#735 Bedrest is like Chemo for Runners

One of the most powerful ways to reduce stress and strain on any piece of injured tissue is to get completely off of your feet. Bedrest can do that.

I was talking with a runner recently who asked a great question,

“Should I just do bed rest?”

I answered,

“Bed rest is like chemo for runners.”

With chemotherapy, we’re basically giving you a powerful drug.

But is it going to kill the tumor first, or is it going to kill the patient first?

Bed rest is like chemotherapy for runners, and that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.

#704 How long should I use crutches?

Today’s episode comes from a question posted as a YouTube video comment.

That video was explaining how using crutches for a short period of time can help injured runners.

I wasn’t talking about months of crutches, not many weeks, but a short period of time to try to accelerate the process of healing over-training injuries.

In the comments someone posted and said, “How long would you use crutches for this…?”

How long should I use crutches?

Well, that’s a million-dollar question! And that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.

#526 Is a boot enough for a tibial stress fracture in runners?

Today’s episode is going to be a good one for you to listen to, if you’ve been told that you have a tibial stress fracture, or if you just think you might have a tibial stress fracture. If you get a tibial stress fracture, the chances are really good that the doctor’s going to do something to really restrict your running, and potentially your ability to move around at all. For example, if you get a fracture walking boot and it’s on your right foot, well, you can’t even drive a car so you’ve got to take this seriously. Is a fracture walking boot enough when you have a tibial stress fracture and you’re a runner? Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run podcast.

#482 The best and worst way to stop using crutches

If you suffer a severe running injury, some doctors will give you crutches to speed up the recovery process. Healing any running injury is a race against time. All overtraining injuries will eventually heal. But if you take a long time to heal, you’re going to lose a lot of running fitness. You will get weaker, stiffer and develop a loss of coordination.That loss of fitness will make it very difficult for you to achieve your running goals after you fully recover. The goal isn’t to heal. The goal is to run without re-injury. Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast, we’re talking about the best and worst ways to stop crutches if you’re an injured runner.

#454 Torn Achilles: Should I use crutches?

Just this weekend, I got a call from somebody who said that she was out on a run, she felt a pop in the back of her heel, she went to the emergency room and she was told that she has a partial tear in her Achilles tendon.
I’m not really sure if they did x-rays or an MRI or an ultrasound or anything to confirm that, but the doctor seemed very confident that she had torn her Achilles tendon.
And so, she said that all they did really was they gave her some crutches and they told her to see a specialist, which is why she called me.
She asked me “I just found out that I tore my Achilles tendon. The emergency room physician gave me crutches. What should I do?”
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.

#277 Are crutches bad for injured runners?

I just had a consultation with an injured runner who asked…

“Are crutches bad for injured runners?”

The correct answer is yes, crutches are bad for injured runners, especially if you use crutches any longer than it takes to heal your injury enough to start walking without crutches.

But if you needed crutches, and you avoid them, that could be even worse for you as a runner.

Nothing in medicine is black and white. Everything is gray. And crutches are no exception.

Today on the Doc on the Run Podcast, we’re talking about what injured runners should think about when injured and offered a pair crutches in a doctors office.

3 Keys to Less Time on Crutches 

 Subscribe: iTunes | Android Today on the Doc On The Run podcast we’re talking about 3 keys to less time on crutches. Let’s Face it…Crutches Suck! It’s still hard for me to believe that the same crutches, the same design that doctors hand out to patients today are more or less the same kind […]