Regular physical activity is important for a balanced and healthy life. Running is such a primordial and simple exercise form. So, why is it that we see so many running injuries?

For many of us running is a way of keeping fit, enjoying the outdoor and fresh air. It can also be a good and cheap anti-stress therapy for some or a way to loose excessive weight for other. For the more competitive ones running is a proper sport in which they want to excel.

In this section you will find some facts about Running Injuries and tips on how to avoid them.

The Facts:

79% of runners will have an injury in a year

That’s 8 out of 10 will sustain an injury over a year of running

Most Common Injuries:

• Runners Knee – Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome > 40%
• Plantar Fasciitis – heel / foot pain 15%
• Shin Splints – 15%I
• liotibial Pain Syndrome (ITB) – 13%
• Achilles Tendinopathy – 11%
• Hamstring strain – 7%

Commonly  blamed causes of an injury :

• Intrinsic factors like leg length discrepancy, pronation (flat foot), high arches, genu valgus / varum (knock knee or bow legged)
• Extrinsic factors like wrong ‘special’ running shoes being stability shoes or anti-pronation shoes, lack of stretching or warming up

But did you know that there are other Causes of Running Injuries

Training mistakes

• 60 – 80% of running injuries are due to training errors
• Runners exceed their tissues’ capacity to tolerate load
• A combination of overloading with inadequate recovery time
• Poorly perfused tissues, such as ligaments, tendons and cartilage, are particularly at risk because they adapt more slowly than muscles to increased mechanical load.

Two Key Factors affecting Training Load and Runner Tolerance

1. BMI > 25
2. History of past injury – especially within last 12 months
3. High BMI and previous injury may limit the amount of running your body can manage
4. Strength and conditioning is likely to improve the body’s tolerance to training load
5. There is a growing body of evidence supporting the use of strength training to reduce injury risk and improve performance.

Why do injuries happen?

• Tissues such as muscles and tendons are continuously stressed and repaired on a daily basis, as a result of both ‘normal’ functional activities and sport
• Overuse injury – a specific tissue fails to repair in the time available
• Initial breakdown at microscopic level, which over time develops into a true injury

In the following pages you can find tips and information about the above mentioned common running injuries.

• Runners Knee
• Shin Splints Iliotibial
• Pain Syndrome (ITB)
• Achilles Tendinopathy
• Plantar Fasciitis
• Hamstring strain

Don’t run or wait in pain. Book your appointment today.

Call 0191 296 0567 or email us at info@swissphysio.co.uk or book online

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