How 'minor' injuries can have a big impact on runners
Having been an athletic trainer and personal trainer for many years I notice how injuries occur to athletes and the effect it will have on performance. The ones that catch my notice are those injuries that would be classified as a very minor injury. The injury is nothing like a broken bone or serious cut to a person. The injuries are a sprain to a joint or a slight pulled muscle. It is a small injury as far as seriousness is concerned but for an athlete that small injury can be serious enough that the athlete has to stop competing.
A sprained wrist will hamper a tennis player at Wimbledon. A slight sprain of the ankle can limit the performance of a tennis player, a soccer player, a runner, or a basketball player amongst other athletes. There are other injuries that are not directly related to the movement of the sport that can effect performance. These injuries to areas of the body not involved in the actual playing of a sport but will effect performance.
Some small injuries can be a major factor in some sports. When you think of the size and function of the little toe on your foot it is a small percentage of the total body. But, that small sprain, or bruise to the little toe prevents you from running with a normal gait, it will hurt if you have to jump in the air. That little sprain prevents you from wearing certain types of shoes.
There is a rule in biomechanics that states, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”. If part of the body is injured that prevents either the action, or the reaction, stress is placed on another area of the body. The stress may not be noticed immediately but will eventually appear in the form of a strained muscle, a stress on a ligament, or an altered posture that affects performance.
An injury to the shoulder may have an effect on running even though you don’t think of the arms and shoulders as a major part of running. When a person runs the action-reaction motion occurs between the legs and arms. The left leg moves forward for an action and the right arm moves forward as a reaction. If the injury to the shoulder prevents a normal reaction, it will also affect the action of the leg in some way. Since the arm movement does not go through the full range of motion the action of the leg will be altered slightly. After some time the runner may notice a slight pull of a muscle in the hip, or a tenderness in the knee, or tightness in the back.
A bruise to the heel from stepping on a small pebble with your bare feet will alter how you walk and run. Fortunately a good absorbent piece of sponge with a hole cut in it can be put over the bruise and might make enough of a difference that the person can walk or run again. The “donut” over the bruise may help but there is also a good chance that it may still alter your gait. If the bruise is near the ball of the foot the runner may try to land on one side of the foot that is not bruised in order to keep running. This will alter the gait and the reaction from the foot placement may take the form of an injury in some other part of the body. That small injury often leads to other “small” injuries or even a more serious injury.
That injured shoulder may cause the person to change their posture from upright to a slight lean to the side. Every foot strike on the ground averages about five times the person’s bodyweight. Instead of an upright and straight spine the spine is now bent. The spine can absorb a lot of pounding, but when it is bent to the side the nerves that are located on the side of the vertebrae are subject to a force that they are not designed for. A pinched nerve can lead to another pain somewhere farther down the body.
One of the best methods to correct some of these small injuries is to rest until it heals or try another activity such as swimming or bike riding. One key to this period of rest is to continue stretching and keeping the surrounding muscle strong while the recovery takes place. If the person does not continue some rehabilitation the muscles tend to shorten and weaken. When the person tries to resume running the muscles that are tighter and weaker will put the person down with another injury. Rest, ice, compression, and elevation seems to be the standard procedure for recovery.
