Runners: Stop Waiting to See a PT
If there is one thing I know for a fact it’s that runners are an extremely stubborn population when it comes to injury. I say this as both a stubborn runner myself and a physical therapist that specializes in working with runners. I can understand the frustration on a personal level when I am working with my clients through an injury. This is a big reason why I very rarely will tell my athletes that they need to stop running completely!
If you hear a runner say “it’s not that bad” for 2 weeks straight, it probably needs attention.
Every runner knows this story. You start to feel a little pain in mile 3 of your run one day and brush it off. Later that week, you feel the same pain again but this time at mile 2 and a little more intensely. 'You think “eh, it’s probably nothing” and then BOOM, it’s three weeks later and now you’re at a point where it hurts to run at all. Runners do not do themselves any favors when they take the “wait & see” approach to their injuries. What starts as a little ache or pain can quickly turn into a full blown injury if you don’t take the correct steps in managing it. Instead of just a few days off running, now you’re having to cancel your race plans altogether. And to think that this could’ve all been avoided…
The lack of understanding around the full scope of physical therapy is a big problem.
Most people have a very limited understanding of what exactly physical therapists do. People think that physical therapy is reserved for those who have had surgery or some major injury. I can see why people believe this: our profession has only recently been granted rights to direct access for patient care. Before, patients would need to see their primary doctor first before a physical therapist so that did typically look like a lot of post-surgical patients had access. However, popular concepts such as prehab, injury prevention and sports performance are now linked with physical therapists. The same way you see a physician for annual physicals even when nothing is wrong, physical therapists can provide so much benefit to runners or athletes to make sure they are healthy and able to continue training/competing.
Taking quick action when you feel anything off during your training is key. And it might save your entire training cycle.
Here’s the deal: a large majority of running injuries are from overuse. This means that the right answer is usually never to keep training at the same volume or worse, to ramp up training. Things won’t just get better if you wait long enough. The best thing you can do is to take quick action! Missing 1-2 days of training will not ruin your training cycle and race day. (I might need to say this a million more times for runners to believe me). In fact, taking a few days to cross train or rest completely may end up saving your training cycle. The normal pattern I tell clients is the longer you’ve had something, the longer it takes to recover from it. Someone that comes in with a history of low back pain for 5 years is not going to be 100% after a couple of sessions. By the time I see most of my runners in the clinic, they’ve had a pain for over a month. “I thought it would just get better” is the classic line. There’s no way to guarantee this but most of the time they would be in a completely different circumstance if they would’ve just modified their training for a few days early on. Check out this blog to read more about modifying your training when you’re injured.
There are so many reasons to see a physical therapist early when you start to feel pain.
So you may be asking “okay, so do I go see someone the second I feel any pain?” Well maybe, but not exactly. If you feel something once and then never again, you probably don’t need to rush to see anyone necessarily. But if you experience the same pain multiple times in one week, it would be extremely valuable to get in for an appointment with a physical therapist for a number of reasons:
Physical therapists are movement experts. They will be able to assess and analyze your gait or movement patterns to see if there’s anything that might be putting you at increased risk for injury.
A large part of our job is to educate patients. Even if there is no need for multiple visits with a physical therapist, they will be able to give you so much knowledge and clarity on the best steps moving forward. Patients are empowered when they’re given proper education on what is going on with their body.
Getting in with a physical therapist can provide you with peace of mind surrounding your training. You can know if it’s safe to keep running with some modifications or if just taking off a couple days should do the trick. The fear around not knowing if it’s serious enough to stop them from racing is what keeps a lot of runners from seeking medical help. They don’t want to hear “stop!”
Finding a medical professional that understands running is so important.
Runners are a different breed. Period. Working with a physical therapist that understands running or is a runner themself can be extremely helpful. Any runner can immediately tell if their doctor knows running or not. Contact us to schedule a free consultation to talk more about your injury and come up with a plan to set you up for success!
