Dr Senthilvelan.R
Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon
MBBS, MRCS(UK), FRCS(Orth, UK), Dip SiCOT, D Orth, FEBOT(France)
Fellowship in Shoulder , Elbow surgery (UK)
Fellowship in Foot and Ankle Surgery (UK)
Running is an endurance sport that is fast becoming a favorite with increase in the number of marathons that are conducted in the Chennai city India. With more people taken up running as serious sport ,Children naturally follow suit and a number of Kiddathons are organized to encourage running at an early age.
Most common running injuries are Medial Tibial stress syndrome, Iliotibial band syndrome, Osgood schlatter disease.
Medial Tibial stress syndrome is a stress fracture that occurs because of repetitive loading, microdamage along anterior tibial region.Lack of endurance of foot muscles that move the foot downwards (plantar flexors)may lead to higher force transfer to tibia and lead to Medial tibial stress syndrome.
Of all the injuries Patellofemoral syndrome is the most common. This is also known as runners knee. Athletes report pain around knee cap region and this increases with running, stair climbing or prolonged sitting. Lack of hip strength is one of important factors which can contribute to this problem. So injury prevention programs must be aimed at improving Hip stability and strength.
Iliotibial band syndrome is the most common case of lateral knee pain in runners. Previously it was thought that tight ITB was the reason behind this problem. But now scientific evidence points to fact that decreased control of femur and tibia in both planes could be the cause. Improving hip strength , specifically Hip adductor muscle strengthening(muscles of hip which bring the thigh bone inward) can return back injured runners to function.
Osgood Schletters disease(OSD) is a common disorder that happens in growing children. They present with pain in front of knee . It is commonly seen in children during their growth spurt . Tightness of Quadriceps muscles is implicated in OSD . Reduction in total volume of running, quadriceps stretching are possible solutions to address this issue.