Running Injuries
Most running injuries are load problems, not damage problems. Treat the load and the capacity, and you stay running.
What is running injuries?
Running injuries almost always develop where training demand has outpaced tissue capacity. Something changed — mileage, pace, hills, surface, shoes, sleep, life stress — and the tissue that was coping suddenly wasn't.
Common presentations include patellofemoral pain (runner's knee), ITB syndrome, Achilles and patellar tendinopathy, plantar heel pain, shin splints, bone stress injuries, gluteal tendinopathy and recurring calf and hamstring strains.
Common symptoms
- Pain that warms up during a run but returns afterwards
- Pain that worsens with distance, pace or hills
- Sharp, pinpoint pain over a bone
- Morning stiffness in the Achilles or heel
- Recurring niggles in the same spot each training block
- Swelling or a limp after running
What causes it
- Rapid increases in training volume or intensity
- Insufficient strength for your current mileage
- Inadequate recovery, sleep or fuelling
- Sudden changes in surface or footwear
- Returning too quickly from a previous injury
- Postpartum or hormonal changes affecting tissue tolerance
How physiotherapy helps
We identify the mismatch between what you're asking of your body and what it can currently tolerate, then close it from both directions: reduce irritation now, build capacity for the long run.
Objective testing — calf raise endurance, hop tests, strength measures — tells us when you're genuinely ready for the next stage, and a written return-to-run programme replaces guesswork.
- Training load and history analysis
- Strength, endurance and hop testing
- Running gait observation where relevant
- Manual therapy and soft tissue work
- Progressive tendon and bone loading programmes
- Plyometric and running-specific strength work
- Staged return-to-running plan
When to seek treatment
- Pain that persists beyond two or three runs
- Pain that alters how you run
- Sharp, localised bone pain — get this checked promptly
- Any injury that has recurred before
- Before starting a big training block or race build-up
Frequently asked questions
Let's get you moving again
If this sounds like what you're dealing with, an assessment is the quickest way to understand it properly. Running Injuries responds well to the right plan.