A Surprising Cause of Pain and Injury and Running and Knee Health

In this edition, in 10 minutes or less, we will cover:

1) A Surprising Cause of Pain and Injury: The fundamental part of our physiology that could be putting you at risk.

2) Is Running Bad for Your Knees? Find out if running hurts your joint health.

A Surprising Cause of Pain and Injury

Now that we’re past the halfway point of February, some of you may be starting to “think spring.” Many of our clients are certainly thinking that way, and we’re helping to prepare them to return to their favorite outdoor activities, like tennis, golf, and pickleball.

Around the beginning of spring, we tend to see a higher occurrence of pain and injury. This is correlated with warmer weather and increased levels of outdoor activity. In general, we tend to become less active during the winter months, and our overall fitness suffers accordingly.

As a result, our bodies aren’t adequately prepared to jump right back into a full round of golf, or a full tennis or pickleball match. This would be similar to an athlete not working out in the offseason, forgoing preseason practice, and simply showing up to play in the first game of the season. It’s reasonable to conclude that in this scenario, the athlete’s injury risk would be heightened.

This is one of the reasons why proactive care is a core tenet of our philosophy at PT PROGRESSION. Being proactive in taking care of your body reduces your risk of pain and injury. Better yet, it allows you to continue doing the activities you love in the way you want to do them.

It turns out that the winter months aren’t the only reason behind a potentially increased susceptibility to pain and injury. According to THIS ARTICLE, there’s another factor that’s within all of us: our brain.

From an evolutionary perspective, our brains are wired to encourage us to conserve energy. This is a survival mechanism, as many years ago, we needed to have energy stores readily available in order to search for food or flee from predators.

Since our modern world continues to develop so rapidly, our brains haven’t had a sufficient chance to catch up. We still have a bias towards inactivity, and while once a useful instinct, its usefulness has become more limited today.

In fact, rather than helping you, this system in our brain may be working against you. The strong pull it creates towards being more sedentary can leave you more susceptible to pain and injury. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to change this. Just be sure to take action before spring has sprung!

Is Running Bad for Your Knees?

Running is bad for your knees. It wears out your cartilage and can lead to early osteoarthritis. Those with knee issues shouldn’t run and should stick with cycling or the elliptical instead. These are commonly held beliefs that I hear all the time. But what if I told you there is strong evidence to suggest none of those statements are true?

Running May Protect Joint Health

Current evidence suggests that recreational running is not a risk factor for osteoarthritis. To the contrary, recreational and competitive runners demonstrate a 3x-4x decreased prevalence of osteoarthritis compared with sedentary individuals. This suggests running may even be protective and beneficial for joint health. How does this make sense?

Motion is Lotion

The truth is, the more we move, load, and use our joints, the more joint fluid gets worked around, tissue temperature increases and blood flow increases. Bones, ligaments, and tendons even become stronger and more resilient as long-term adaptations to exercise. Now we need to be careful to say that it doesn’t work the other way around. People who have existing osteoarthritis should generally opt for lower impact exercises under the guidance of a physical therapist. That is, running doesn’t reverse arthritis or stimulate regrowth of cartilage. But exercise is still crucial and is a first line treatment in the management of knee osteoarthritis.

To Run or Not to Run

Running is a great way to get and stay fit. This said, it does take a certain level of baseline fitness. “You need to get fit to run, not run to get fit,” says Stanford Lifestyle Medicine Physician Michael Friedricson. A thoughtful strengthening program and walk/run progression benefits many who are just starting up or returning to running after a period off. Feel free to reach out with any running-related questions!