Have you had a running injury recently? If you have, that’s quite normal. In fact, every year approximately 50% of runners are affected by injury and that number doesn’t seem to be improving despite better universal understanding of all things running. There is plenty of information readily available to all runners, but how this information is interpreted for you individual physical characteristics can vary.
Effective running injury physiotherapy requires an intimate knowledge of the sport, the training loads, the biomechanics and most importantly the runner’s unique physical make up. If you are experiencing recurrent, persistent or longstanding injuries then we are here to help.
As an expienced running physiotherapist Tom Williams often gets referrals for complex running injury rehabilitation projects. He regularly collaborates with other health professionals such as dietitians, sports physicians, exercise physiologists and podiatrists as well as personal trainers and running coaches.
The way we look at running covers three key bases:
1. Is the body strong enough to tolerate the training loads?
At The Health Collab you can expect that we will screen your body to look at strength and loading issues. Running as an activity requires absorbing 2.5-3x body weight per step. So spread that out over the course of a run and you can see why running is under appreciated as a high impact activity. Building strength in the key areas will help with reducing injury risk and improving performance.
2. Are your biomechanics effective for the running training you are doing?
Your running biomechanics will be analysed and if changes need to be made, then this will be discussed with you and your coaching team (if applicable). We often work with coaches to provide holistic return to sport processes that balances your goals with our knowledge of the return to run process.
3. Is your training planning (including diet, recovery and footwear) optimised?
We can assist with making onward referrals to our trusted network of health professional who are highly skilled in these areas. Our expertise is in developing rehabilitation plans to return you not only to your previous level of performance, but with better performance and better body management habits. To assist in this return to performance, we may refer to those that can add value to your rehabilitation.
Some of the key running injuries we cover include:
· Achilles and hamstring tendinopathies
· ITB syndrome
· Foot, shin, femoral and pelvic bone stress injuries
· Calf strains / tears
· Patellofemoral (knee cap) pain
One of the unique services we offer as running physiotherapists includes running treadmill video analysis. We use this to determine if there are any irregularities with your running mechanics that might be a risk of injury or contributing to your existing injury. We also use this to provide a comprehensive rehabilitation to your injury so that you are returning to running with confidence and optimised performance.