If you want to run as soon as possible after an injury, you may need aggressive treatment like immobilization in a cast or a fracture walking boot.
When I lecture at medical conferences, I talk a lot about why I believe fracture walking boots are over-prescribed, overused and often used way too long in many injured runners for common overtraining injuries.
In talking to another runner the other day, I was thinking about the specific goals that are in conflict between you and your doctor.
Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we’re talking about doctor’s goals when they give you a fracture walking boot versus your goals when you’re wearing a fracture walking boot and you’re a runner.
View Details »I was just on a call with a runner who has had this condition called “hallux rigidus.” and it’s where your big toe joint starts to get stiff, becomes rigid, and it doesn’t move as much.
Hallux rigidus is a progressive condition, especially if you continue to irritate the joint. You can damage the joint cartilage. The stiffer the big toe joint gets, the more pressure on the cartilage when the big toe is trying to fight that stiffness. Sometimes that movement hurts.
He was asking me about the options on different injections.
What are the risks between an injection like a PRP or platelet rich plasma injection versus something like a cortisone injection when you have hallux rigidus?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »Have you ever been to the doctor and heard this, “You must be allergic to running because you get injured every time you go running.”
A recovering runner and I were on a call talking about how she could get back to running and how to “just go for a run” without getting re-injured.
We were talking about this approach of getting her running fitness back now, and returning to running faster without just sitting around waiting.
She told me something I had never heard.
Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we’re talking about running allergies and injury recovery.
View Details »Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common conditions that affects runners.
In fact, foot pain consistent with plantar fasciitis accounts for about 40% of all visits to the podiatrists in the United States each year.
Unfortunately, just because you think that you have plantar fasciitis, and you started doing some simple things to treat it, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to get better.
If you are a runner, and you think you have plantar fasciitis, you must realize there are some avoidable mistakes you could make when trying to self-treat runner’s heel pain.
Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast, we’re talking about the top five reasons runners heel pain doesn’t get better.
View Details »I just had a discussion with a really interesting patient. He was a pro triathlete. He had some difficulty getting past a particular injury.
We were talking about all of the ways that you can encounter barriers to healing. And how you can start making progress in spite of them.
We were talking about two different things, logical and psychological barriers.
What’s the difference between logical versus psychological barriers to healing injuries in runners?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »Every runner with a stress fracture wants to know “when can I run?”
How soon you can start running after a foot fracture really depends on when you have enough strength in the bone so that the healing fracture will withstand the forces applied during running without breaking the bone again.
It all depends on what you do to speed up (or slow down) the bone healing process. The rate of fracture healing depends on your physiology, and it depends on stages of bone healing.
But it does NOT depend entirely on generic timelines.
How long is each stage of fracture healing when you have a broken bone?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »The first thing any runner should do when you roll your ankle is protect the ankle from further injury. In fact, the algorithm doctors use to treat ankle sprains is P. R. I. C. E.
P stands for Protection, meaning don’t roll it again. Don’t make it worse. Then, Rest it. Ice it. Use Compression to keep it from swelling. Elevate it to get the fluid out if it’s really swollen.
So, what happens is, you’re a runner, you’re out on a trail and you roll your ankle. What happens if you don’t follow the PRICE method?
It just might take a whole lot longer before it gets better.
What are the most common three ways I see runners lose all their fitness after they get an ankle sprain?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »There are three key indications that tell me that somebody may not have plantar fasciitis, but probably have something else.
If you think you have plantar fasciitis, you may have a different form of runner’s heel pain. Treating the wrong condition will not get you back to running. Understanding the ways plantar fasciitis shows up can help you make sure you don’t have something else causing your heel pain.
What are the three best signs that your heel pain is not Plantar fasciitis?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »I got a specific question about a recent episode on calluses in runners.
The question was, “Well, if you have that pattern of callus, and reduce the thickness of the callus so the callus is going away, does that mean there is less pressure there?”
You may have checked out the episode on the three callus patterns that I see in runners at high risk for getting a plantar plate injury.
Does callus reduction reduce your risk or decrease the risk that you’re going to get a plantar plate sprain?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »I was just on a call with an interesting elite athlete, and he’s been injured.
He had one particular injury in his foot and then started having a completely different injury, as soon as that injury in his foot was starting to heal.
We were talking about how disappointment can lead to more and more setbacks.
The phrase he used struck me.
He said, “I think it might be traumatic disappointment.”
What is traumatic disappointment and what kind of effect can it have on delayed healing in an injured runner?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
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