Just today I was talking to a runner who has an injury and although this injury has gone on for a long time, I thought that she would know exactly whether it's improving or not. She said she thought it was improving, but we don't really know if it's improving, because there is no data. It is easy for us as runners to tell when our fitness is getting better, we feel stronger, we feel better. But unfortunately we don't really want to think about pain. We don't want to think about injury. We don't ...
Jan 15, 2020•4 min•Ep. 259
The single most important thing you can do when you think you have a running injury is to make a decision, quickly. You only have two choices. 1. Realize and admit you are injured and get about the business of recovery. 2. Confirm you aren't really injured and then adjust your course to continue your training. But what most runners do is something in between. We want to believe we are not injured. We want to think we can continue training. And instead of just kidding about the business of recove...
Jan 11, 2020•8 min•Ep. 258
I got an interesting question sent in from a runner, who said… I fractured my left ankle. I have been in an Aircast ever since. So, should I continue with the Aircast for another three weeks or try out an ankle brace? Obviously when you want to get back to running, you think the key is always to advance as quickly as possible from one stage to the next...and that is true. You definitely want to try to advance as rapidly as possible. Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we're talking about when a...
Jan 09, 2020•6 min•Ep. 257
No treatment is best for every runner. Not even metatarsal fracture surgery. Your task as an injured runner who wants to run is to figure why a treatment is right for you…or not right for you…even if it gets recommended by a doctor or surgeon. When a comes to surgery to fix metatarsal fracture in your foot there a few considerations runners need to think about. Risk of NOT healing with or without surgery. Risks of surgery themselves and risks related specifically to your running goals. Today on ...
Jan 03, 2020•10 min•Ep. 255
Doctors sometimes prescribe treatments than can be bad for runners. If wear a fracture walking boot, your muscles get weaker, your tendons and ligaments get stiffer, your bones start to lose calcium. If you take ibuprofen during a race you can get gastrointestinal upset that complete wrecks your nutrition plan. In the the worst cases you could even get kidney failure. If you break a bone and a doctor puts a cast on your leg you could get “cast disease.” Even an adhesive bandage can cause trouble...
Jan 01, 2020•6 min•Ep. 254
Most runners are aggressive by nature. Planning, training, eating, analyzing, reaching for goals in way that your friends may label…“obsessed.” Sometimes we are so aggressive we make a mistake, do too much and get an injury. The bad news is that we are now inundated with an air of “self-care” mentality that backfires. The good news is that you already know how to heal. It is the same as recovery when training. You need to be just as aggressive in your healing plan as you are in your training pla...
Dec 30, 2019•6 min•Ep. 253
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 Podc...
Dec 28, 2019•6 min•Ep. 252
I just had a consultation with a woman who has been having pain in the toes and the end of the big toenails just after running. The pain in the big toes has been getting worse. She was also getting some numbness or tingling around the corner of the toenails. She wanted to know… "Am I doing something wrong with my shoes?” “Am I cutting my toenails wrong?” “Is there really something wrong on the inside of my toe?" Today on the Doc on the Run Podcast, we're talking about what you need to think abou...
Dec 26, 2019•5 min•Ep. 251
Every runner who is injured and has been told to stop running wants to get back to running as quickly as possible. We all want a secret path to healing and a fast track to return to recovery. When it comes to getting better after you get an over training injury there are really only two possibilities if you want to get back to running as quickly as possible. Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we're talking about how injured runners must learn or earn the knowledge and experience necessary to r...
Dec 24, 2019•5 min•Ep. 250
Today a runner asked a great question…”Can I run with shin splints?” The short answer is yes, you can run on shin splints for a short period of time…if it shin splints. The problem is, is that there are a couple of different conditions that are often called “shin splints” that could be something else. The real questions are: If I stop running because of shin splints will I lose all of my fitness? Can I run with shins splints and still heal? Can I run with shinsplints without getting worse? Today...
Dec 21, 2019•5 min•Ep. 249
Today I heard a great question from a runner… She asked, “A doctor told me that I have a neuroma in my foot and I need to have surgery to remove it because it hurts when I run. Should I get a surgical second opinion?” There is really one clear indication of when you really need to seek a second opinion when a doctor recommends surgery. Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we're talking about whether or not how to tell if you need a surgery second opinion as an injured runner....
Dec 20, 2019•4 min•Ep. 248
Do bone stimulators help with sesamoiditis? Will a bone stimulator help the sesamoids, if the bone is not fractured? Is there clinical evidence that bone stimulator will help sesamoiditis? Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we're talking about whether or not bone stimulator might help sesmoiditis in a runner.
Dec 16, 2019•4 min•Ep. 247
I was just on a consultation call with the runner who got a metatarsal stress fracture after a long run in minimalist running shoes. The question asked was, “do minimalist running shoes cause stress fractures?” Minimalist running shoes do not cause stress fractures. In fact. running doesn't even caused stress fractures. Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we're talking about how minimalist running shoes do not cause stress fractures.
Dec 13, 2019•5 min•Ep. 246
Do I have to stop running to rest a metatarsal stress fracture? Let’s imagine 10 rowers in a boat. If one rower gets tired or injured, does the boat have to stop? Do all 10 rowers have to stop rowing, park the boat and sit on the shore? When you have 10 metatarsal bones in your feet and only one bone is injured you don't have to necessarily stop all activity. Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we're talking about whether or not you have to stop running to rest a metatarsal stress fracture....
Dec 11, 2019•5 min•Ep. 245
You cannot plan a trip without a destination. And you cannot expect to heal as fast as possible if you do not have a clear goal and a defined timeline. The quality of the medical advice you get will depend on the clarity of your running goals. Running injury treatment needs to be tailored to you, your specific injury, the severity of your injury and your unique running goals. Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we're talking about why you should define your goal if you are injured and want to r...
Dec 09, 2019•4 min•Ep. 244
Today's question comes from Diane who was listening to the podcast and wrote in because she wanted to know more about the long-term effects of ankle sprains. Ankle sprains frequently lead to two main problems. Many runners mistakingly move their ankles too soon, and can wind up with chronic pain. Many other runners fail to rehabilitate their ankle and can end up with chronic ankle instability. Both of these common problems related to ankle sprains are completely preventable in runners. Today on ...
Dec 06, 2019•6 min•Ep. 243
A runner with a stress fracture just called me for a phone consultation. He was concerned because he got an X-ray and saw a bulge in the bone. The question was whether or not this bulging area of healing bone in the stress fracture was a good thing or a bad thing. More than anything else he just wanted to know if the lump of bone on the x-ray was an indication that it was okay to start running. Sometimes a lump of bone on your x-ray is good thing, but sometimes a bad thing. Today on the Doc On T...
Dec 04, 2019•7 min•Ep. 242
If you're a runner who has had aching pain in the ball of the foot you may have been diagnosed with a plantar plate sprain or a plantar plate tear. Or maybe you were told you had a plantar plate rupture. The most important factor to a runner is how quickly you can heal the plantar plate injury and get back to running. The chances are good your doctor didn't really discuss this component of your treatment plan. When you get a plantar plate injury many doctors will simply tell you to stop running ...
Dec 02, 2019•8 min•Ep. 241
It’s cold and flu season and one question that comes up this time of year is, "Should I run when I am sick?" The obvious concern is that if you have a training schedule and marathon on the calendar your fitness will suffer. You don’t want to lose ground. This is a valid concern. If you stop, it can wreck your training. But you have to understand something that seems to get lost on most sick runners in training. Not running when sick isn’t nearly as bad as not running when injured. Today on the D...
Nov 27, 2019•5 min•Ep. 240
When you are sick or injured, you may feel like you are helpless. You think you can’t run. You think you can’t build your running body. You think that you can’t do anything to help the situation. If you're injured, you're probably sitting around thinking, "Well, I can't do anything. I can't run. I can't go to the gym. I can't do anything." But that's not true. You just have to think about what can you do today. You have to focus on what you can do today. Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast, we'r...
Nov 21, 2019•3 min•Ep. 239
Many runners seem to be surprised when they get an overtraining injury. However, once we start talking about the injury, they almost always know something is wrong days or weeks before they actually get the pain and real injury. Every runner in training should pay attention to the subtle signals that tell you when you are heading for an over training injury. If you get the sense you are in an overtrained state, you can talk to your coach, or just back off from one or two of your workouts to allo...
Nov 18, 2019•7 min•Ep. 238
Every time you go out for a run you deliberately damage the muscles, tendons, bones and ligaments just enough to stimulate healing response that makes them stronger. An overtraining injury is nothing more then a little bit too much tissue damage, in one particular tissue. If you are training for a marathon, your number one priority is to make sure you are recovering fast enough to avoid an over training injury. If you are an inured runner, your number one priority is rebuild that injured tissue ...
Nov 15, 2019•5 min•Ep. 237
If you are runner trying to get down to your race weight, you may be considering a new diet. If you are a runner trying to build more muscle, or build tissue faster after workouts to recover faster, you might need to modify your diet. I get questions about diet nutrition all the time from injured runners. Do you really need more protein? Do you really need to eat like a cave man? Do you really need to build protein with protein? Do you have to eat protein or meat to build protein? Today on the D...
Nov 13, 2019•8 min•Ep. 236
Fracture walking boots are over-prescribed and often worn for way too long by many injured runners. Nobody who's a runner wants to be injured or wants to have to wear a fracture walking boot. It's really easy to get angry and resentful about feeling like you wasted time in a fracture walking boot while you are recovering. You may be upset just because you've been sitting around recovering. You may be angry because you feel like a boot is the standard routine and deserve something better. Maybe y...
Nov 11, 2019•5 min•Ep. 235
Running injuries are not random. Over training injuries are actually very predictable. Runners get injured as a result of too much stress, applied at the wrong time. Certain life circumstances can coincide with stressful blocks of training that put you at risk of developing an over training injury. If you're training for a marathon and you want to make it to the starting line in tact, you need to know what to watch out for during these dangerous times. Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast, we’re ...
Nov 10, 2019•7 min•Ep. 234
Endurance athletes are uniquely prone to self-sabotage. Ironically the destruction rises out of the very skill that lends us the strength to finish a race like a marathon. Success comes from being strong. Healthy runners are fast runners. No one runs their marathon as fast as possible when injured. No one gets a new PR with pneumonia. Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast, we’re talking about how endurance leads to marathon failure.
Nov 08, 2019•4 min•Ep. 233
Destination races hold a lot of appeal. Awe inspiring scenery. Amazing cultural experiences. Fast, flat courses. We spend countless hours and significant sums of money just getting to some of these destination marathons and triathlons. Obviously, if you are heading to a key race in a far-away place, you want to have the best race possible. Incredibly, many runners make one simple but crucial mistake that can truly hamper the chances of success in finishing under your goal time. Today on the Doc ...
Nov 05, 2019•10 min•Ep. 232
Every runner in training tracks progress to monitor for improvement. Heart rate, wattage, mileage, pace, and perceived exertion are all commonly tracked by athletes in training. So many athletes preparing for an event, so diligently track and record metrics which reassure us and provide visual confirmation that we are on track toward our goals. Yet, many of these same athletes simply stop recording any data at all when they get injured and abandon their training plans. You have to think of heali...
Nov 01, 2019•11 min•Ep. 231
A torn plantar plate can be one of the most frustrating injuries for a runner. A runner who has been following many of the suggestions regarding ways to reduce the stress and strain on the plantar plate ligament, has been treating the injury on her own and was getting better. Then she recently got a set back and understandably got super frustrated. But like most strong runners, she is focusing on the possible solutions instead of wallowing in self pity. She wrote in and said… I am desperate to b...
Oct 30, 2019•12 min•Ep. 230
A runner and a listener to the podcast recently sent in a question regarding how long it takes to heal an old fracture versus a new fracture. There are many risk factors for developing problems with healing a broken bone. Each year there are about six million broken bones the United States. Somewhere between 5% and 10% of all of those fractures do not heal as quickly as we would hope and turn into what is called a fracture non-union or a delayed union. A “fracture non-union" is just what it soun...
Oct 28, 2019•6 min•Ep. 229
