For many people, joint pain and muscle stiffness are a daily nuisance. Joints in the hands, wrists and feet get stiff and sometimes painful to move. Sometimes it’s hard to get up out of a chair or button a shirt. Or you might have a nagging lower back ache, or that shoulder that just won’t relax. The good news is that relief may come from something you may have never considered–massage.
Tag: plantar fasciitis
Top 5 Running Injuries
Runners of all skill levels usually experience some kind of injury, ache or pain. Most of the time, running injuries happen when you overexert, or when you’re not paying attention to proper body mechanics, or sometimes just dumb luck.
Here’s a quick list of the top five of the most common injuries (WebMD, et al) and some ideas about how to treat them.
1. Runner’s knee. Basically, this is when your form, running shoes, or terrain causes your kneecap to misalign. You’ll especially feel this when sitting for a long time, squatting, or climbing a hill or stairs. Over time, the cartilage around your kneecap can wear down causing bone-to-bone friction which results in pain, especially around the edges of your kneecap.
Oh No, Plantar Fascitis!
You get out of bed and take your first steps and OUCH! You have a sharp pain in your heel. Same thing happens after longer periods of sitting. You “walk it off” and the pain subsides. Welcome to plantar fasciitis (aka “jogger’s heel”).
What is plantar fasciitis?
Plantar fasciitis the most common cause of heel pain. One in ten of us have plantar fasciitis some time in our lifetimes. The plantar fascia is a thick fibrous band of connective tissue that originates from the medial tubercle and anterior aspect of the heel bone. From there, the fascia extends along the sole of the foot before inserting at the base of the toes, and supports the arch of the foot.
Replace Your Running Shoes!
Your running shoes provide cushioning, shock absorption and stability and over time, like any other often used item, they wear out.
As a general rule, running shoes last about 300-400 miles, while walking shoes last around 500.
You can also examine the shoes for wear patterns. It turns out that you don’t use the treads on the bottom of the shoes to determine whether to replace them, nor does the fact that they’re dirty mean you need to replace them. Instead, examine the midsole area.