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jennypeanut
103 Posts |
 Posted - 08/06/2012 : 06:38:05
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I have recently starting working out again. It's been great to not be afraid to hurt myself.
Well, I've hurt myself now. I'm unsure weather it's TMS or an actual injury. Not sure what to do. I had been doing a work out video that is reportedly hard on the knees. Well, it was mostly bothering my ankles, one in particular. Anyway, I started running because the work out video hurt my knees + ankles too much. Now my ankle is really bothering me. And this morning it's slightly swollen (inner ankle). Honestly it's freaking me out. And part of it is bc I have such a fear of RA. also, I struggle with random joints hurting, thus the RA fear. I don't know weather to trudge through or stop for a while and let it rest.
Last night my dad, a big runner, was telling me I should not run on the road, that I will "tear up my knees and hurt myself" - that I should run on a treadmill for less impact.
I guess I don't know what is what. Thoughts? |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2012 : 07:05:33
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Watch the Olympic gymnasts, the body is a lot tougher than the medical/industrial complex would allow or wants us to believe.
Father may not always know best. Ivor Welch took up marathon running at the age of 84.
Did you read my post to you about RA? It's extremely rare, you don't get it by getting injured.
Why do you say you've "hurt yourself (physically) if you're not sure if it's TMS? Sounds like you're allowing your subconscious to make all your decisions for you and keep you in the panic mode. Have you seen a rheumatologist for an RA dx? If not, go see one to get cleared and get over your FEAR that you have it.
If you need to exercise there's always running in the pool.
Read SteveO's book--or read it again or email him. If you're lucky, he'll see your post and respond.
What do I know, I'm only a tennis player--but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express about three years ago.
G'luck
==================================================
DR. SARNO'S 12 DAILY REMINDERS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0dKBFwGR0g
TAKE THE HOLMES-RAHE STRESS TEST
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmes_and_Rahe_stress_scale
Some of my favorite excerpts from _THE DIVIDED MIND_ :
http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2605
==================================================
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." Jiddu Krishnamurti
"Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional." Author Unknown
"Happy People Are Happy Putters." Frank Nobilo, Golf Analyst
"Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." Mark Twain and Balto
"The hot-dog is the noblest of dogs; it feeds the hand that bites it." Dr. Laurence Johnston Peter
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TMS PRACTITIONERS:
John Sarno, MD
400 E 34th St, New York, NY 10016
(212) 263-6035
Here's the TMS practitioners list from the TMS Help Forum:
http://www.tmshelp.com/links.htm
Here's a list of TMS practitioners from the TMS Wiki:
http://tmswiki.org/ppd/Find_a_TMS_Doctor_or_Therapist
Here's a map of TMS practitioners from the old Tarpit Yoga site, (click on the map by state for listings).:
http://www.tarpityoga.com/2007_08_01_archive.html |
Edited by - tennis tom on 08/06/2012 07:07:46 |
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jennypeanut
103 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2012 : 07:38:22
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| Yes, I saw a Rhuem. And no RA dx. But I have a Rhuem friend who told me it may have been too early for it to show up. This has done no good for me. I hate that she gave me her unsolicited medical opinion. :( I am now living in fear bc of what she said. |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2012 : 10:25:15
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Why do you give more credence to your "friend" then the all's clear dx by the Rheumatologist? I hear medical-quackery non-sense everyday and laugh at it or politely decline--in one ear out the other. I was just given a "great" new OTC cure for arthritis five minutes ago. I might buy stock in the company, while the media runs it up, in a short while it will be replaced on the shelves of Walgreens with the next "latest and greatest" snook/snake oyl.
You are in a fear state. TMS is serving it's purpose to distract you and protect you from the underlying emotional issues. Your unconscious is making the decisions for you. If your friend wouldn't have told you what she did, you would have no-doubt found something else to fear.
If you don't know what the emotional issues are creating your physical pain, look at the Rahe-Holmes list in my sig and you will find them. If we can land on Mars, you can find the Rahe-Holmes list.
G'luck
==================================================
DR. SARNO'S 12 DAILY REMINDERS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0dKBFwGR0g
TAKE THE HOLMES-RAHE STRESS TEST
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmes_and_Rahe_stress_scale
Some of my favorite excerpts from _THE DIVIDED MIND_ :
http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2605
==================================================
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." Jiddu Krishnamurti
"Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional." Author Unknown
"Happy People Are Happy Putters." Frank Nobilo, Golf Analyst
"Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." Mark Twain and Balto
"The hot-dog is the noblest of dogs; it feeds the hand that bites it." Dr. Laurence Johnston Peter
======================================================
TMS PRACTITIONERS:
John Sarno, MD
400 E 34th St, New York, NY 10016
(212) 263-6035
Here's the TMS practitioners list from the TMS Help Forum:
http://www.tmshelp.com/links.htm
Here's a list of TMS practitioners from the TMS Wiki:
http://tmswiki.org/ppd/Find_a_TMS_Doctor_or_Therapist
Here's a map of TMS practitioners from the old Tarpit Yoga site, (click on the map by state for listings).:
http://www.tarpityoga.com/2007_08_01_archive.html |
Edited by - tennis tom on 08/06/2012 10:30:28 |
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jennypeanut
103 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2012 : 11:02:28
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| Yes, I am in a fear state. I am frozen. I have major attachment issues with my primary parent who basically abused me since infancy. Now that my marriage is in jeopardy, I am having all of those feelings re-ignited. I am aware of the emotional/relational challenges I am facing; I am in therapy with a counselor yet I continue to have pain symptoms. It's either TMS or a disease. I don't know which to believe. |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2012 : 11:09:54
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Thanks for the reply and your honesty about your situation. One thing modern medicine is good at is dx'ing disease (even when it may not be there and is TMS instead). Get as many second and third opinions, until you are convinced you are clear. TMS is a psychological defense mechanism. Dr. Sarno says it's a "PROTECTOR"--maybe, thank the pain for doing it's job for now.
G'luck! |
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jennypeanut
103 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2012 : 12:07:36
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| Thanks Tom. Yeah, I can't keep going back to the Drs. That's part of my cycle. I don't know. It's all so very annoying. How I long for the "good old days" before all this started. |
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wrldtrv
666 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2012 : 19:12:47
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| Jennypeanut, I don't know what injury you may or may not have. But just dealing with your father's comment about only running on treadmills, I don't at all agree. In general, it doesn't make any difference what surface you run on if you run correctly. Correctly means NOT running the way 75% of runners do: with a heel strike. If you heel strike, then yes, you should run on softer surfaces. But if you correctly land with more of a mid-to forfoot strike, your soft tissues rather than your knees take the shock. The best example, is to think of a barefoot runner. Of course the barefooter will land first on the forefoot before gently coming down on the heel. Because of the instant feedback, he will know instantly the correct way to run. |
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jennypeanut
103 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2012 : 21:07:39
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| wrldtv: Yeah, I just ran around my living room. My heel hits when I run. I've run this way for YEARS!!! Competitively! How to change that?! |
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balto
839 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2012 : 21:36:09
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We may not have the body and strength like those in the olympic, what about that 100 years old man finished the marathon? http://rwdaily.runnersworld.com/2011/10/100-year-old-finishes-marathon-makes-me-feel-lazy.html
Jenny, I'm sure if he can finished a marathon with his 100 years old legs and knees, we can too.
I think your mind right now is filled with many gloom and doom thoughts. The fear of what "will" happen to your body is so great you could hardly stop thinking about your pain and your body, and most importantly, what could happen to it. We human have a pretty high tolerance to pain. If we know the pain will not last long and it is not dangerous, we wouldn't be worry or loose any sleep over it at all. The unknown, the doubt, the "what if", the "I'm going to..." thoughts is what fuel your tms/anxiety pain. If you want to get well, you need to find some way to replace those fear thoughts with some positive ones. The sum of your positive emotion have to be greater than the sum of your negative emotion. You want to have a healthy belief. You have to strongly believe in yourself and your body. I AM FINE, I AM HEALTHY, THIS IS JUST TMS/ANXIETY, IT IS JUST MY EMOTIONAL ENERGY DISPLAY IT'S PHYSICAL FORM. It is harmless and I will get over it.
If you journal, write down everything that is a blessing for you. Write down what is positive in your life. Write down everything you're proud of, write down your dreams and say to yourself you will achieve it. Fill the pages with just positive, energetic, and wonderful things. Repeat them often, over and over again. Use them to push out those negative thoughts. And remember to stay away from negative people. Any thing they say negatively, even if it is true, clear them out of your mind right away.
Keep a smile on your face. Do everything calmly, peacefully, and always believe you will get well, then you will.
"People readily believe what they want to believe". Julius Caeser.
I you believe you are strong, your body will be strong. If you believe you are weak, your body will be weak.
‘The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in very difficulty.’ Winston Churchill.
‘Whether you believe you can or whether you believe you cannot, you are absolutely right.’ Henry Ford.
We have to learn from wise men in history. They paid the price and they can teach us many. If you believe, you will get it. Tms/anxiety is nothing but fear thoughts.
Goodluck Jenny
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No, I don't know everything. I'm just here to share my experience. |
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2012 : 04:54:15
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Jenny,
I would not compare yourself to olympic athletes, or 100 year old men completing marathons. The notion that because XYZ exceptional person can do XYZ amazing feat ... we can too, is as my old logic professor would have said, "fallacious."(embodying a fallacy)...Nor would I change my running form...the running form the great majority of runners use...on the basis of one comment on the Internet. If you're interested in changing your running style, fine. But don't do anything until you've done loads of research.
Sometimes this forum seems like a GReek Chorus of 100 disparate voices and opinion, each one delivered with a near certainty that might not be warranted..
Now it's my turn to essentially do the same thing. :-) TMs expresses itself in two ways..The development...usually ongoing and chronic.. of various psychosomatic symptoms. The other, less talked about but seen on this forum over and over an over again, is a tendency toward health anxiety, hypochondria, and catastrophizing.
I've read your posts Jenny and you seem a very typical TMS'er. It's very likely...90-95 percent say...that you suffer from TMS. The first thing you have to realize is that if you want to recover, you have to stop flipping out when you get a running injury, or any injury. It might be TMS, it might be real (runners do in fact get injured). But fear, worry, anxiety, seeing catastrophe where none exists, is a very strong indicator that you indeed have TMS.
However...and this is a big however...I would not ignore swelling. I've come to believe that swelling can be caused by the mind as many here espouse...but it's by definition an actual physical process. (that is, it's a visible, palpable change in the body.) Swelling in and of itself can cause further injury/trauma if ignored. Your job with respect to TMS self treatment (the thing that is very likely at the root of your pain), is to calmly accept what's very likely a minor speed bump in your running career. You'd be amazed how quickly things disappear when we stop fighting/fearing them..
Here's an example...I've had a bout of swollen elbows (both arms!)..I could not ignore inflamed, leaky joints, nor should I, but when I realized that they were stress induced I stopped worrying, and they were back to normal in days...
Just one more voice in this sometimes dysfunctional but always wonderful Greek Chorus...Make of it what you will.
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Edited by - art on 08/07/2012 05:32:10 |
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balto
839 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2012 : 07:24:17
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quote:
Originally posted by art
I would not ignore swelling. I've come to believe that swelling can be caused by the mind as many here espouse...but it's by definition an actual physical process. (that is, it's a visible, palpable change in the body.) Swelling in and of itself can cause further injury/trauma if ignored.
Of course Art is very right. You should have doctors check out any swelling, infection, or unexplain symptoms. Guessing can be dangerous.
This is a mind & body forum and people share tips on how to deal with tms/anxiety, no one should try to diagnose or guess what illnes you have. You always need to have your family physician clear you first. If your fortunate to live near one, it is best to have an appointment with a tms doctor.
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No, I don't know everything. I'm just here to share my experience. |
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jennypeanut
103 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2012 : 08:53:50
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quote:
I think your mind right now is filled with many gloom and doom thoughts. The fear of what "will" happen to your body is so great you could hardly stop thinking about your pain and your body, and most importantly, what could happen to it. We human have a pretty high tolerance to pain. If we know the pain will not last long and it is not dangerous, we wouldn't be worry or loose any sleep over it at all. The unknown, the doubt, the "what if", the "I'm going to..." thoughts is what fuel your tms/anxiety pain.
Yes, Balto, this is what has been poisoning my thoughts.
quote:
If you journal, write down everything that is a blessing for you. Write down what is positive in your life. Write down everything you're proud of, write down your dreams and say to yourself you will achieve it. Fill the pages with just positive, energetic, and wonderful things. Repeat them often, over and over again. Use them to push out those negative thoughts. And remember to stay away from negative people. Any thing they say negatively, even if it is true, clear them out of your mind right away.
I like this advice and I will take it. Esp. the negative people thing. There is a friend who is so negative. Some of her problems have recently become my same problems too and I think it's from spending too much time with her!
Also, regarding positive people: I have a relative in her late 60s who was recently diagnosed with early Alzheimer's. It runs in her family. She is an extremely positive person. This diagnosis, although discouraging, has not set her positivity back. Her dad also had this disease and also was an extremely positive person. His progression was very slow and he actually lived to be 93, even though he was diagnosed in his 70s. He did have short term memory loss but because of his positive energy he maintained an active life despite the disease. He still enjoyed life. It didn't get bad till the very end. I think that is a huge testament to the power of the mind if you are positive.
Art:
quote:
Sometimes this forum seems like a GReek Chorus of 100 disparate voices and opinion, each one delivered with a near certainty that might not be warranted.
True, but this is life too. So much information, so many opinions, you have to pick what you want to take with you and leave the rest.
quote:
The other, less talked about but seen on this forum over and over an over again, is a tendency toward health anxiety, hypochondria, and catastrophizing.
Yes, this would be me. I am 100% certain I have TMS. I can no longer afford to doubt the possibility. Esp. after reading through SteveO's book, I am pretty convinced.
As far as the swelling -- well, I have seen swelling be another form of somatic display and even had an MD confirm this. But, in this case, you are right - runners get hurt! I decided to not run for a few days and see if the swelling goes down. (it already has). When someone is out of shape and suddenly starts running again, it's going to hurt. Things are going to be painful and stressed at first. I think I need to go at it slower. You can't just jump into running 5 miles after 0 miles run in 5 years. |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2012 : 10:38:24
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quote:
Originally posted by jennypeanut
... So much information, so many opinions, you have to pick what you want to take with you and leave the rest.
...I am 100% certain I have TMS. I can no longer afford to doubt the possibility. Esp. after reading through SteveO's book, I am pretty convinced.
Quick question for Art, I've never heard of a "leaky" joint dx, what is that?
JP, I like your two above thoughts! I would only change one word, "pretty" convinced to 100% convinced, matching what you said in your previous sentence.
There are thousands of med sites that discuss symptoms, this site is one of maybe two that zeroes in on the the mind's dominant role in dis-ease and healing. No one comes here first, it's usually the site of last resort for chronic pain. A fundamental of all TMS advocates is total faith that it's TMS--of course after the boilerplate of getting clearance from a competent health practitioner who can tell the difference between structural and emotionally originated symptoms. Once the TMS dx is confirmed, sewing seeds of doubt are not helpful.
I'd never heard of Alzheimers until recently--they've made a dis-ease out of getting old. I'm sure my home state of Kalifornia, where it's illegal to get old, was in the forefront of this backward way of thinking. I took some amusement from your relative who got it at 70 and lived to 93--I want that dis-ease. At the turn of the previous century, the average life expectancy was maybe fifty--I'm guessing and will check that. In aboriginal societies it was maybe 28?
Edit: Here's a life expectancy table from 1900-1998:
http://demog.berkeley.edu/~andrew/1918/figure2.html
I brought up the example of watching Olympic gymnasts because we have the same number of bones as they, the same muscles and ligaments. The difference is when they fall, they get back-up, unless maybe a bone is sticking out. If they severely sprain an ankle, they land on just one. They believe in their body's--TMS'ers doubt them--largely due to what they hear from media, "health professionals" and scuttle-butt from "friends".
Here's a youtube that may alleviate some folks fears of aging, these are my heroes and role models. It talks about diet but I don't contribute their success to diet, it's their minds--inspiration producing perspiration.
"GROWING OLD IS NOT FOR SISSIES":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpKf59l_W8o
From page 92 SteveO: (caps mine):
"THOSE WHO HAVE PATIENCE, DIMINISHED EGOS, AND OPEN MINDS HEAL NICELY."
"THOSE WHO REFUTE THE TMS CONCEPT REMAIN IN PAIN, OR IN CONSTANT FEAR OF MOVEMENT OR ACTIVITY."
"BUT TODAY I NEVER FEAR THE PAIN NOR DO I HAVE ANY INDICATIONS THAT I EVER HAD PAIN." |
Edited by - tennis tom on 08/07/2012 11:57:29 |
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ED500
3 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2012 : 10:58:15
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If you just started working out, do you not think that maybe the injury could be because you just started? I would say you need to wait to it heals and try again, and see if the problem persists. Maybe start out slower this time.
We know nothing about your physical condition or weight, could be that you really hurt yourself.
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wrldtrv
666 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2012 : 19:47:35
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JP: Commenting only on your question: How to change heel strike? The quickest way is to take off your shoes and try to run barefoot with a heel strike on pavement. Within about 10 seconds you will know that is the wrong way to run.
If you want to view videos of the correct form, google "barefoot running" and you will find many, some in slow motion. |
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2012 : 20:28:57
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quote:
Originally posted by wrldtrv
JP: Commenting only on your question: How to change heel strike? The quickest way is to take off your shoes and try to run barefoot with a heel strike on pavement. Within about 10 seconds you will know that is the wrong way to run.
If you want to view videos of the correct form, google "barefoot running" and you will find many, some in slow motion.
Hey wrld, Haven't spoken to you in a long while. Hope you're well. All the respect in the world for you, and perhaps you're really onto something with this heel strike thing. It's obviously worked well for you. But do you really think this is the time to introduce a major complicating factor? I don't know. Maybe it is. But Jenny's struggling with new-comer issues, is just getting back into running, is probably over-doing it by increasing mileage too quickly based on a few things she's said previously..I mean crap, that seems like a lot for anyone. And now she's going to attempt a major overhaul of something she's been doing the same way all her life?
We all choose our own course, Jenny. As I suggested earlier, do plenty of research and go slowly with any changes...Just my advice of course. I get more humble with each passing year in recognition of how very little I really know.
Of course, there's plenty on the INternet on both sides of the debate...I picked the one below pretty much at random. I'm sure wrld could come up with many on the "pro" side
Incidentally, my wife who is not a TMS person, developed a major case of Pf when trying to convert to barefoot.
Written by: Matt Fitzgerald
Darwin Fogt, PT, owner of Evolution Physical Therapy in Culver City, CA, is alarmed by a stark new trend at his facility: runners with injuries caused by barefoot (or virtually barefoot) running. Fogt says he has four or five current patients with heel injuries clearly resulting from a switch to barefoot running and has recently treated another 12 to 15 others.
“That’s up from zero a year ago,” says Fogt.
Other physical therapists and sports medicine doctors across the country are seeing the same sudden rise in barefoot running injuries.
“We’ve seen a fair amount of injuries from barefoot running already, or from just running in the Vibrams,” says Nathan Koch, PT, Director of Rehabilitation at Endurance Rehab in Phoenix, AZ. Vibrams are the barely-there “foot gloves” that have become popular among barefoot running devotees.
Steve Pribut, a Washington, DC podiatrist and one of America’s most respected running injury specialists, says he has experienced a recent influx of barefoot runners at his office as well. And, asked by email whether he could confirm a barefoot running injury trend in his clinical experience, Lewis Maharam, a.k.a “Running Doc,” replied with two words: “Oh, yeah!”
\The developing barefoot running injury epidemic is plainly a secondary effect of the rise in popularity of barefoot running. “Everyone is reading Born to Run and wanting to run barefoot,” says Pribut, referring to the bestselling book by Christopher McDougall that is widely credited with starting the barefoot running trend.
What is not known is whether barefoot runners are now disproportionately represented in physical therapy and sports medicine facilities—in other words, whether barefoot runners are more likely to develop overuse injuries than shod runners. Koch and Pribut are not ready to say that this is the case. “The more barefoot runners there are, the more injured barefoot runners there will be,” says Pribut, who attributes the spike primarily to the burgeoning number of barefoot runners.
But Maharam and Fogt see evidence that switching to barefoot running is causing injuries that would not otherwise happen. “I see one injury over and over in the barefoot runners who come to me,” says Fogt: “plantar fasciitis.” A painful and difficult-to-overcome heel injury, plantar fasciitis accounts for less than 15 percent of all running injuries. The fact that it accounts for more than 90 percent of injuries in the barefoot runners Fogt sees suggests that it is barefoot running specifically, not overuse generally, that is causing these injuries. Thus, unless barefoot running is concurrently drastically reducing the likelihood of knee pain and other common running overuse injuries, then its overall impact on running injury risk is probably an increasing effect. If this is indeed the case, then the barefoot running injury epidemic is an ironic reality, as barefoot running is overtly promoted as a way to reduce injury risk.
Koch points out that the apparent injury risk associated with barefoot running may actually be artificially low. “There are a fair amount of people who have tried it but have stopped pretty quick, just because they realized that it was not going to work for them,” he says.
I am one such case. I began running in Vibrams in 2006. Despite easing into virtual barefoot running very slowly, I developed calf, ankle extensor and achilles strains immediately and could not quickly overcome them, so I went back to running full-time in running shoes.
Defenders of barefoot running contend that such injuries are easily avoided by a gradual adoption of the practice, but that wasn’t my experience (my first “barefoot” run was one minute). Moreover, I think that this contention that every barefoot running injury is an exception to the rule is a classic fallacy of faith-based versus evidence-based belief. As Koch puts it, “It’s totally misleading to tell people that when they get injured running in shoes, it’s the shoe’s fault, and when they get injured running barefoot, it’s the athlete’s fault. It makes no sense. You’re going to have injuries either way. It’s running.”
One thing all of the medical professionals I interviewed for this article agree on is that many runners have no business even trying to run barefoot. “Runners who have what I call biomechanically disadvantaged feet need shoes, and often orthotics too,” says Maharam.
What’s a biomechanically disadvantaged foot? “People with poor forefoot stability, overpronators, and even supinators are asking for trouble if they ditch their shoes, or even wear the wrong shoes,” says Fogt.
It doesn’t stop at the feet, though. According to the experts, other biostructural factors predispose runners to injury, and going barefoot could exacerbate some of these structurally based predispositions to injury. “When we look at a runner and consider whether running is even appropriate for a person, we’re looking from the spine all the way down to the foot,” says Koch.
(there's much more to the article, but you get the basic drift. |
Edited by - art on 08/07/2012 20:37:47 |
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wrldtrv
666 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2012 : 22:22:42
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Hi Art. I haven't been on here much lately. As for JP, I was simply answering her question about heel strike. I haven't read back through her old posts to find out what other issues she is dealing with. That said, I stand by what I said, with this caveat: I am one person and am not an expert, but in the past three years I have learned much about the subject of barefoot and minimalist running and have not only read several books on the subject, but experimented with it myself.
This is my experience: I have been running for 35 years off and on. Many marathons. I have worn orthotics most of those years and have always been plagued by injuries of one sort or another. I was never happy with orthotics, but thought I was stuck with them. The pods were of course always eager to sell them. Finally, after reading "Born to Run" I gave up my 30 year orthotic habit, and guess what? No catastrophe. I continued to run marathons without. Something else: I got a bad case of plantar fascitis 2 1/2 years ago while wearing orthotics! Since giving them up and running without, running sometimes with minimalist shoes, even vibrams, the problem has not gone away completely, but it is much better. I am continuing to move in this direction.
As for the "experts" you cited, well, the first thing I would look at is their $ motivation. For example, the podiatrist I went to for several years and bought three pairs of orthotics from, had a $ incentive to push orthotics. Oh, he was a true believer so I don't fault him too much. Guess what? I saw him a few months ago and he told me he no longer believed in orthotics for most people and had himself stopped wearing them!
I know the writer of your article already covered this, but probably the main reason so many barefooters or minimalist runners end up injured and in pods offices is because they are overly enthusiastic and go about it all wrong! As evidence, can you believe there is actually a class action suit against Vibrams because a lot of their customers were too stupid to know they shouldn't heel strike while wearing them? I would have thought this would be obvious, but apparently not. I recommend Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton's great book, "Barefoot Running Step by Step" for the correct way to break into barefooting. I have no intention of being a full time barefooter, but I can make use of the techniques to run more safely in shoes. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but you probably do less damage to your body, the less you wear on your feet. All that cushioning in shoes deludes you into thinking you are safe. You're not because the sensors in your feet are numbed, deaf and blind by all that cushioning, therefore you land harder. And if you land with a heel strike you send all that energy through your joints; ankles, knees, hips. No wonder so many runners need knee replacements! If you don't have all that cusioning you can feel the ground every second and you land lightly, and you land with your knees bent, and the energy is transfered through your soft tissues (arch, calf muscles) rather than bone.
Sorry to go on, but I'm enthusiastic about the subject. What would have seemed heresy to me only a few years ago is now self-evident. |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2012 : 23:36:06
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Just my two cents on being barefoot, I play several tournaments on grass annually and do them barefoot. I look forward to them and my body never felt better after a week of playing barefoot tennis on the grass. Other players would look at me like I was nuts and warn I would lose my footing and fall down. It was the opposite, they would be sliding and falling, I didn't fall once all week. After a while others would be kicking off their shoes too--why would anyone want to wear shoes playing tennis on a grass court? My bare feet could feel nuances of differences on the court, dead spots, wet spots, hard spots. I would kid around, that I would prepare for the tournament, by growing my toe-nails long for a better grip. In the old days they used to wear spikes on grass courts.
In my running days, I would run barefoot in an annual DSE low tide Ocean Beach 10k race in SF. I would just kick off my Brooks Huggers or Asics to keep them from getting wet and then you could run along the hard packed sand and through the occasional wave. Never had any injuries doing this for maybe ten or more years, just some sore calves due to sand running. There was one DSE runner who would do all the races including the Bay to Breakers and SF Marathon barefoot over city streets through who knows what kind of garbage.
Also had a few sets of orthotics from the "top" running podiatrist and some cheaper ones from a chiro, now collecting dust in the bottom of the closet. |
Edited by - tennis tom on 08/07/2012 23:42:40 |
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Bugbear
United Kingdom
152 Posts |
Posted - 08/08/2012 : 01:39:02
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I am really enjoying this thread even though I am not a runner. However I have become more enthusiastic about trying running again (ran for a bit during my young whippersnapper years). I am considering this programme: http://www.nhs.uk/LiveWell/c25k/ages/couch-to-5k.aspx
On this site I was reading the advice about not buying shoes with too much cushioning, something one of you has also just mentioned. In any case I dont have the money for expensive shoes and am difficult to fit due to extra wide feet.
TT, you brought back memories of running on the beach with my father. He walked to work each morning (4 miles) for most of his life so was quite fit. I could never out-run him. He played tennis too at one stage.
I don't fancy barefoot running around my area. There has been significant rainfall so way to many slugs.
The article that Art posted mentions the word epidemic and reminds me of all the other epidemics of the past and present that keep the docs going, like ulcers and whiplash, not to mention the full range of back conditions.
I'll let you know if I make it to 5K, if I ever make it off the couch. |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 08/08/2012 : 09:36:49
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quote:
Originally posted by Bugbear
...I have become more enthusiastic about trying running again (ran for a bit during my young whippersnapper years).
...TT, you brought back memories of running on the beach with my father. He walked to work each morning (4 miles) for most of his life so was quite fit. I could never out-run him. He played tennis too at one stage.
...I don't fancy barefoot running around my area. There has been significant rainfall so way to many slugs.
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...I'll let you know if I make it to 5K, if I ever make it off the couch.
Hi BB,
Wish I could have played tennis with your father, he was a cool guy!
Running barefoot over slugs would be mushy and a bit of a deterrent, how 'bout just socks?
Get back out there and start running, or playing tennis or swimming-- or the new X-game, couch trampoline.
Just remember the immortal words of the besotted founder of the DSE Runners: "START SLOWLY AND TAPER OFF".
Cheers
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should I keep on running?
