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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    What are the most common sports injuries from running?

    Related Topic
    Sports Injuries & Prevention
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    Jason Tomlinson

    Personal Trainer

    Shin splints is probably one of the most common injuries. Excessive pronation of the foot can increase the risk of this condition arising which can be avoided by wearing correct footwear. Shin splints can also lead to stress fractures of the tibia if left untreated or and if an excessive amount of high impact activity is undertaken. 

    If you think you have shin splints it would be best to see a podiatrist or physio, as they can give you more detailed information on how to manage it based on your own specific symptoms.

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    Miss Loretta O'Sullivan-Pippia

    Physiotherapist

    I am a specialist sports physiotherapist with a sub-speciality in adolescents in sport (as awarded bu the Australian College of Physiotherapists in 2007). In addition … View Profile

    Probably the most common injury sustained from running (jogging)  is knee cap pain (or patellofemoral pain syndrome PFPS).  PFPS is any pain around, under or below your knee cap, sometimes the fat pad and bursea below your knee cap can been involved as well. Runners can also present with other injuries about the knee, shin, foot and hip, but PFPS is the most common.  Sprinters will present with different injuries from joggers and the most common injury for sprinters is probably hamstring tears.  Remember that the nature of the pathology, and therefore the management, may alter throughout the lifespan - so an injury sustained by a teenager much be quite different to that of an adult.  If you do sustain a running related injury is is best to seek advice and assistance from a sports physiotherapist earlier rather than later.

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  • Grant Frost

    Physiotherapist

    A senior physiotherapist with a background in effective management of most common and uncommon physical injuries and dysfunctions.My interests lie in not only the successful … View Profile

    As expected, there can be a myriad of issues that unexpectedly pop up during a run.

    Whether it be knee pain or shin splints as mentioned above, or other common issues like Plantar Fasciitis, Achilles and Hamstring dysfunction or an ITB complaint. It is important to note however, that almost 100% of them should be preventable.

    They are in no way normal or something you deserve to put up with. Regardless of age, training frequency, intensity or "luck".

    Accidents, congenital issues and disease aside, each and every issue associated with running will most likely be the result of poor mechanics or posture.

    Anatomically we know that the body and it's tissues function best when positioned and stressed a certain way. Any deviation from these basic shapes and positions often enough and for long enough will leave us open to dysfunction.

    The onset of knee, shin, ankle or foot pain when running is a signal from the area that it's no longer coping with something. It's not necessarily the START of the issue (although it may be the first time you've encountered pain) but moreso a progression to a new stage of a process that has been going on for some time.

    Consider this: It is suggested that we should be able to suspend a car from our Achilles tendon. It should be robust enough that it can handle hundreds of kilograms of force. Now imagine how most people rupture an Achilles - Jumping, landing, pushing off to run, sprinting etc. All relatively dynamic movements, but nothing the body wouldn't have experienced thousands of times before. Imagine how dysfunctional that system must become, for a structure so strong to snap in half from such relatively low grade activity.

    So regardless of what the issue is that you may develop whilst running, please remember that your Health Professional of choice MUST be hunting for it's mechanical cause. Otherwise, your pain may go away with treatment and rest, but it's impossible to garauntee that it won't rear it's ugly head again at some stage.

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