{"id":1183,"date":"2010-11-23T11:59:04","date_gmt":"2010-11-23T16:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eastpointe.wpengine.com\/physical-therapy-for-running-injuries-part-1\/"},"modified":"2023-10-16T11:52:20","modified_gmt":"2023-10-16T15:52:20","slug":"physical-therapy-for-running-injuries-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/physical-therapy-for-running-injuries-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Physical Therapy for Running Injuries – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By Helene Mitchell, Physical Therapist Assistant<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Each year, approximately 36 million Americans participate in running and each year 46 \u2013 65% of them suffer some form of running injury. The most common site for injury is the knee (42%). Another 40% occur at the knee or below and 20% occur above the knee. The most common running injuries are:<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS)
\n\u2022\u00a0Iliotibial band friction syndrome
\n\u2022\u00a0Plantar fasciitis
\n\u2022\u00a0Medial tibial stress syndrome
\n\u2022\u00a0Achilles tendinitis
\n\u2022\u00a0Stress fractures
\n\u2022\u00a0Patellar tendinopathy
\n\u2022\u00a0Low back pain<\/p>\n

This is the first of a series of blogs addressing each of these running injuries including their causes, symptoms and treatment.<\/p>\n

PART I\u00a0\u00a0 Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS)<\/h2>\n

PFPS represents 20% of all running injuries and is caused by overuse. It is more common in women than men, especially in the age range of 15 \u2013 35.<\/p>\n

Symptoms:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0Dull, achy pain & stiffness in front of knee
\n\u2022\u00a0Pain with running, squatting, kneeling, going up\/down stairs, sitting for long periods of time then getting up
\n\u2022\u00a0Swelling around knee cap (patella)
\n\u2022\u00a0\u201cPopping\u201d or \u201cgrinding\u201d when the knee is fully extended
\n\u2022\u00a0In advanced cases, the knee buckles or \u201cgives out\u201d<\/p>\n

Causes:<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0Weak muscles of\u00a0 the gluteals and hip
\n\u2022\u00a0Tight hamstrings
\n\u2022\u00a0Running on uneven surfaces
\n\u2022\u00a0Excessive downhill running
\n\u2022\u00a0Excessive foot pronation
\n\u2022\u00a0Leg length discrepancy of more than \u00bd inch
\n\u2022\u00a0Trauma or fracture to knee cap (patella)<\/p>\n

Conservative Treatment:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stage I\u00a0 (less than 2 weeks)<\/em><\/span>
\n\u2022\u00a0Temporary rest from running or active rest
\n\u2022\u00a0RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation)
\n\u2022\u00a0Modalities ( ultrasound, massage, electrical stim etc.)
\n\u2022\u00a0Gentle stretching<\/p>\n

Stage II\u00a0\u00a0 (2 -6+ weeks)<\/em><\/span>
\n\u2022\u00a0Regain flexibility & strength of the impaired muscles
\n\u2022\u00a0Lumbar (low back) mobilization & correction of hip rotation
\n\u2022\u00a0Balance training
\n\u2022\u00a0Postural & core strengthening<\/p>\n

Photo Credit: kk+<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Helene Mitchell, Physical Therapist Assistant<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6293,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-physical-therapy"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-21 22:41:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}