The Frustrations Of Running Injuries
Pain, soreness and numbness of muscles, tendons or joints will affect practically everyone at some point in their lives. Whether the pain is acute, chronic or recurrent, acupuncture may be helpful in pain management and injury recovery. For recreational or competitive runners, injuries can be a fact of life. The injuries are usually due to overuse, overtraining, or a biomechanical flaw in structure or motion. In the quest for ultimate performance, one can quickly cross the very fine line between peak fitness and injury.
The primary focus of acupuncture is to maximize health & vitality, relieve pain, and maintain balance in the body. Within this practice, the body is viewed as a whole. The injured area is only a branch affecting the integrity of the whole body.
Some of the more common running injuries acupuncture has helped are iliotibial band (IT band) friction syndrome, runner’s knee, shin splints, Achilles tendonitis, and plantar fasciitis.
Acupuncture is modelled around two primary concepts: The first is ‘Yin and Yang’, which represent balance in the body. The Yin element functions like the parasympathetic system (calming/nourishing) and Yang like the sympathetic system (functional /active). The second concept is based on energy flow in the body, according to Chinese Medical principles. Running injuries can cause energy flow to be ‘weakened’/deficient in a joint or muscle, or can cause an ‘excess’/ irritated state which leads to injury and inflammation. An example of an acute injury is twisting your ankle while trail running. The disruption of blood and energy flow to the joint leads to an inflamed state. Pain is usually a good indicator of a blockage in energetic flow.
Injuries are often due to a muscular imbalance causing a biomechanical misalignment of the body. Structural balance requires equal pull by the opposing muscle groups on either side of the joint. When a muscle, joint or tendon becomes injured, trigger points, scar tissue, and adhesions will develop. Each physiological factor relates to an imbalance of the Yin and Yang energy of the body. If the energetic function of the muscle or tendon is impaired, the injury will heal slowly, if at all. Acupuncture can be beneficial to reestablish function by either stimulating a weakened muscle or tendon, or releasing a tight muscle or trigger point.
Acupuncture points are chosen based on the degree of injury, stage of inflammation and length of the problem. The treatment focus is: to reduce inflammation and scar tissue enabling the flow of blood and energy to the injured area and eliminate pain, restoring muscle and joint mobility.
The evaluation of musculoskeletal injuries should involve protocols from both Western and Eastern perspectives, including observation, palpation, range of motion testing (active and passive), past and present histories and tongue and pulse diagnosis. From these diagnoses, your acupuncturist can develop an individual treatment for your particular injury, and improve the integrity of your whole body. Treatment may also include soft tissue therapies (Chinese massage techniques), electro-stimulation, stretching and exercises to improve and strengthen the injury.
I invite you to explore this safe and effective method for sport rehabilitation, injury repair, and pain management.
Testimonial:
I am training to race the Marathon Des Sables for the fifth consecutive year. It is a 150-mile stage race in the Sahara Desert. I have logged thousands of miles in training, and this year I have struggled with a hip injury. Acupuncture treatment was suggested and, within 2 treatments from Judy, my pain was gone and my hip was functioning normally. I have now added acupuncture to my regular list of treatments.
Sandy McCallum
Ultramarathon Runner, Calgary, AB
