CENTRAL TEXAS RUNNING: BROM HOBAN

Don't ignore the pain, running injury specialist says

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

You're running along on your morning six-miler, when you feel a little twinge in your knee. It quickly becomes real pain. You decide to gut it out and finish the workout. And you take some over-the-counter anti-inflammatory and do the same thing for the rest of the week, ignoring the pain and hoping it will go away.

According to Dr. Ted Spears of Sports Performance International, you just broke a cardinal rule of running injuries.

"I tell patients that if you have a pain with running (but not daily activities) three days straight in the same place, then that's a Grade 1 injury," said Spears, whose Austin practice sees a large segment of the running community.

"We divide injuries into four grades. And they are progressive. If you continue to train without addressing whatever is causing the injury, you will progress to Grades 2, 3 and 4 (pain even while not running)."

The trick is to do something about the injury early. That way, you stand a much better chance of resolving it quickly.