Injury prevention for Runners | By Six Physio

Did you know 50% of running injuries are reoccurrences? If you've been injured before, you're more likely to get injured again. It therefore makes sense to look at the root cause of the injury and not just treat the symptom(s). At Six Physio we treat a lot of runners, for a range of injuries, but one of the most common is Runners Knee.

Don’t ignore the sore spots
Symptoms include pain behind or around the kneecap (especially where the thighbone and the kneecap meet), pain when you bend the knee e.g. when walking, squatting, kneeling, running, or even rising from a chair. It may also be painful when walking downstairs or downhill, plus it is common to experience a popping or grinding sensation behind the kneecap. Although it can be frustrating, take the time to allow the soft tissue to heal by resting and icing the area for a day or two.

Why does it occur in the first place?
There are 3 common explanations:

• Repeated bending and loading of the knee joint
• A direct trauma, e.g. a fall
• Misalignment of the knee cap and a muscular imbalance of the thigh muscles which can lead to a disproportionate load applied on the knee cap. It’s often due to an ITB injury which can be caused by a mobility issue, strength, control or simple technique fault.

The simple answer
See a running specialist to work out which of these factors are causing the symptoms: using video-motion analysis our running gurus can assess your technique and tweak it accordingly, to get you running injury-free.

What can be done at home?

• Buy a foam roller and roll those sore bits! Release the ITB, quads, hip flexors and glutes.
• Glute activation is key: suggested exercises are clams, leg lifts & squats.
• Static stretches for hip flexor and gluteal muscles.
• Strengthening exercises for the gluteal muscles.

Good luck, runners!

#runwell