Running injuries 

If you’ve experiencing Achilles pain while running, you already know it's not fun. It’s still important to tune into how you can reduce the risk of making the injury worse. 

The Achilles tendon is the large tendon connecting the two major calf muscles—the gastrocnemius and soleus—to the back of the heel bone. Under too much stress, the tendon tightens and is forced to work too hard. This causes irritation or inflammation, also known as Achilles tendinitis.

Shin splints are one of the most common running injuries, but actually the term refers to several different causes of shin pain and is not really a diagnosis, more a description of pain which can have multiple different causes. The most common causes of shin splints are poor hip rotation, over pronation of the foot, flat feet or dropped arches - though high arches can also cause shin splints - and poorly cushioned or worn out shoes.

Whereas we think of injuries to our feet, legs, knees and hips as being ‘running injuries’, we think of back pain not as a running injury, per se, but more as a nuisance that just happens to interfere with our running. You may ask ‘so what?’, why does that matter? It matters because if you consider your back pain as a running injury, then you can adjust your running frequency, duration, intensity and style to help your back pain heal quicker.

Runner’s knee is a common condition that involves pain along the front of the kneecap. It is also referred to as patellofemoral syndrome or patellofemoral pain syndrome. Although running is a common cause, it can also result from other activities such as skiing, soccer, basketball, and hiking.