A couple of days ago I saw a runner who started having some arch pain in his left foot after he was did a run. After he noticed this arch pain, he got some arch supports, and they actually made his arch hurt a lot worse. Arch supports are supposed to take pressure off of the arch. They are supposed to support the arch. They are supposed to make you feel better. But sometimes, arch supports can actually complicate another problem and make you feel a whole lot worse. Today on the Doc On The Run Po...
Jun 10, 2019•10 min•Ep. 168
It's that time of year, and here in California there is tons of poison oak out on the trails! I recently ran the American River 50 mile Endurance Run, and I got poison oak on that run. Now, I've had many episodes with poison oak. I also see lots of runners who get it on these long events, I see lots of runners that get it on their normal trail runs on Saturday or Sunday. In the first place, you don't have to get poison oak. But you can also do something about it if you do get poison oak. Today o...
Jun 07, 2019•13 min•Ep. 167
For about 15 years now, I've been teaching other doctors about running injuries. Every time I speak in a medical conference now, I ask doctors why they don't like treating runners. I know some runners are actually surprised to hear this, but if you are a runner, yourself, and you've been to the doctor and you've had some doctor look at your intake form or some nurse look at your intake form, and said something like, “Do you really run that much?” “Why do you exercise so much?” “Are you obsessed?...
Jun 05, 2019•12 min•Ep. 166
A plantar plate sprain is actually one of the worst possible injuries for an injured runner. They can be notoriously difficult to heal quickly if you don't do everything right. Plantar plate sprains also have a tendency to evolve into a chronic nagging pain that just keeps you off of running and training for months. Even worse, if you don't treat it correctly, the plantar plate ligament can get so weak and degenerated from all of that chronic inflammation that you even get a hammer toe. Unfortun...
Jun 03, 2019•12 min•Ep. 165
If you are runner and you started having pain in your foot and you concerned you have a metatarsal stress fracture, you may think you need to get an x-ray of your foot. But why? You probably want to know how bad it is! You probably also want to know whether or not you can run, right now. But you may be surprised to hear that x-rays of your foot will not really help answer either of those two questions if you are a runner and suspect you have a metatarsal stress fracture. Today on the Doc On the ...
May 31, 2019•9 min•Ep. 164
When you've been injured and you are starting to run again you have a very delicate balance to maintain. Your number one goal is to increase your fitness without stressing the injured tissue enough to inhibit the recovery. The goal is to get stronger without slowing the healing process. That healing process is always in motion. Every day the healing tissue gets stronger. And every day for healing tissue can withstand a little bit more activity than the day before. Today on the Doc On the Run Pod...
May 29, 2019•10 min•Ep. 163
A metatarsal stress fracture, is probably one of the most common running injuries that you could get when you're training for a long distance event like a marathon, or an ultra marathon or if you're relatively new to running. But the problem, of course, is that not all running injuries that seem like stress fractures are actually stress fractures. Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast, we're talking about the top 3 conditions misdiagnosed as a stress fracture in a runner.
May 27, 2019•7 min•Ep. 162
For most runners, when they're training for a marathon training program, or an Ironman the period of growth is usually about three weeks. You take a period where you are increasing your activity, then you back off and start increasing again from a lower point, to allow yourself to recover fully and decrease your risk of sustaining an overtraining injury. You should do a similar thing when you are recovering from a running injury, but that period can be much shorter because your increases are hap...
May 25, 2019•7 min•Ep. 161
Sometimes it's hard to do a trail run and have that run be only on a trail surface. You can't always run a trail run…entirely on a trail. What I mean by that is that you have some pavement, some asphalt, some road, or whatever, that you have to run on in order to get to the actual trail part. It ends up being a mixed trail run. Mixed trail runs can put you at risk of an over-training injury. Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast, we're talking about avoiding injury on mixed trail runs....
May 23, 2019•13 min•Ep. 160
The worst thing you can do after you've been healing with a stress fracture is to re-injure the bone. Obviously when that happens, you have a huge setback, you've just lost weeks of training, you're going to lose more fitness, and in some cases you might have to start over again with the fracture walking boot. You don't want to do that. Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast, we're talking about why the “Hop Test” is the worst test for a runner with a stress fracture who thinks the metatarsal bone ...
May 20, 2019•5 min•Ep. 159
If you think about most of your runs, you do a warmup, you do the body of the workout, and then you do a cool down. One thing that is interesting is I have recently noticed a number of runners who have gotten injured by doing runs where they're finishing on the hardest part of their run. That can put you at risk of an over-training injury. Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast, we're talking about why you should put the trouble in the middle of the run.
May 17, 2019•7 min•Ep. 158
The harder you train during your big build blocks just before a marathon, the more risk you will sustain an over training injury. Because that’s when you are using harder. The more activity you do when you are healing an injury, the more risk you will slow the healing process. Because you might stress the tissue too much. But some activities inherently have a lot more risk than other activities. Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast, we're talking about the #1 riskiest running activity.
May 16, 2019•5 min•Ep. 157
I get calls all day from people who do a lot of stuff and push the limits a little too far on the weekends. But if you do some simple things to accelerate your recovery right after those big running workouts, it can make a huge difference to avoiding an over-training injury. Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we're talking about the Legs Up The Wall Pose to speed your recovery after your weekend run workouts.
May 13, 2019•4 min•Ep. 156
Once your injury is clearly improving, you will want to run. I know you want to run. You are runner! I get it! Many recovering runners blow it and get a set-back just because the very first run is too much. Before you can resume training and ramping up your running, you have to make sure running will be safe. That's where the "test run" comes in. Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we're talking about how to do your first test run outside.
May 10, 2019•5 min•Ep. 155
When you get a metatarsal stress fracture, and you want to get back to running, you have to make an assessment on how bad it really is. The only other options is to stick with the standard treatments of “don’t do anything for 4 to 6 weeks.” To do to figure out how bad your stress fracture really is. Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we're talking about 4 critical steps to deciding how bad is my stress fracture.
May 08, 2019•4 min•Ep. 154
Resting is not all healing. If you rest too much, you’ll get weaker. If you want to get back to running, as soon as you're healed, you need to do something to prevent all of the changes that can slow you down and put you at a higher risk of re-injury once you actually do get back to running and training. Gravity and the pounding forces associated with running…that's only one of a half a dozen contributing factors that can prevent healing of a running injury. Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast w...
May 06, 2019•8 min•Ep. 153
The Achilles tendon is the largest tendon in your entire body, and if it gets injured, you've got a real problem. The Achilles tendon is what allows you to pull your heel up, off the ground, push off and accelerate when you run. What many runners don't understand is that the Achilles tendon also helps slow you down and decelerate when you’re trying to slow down, absorb force as you're landing while you're running. Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we're talking about tendon Achilles early warn...
May 04, 2019•7 min•Ep. 152
I received and email from a runner who wrote, “I ran today and my foot hurt when I ran. What should I do right now?" You want to take the quickest course of action that you can when you get an injury, and most people miss this. Many times what we do instinctively is we stick our head at the sand. We just could say, "Okay, well I'm just going to wait and see how bad it is tomorrow." But when you do that, you're actually missing some crucial steps. There are really a few things you need to do righ...
May 02, 2019•8 min•Ep. 151
As an athlete I'm sure you know that it's important you believe you can accomplish your goal. What's interesting to me is that many patients, many injured runners don't really think that much about how important it is that you actually believe in the treatment you're being offered. If you feel uneasy about the treatment, you don't think it makes any sense and you don't think it's going to work for you, even if you trust the doctor, you shouldn't do it. Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we're t...
Apr 29, 2019•8 min•Ep. 150
There are lots of things that you as an injured runner may hear in a doctor's office that really can be false evidence. Something that the doctor presents to you, that you then accept as fact. "All fractures take six weeks to heal." "You just have to take this pill, if you want to get better." Or, my favorite, "You have to stop running to heal." Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast, we're talking about how runners should take note of Doctor's F.E.A.R. False Evidence Appearing Real....
Apr 26, 2019•5 min•Ep. 149
“First, do no harm.” This basic idea is at the foundation of medicine. Doctor’s are sworn to the Hippocratic Oath, and they want you to get better. Even if that means preventing you from harming yourself when you are injured. As a runner you may feel like the very treatment offered to you will permanently harm your ability to train, run and perform…forever. But there is way to turn this idea around and get the doctor to buy-in to your concerns. Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we're talking a...
Apr 24, 2019•4 min•Ep. 148
Two very common causes of foot pain in runners are neuroma and capsulitis. Some treatments help both conditions. But some treatments will only help one and not the other. If you have pain in the ball of the foot when you run, you need to do do 3 things to heal quickly; accurate treatment, accurate diagnosis, and aggressively do the things that help and avoid the things that slow your recovery. Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we're talking about pain in the ball of the foot in runners and why...
Apr 22, 2019•11 min•Ep. 147
Running injuries aren't caused by running too much! Running injuries are caused by applying too much stress to specific structures when you're running on a slope or changing direction. If you want to reduce the risk of getting over training injury, mix things up. Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we're talking about about why you should reduce your risk for injury and run the other way.
Apr 19, 2019•5 min•Ep. 146
Which is more likely to cause an injury....running fast, or running slow? Explosive speed workouts can put you at risk of injury. Running at your limit can put you at risk of injury. But believe it or not, if you spend too much time running slow, you may actually increase your risk of an overtraining injury. Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we're talking about about how slow may be your injury speed.
Apr 18, 2019•6 min•Ep. 145
Morton’s neuroma is a common cause of pain in the ball of the foot in runners. Doctors often tell runners to stop running when when they get a neuroma. But don’t be confused. Runners should always figure out how to keep running! This episode is inspired by Cathy, who sent a comment which all runners with Morton’s neuroma should find encouraging. Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast, we're talking about how you should not let Morton’s neuroma stop you from running.
Apr 15, 2019•7 min•Ep. 144
Lots of running injuries are aggravated by bending of the toes. Plantar plate sprains, sesamoiditis, and Morton’s neuroma all get irritated when you bend the toes too much while you run. If you have any of these conditions it may help if you add some stiffness to your running shoe. One way to add stiffness and help decrease pain in the big toe joint and the ball of the foot is too add a carbon fiber insert to the running shoe. Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast, we're talking whether or not you...
Apr 13, 2019•12 min•Ep. 143
When you get an over training injury, what happens? It's too much stress applied to one structure over too shorter time without enough recovery to actually let it fully heal before the next workout. There are a few things that you can pay attention to that often signal the possibility of an injury that's coming on. Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast, we're talking about signs to look out for that may signal you are heading for a running injury.
Apr 10, 2019•8 min•Ep. 142
Are your running shoes the best for your run today? There are all kinds of running shoes, and they are all built for different runs, different foot types, and different runners. Every shoe has its place. Every runners longs the one perfect running shoe. Everybody wants the best running shoe…built just for you. Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast, we're talking about how to choose the best running shoes for the run.
Apr 08, 2019•6 min•Ep. 141
Are your current running shoes putting you at risk for a stress fracture? One common reason for too much bone stress is that a runner didn't have enough cushioning because they were using a shoe that was too stiff, or wasn't padded enough, or soft enough, and they were running on concrete or asphalt. That run, in those particular running shoes, beat up the bone too much and then the bone started to crack and develop into a stress fracture. Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast, we're talking about...
Apr 05, 2019•6 min•Ep. 140
I was recently at a medical conference and I asked all the doctors in the audience ... I said, "What causes stress fractures?" A doctor raised his hand and the very first thing he said is, "Running too much." Well, that is not true. That's the default answer, but that doesn't make any more sense to me than telling you that not running will cure your stress fracture. Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast, we're talking about what really causes stress fractures.
Apr 03, 2019•6 min•Ep. 139
