you in the game and take your performance to the next level.

Book your post training treatment today. Help your body reduce injuries, and excel your performance with acupuncture. www.squamishmountainmedicine.com or www.whistleracupuncture.com

About Katherine Smyth
Katherine Smyth, is a registered Acupuncturist with the CTCMA, personal trainer, yoga teacher, and counselor and owner of Squamish Mountain Medicine. Squamish Mountain Medicine is an alternative medicine clinic helping people live pain free without the use of prescription drugs. Squamish Mountain Medicine provides natural health options to people of all ages, with a specialty in pain, injuries, stress, depression & anxiety, headaches, digestive issues, women’s health, fertility and pregnancy care. Kat is a proud part of the integrative team of practitioners at Reach Physiotherapy Clinic in Squamish, British Columbia. To book an appointment or for more info go to www.squamishmountainmedicine.com
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