knee pain while running

Knee pain while running can really hurt!

Running with knee pain can be very dangerous.  Every day hundreds of people have to go through knee surgery and in many cases the surgery could have been prevented.

It is a common myth that for every step we take, we damage our knee. Studies have shown that knee injuries are quite in fact more common for runners, but the injuries can easily and quickly be corrected if they are handled properly. In this article there will be given tips on how to cure your knee pain, but if you find the knee pain severe, you must see a doctor. As if you go to them early enough, it might spare you a visit to the surgeon.

If you don't find the pain strong enough to visit the doctor a rule of thumb should be: If the  pain increases for every time you run, stop running for a while. If the pain decreases, it shouldn't really be a big issue. And also, when you are experiencing knee pain while running it is not the proper time to participate in marathons or setting new personal records.

There are also some other precautions you can make to reduce/prevent knee pain:

Surface: Avoid hard surfaces like asphalt. While it might seem the as the easiest paths to take it can be fatal for your knee. A hard surface will return strong force when your feet makes contact with the ground, which creates a strong shock that is observed by the knee. This increases the chances of knee injuries and in general makes the entire running trip less enjoyable. Running on grass or in the woods is therefore preferable. And running in wild doesn't feel as repetive as running on roads etc. If you don't have any woods or grass areas close to where you live, the shoes you wear is a major factor in your knee's health.

Shoes: Knee pain while running is also often caused by your shoes. The main job running shoes does is to absorb the shock from the pavement. When your shoes are of low quality and doesn't really suppress these shocks your knee definitely feels it. The best way to find great running shoes are basically to ask the employees in the shop for advice. Tell them your approximate budget and also ask them for personal experiences with shoes. As in sport stores the majority of the employees are actually runners themselves.

Genetics: Genes are actually the main factor that decides if you feel knee pain while running or not. While it is incredible hard to change your genes it is important to be aware of them. If your family have had a lot of problems with their knees it is likely that you are exposed to knee pain as well. And even though you have the best running equipment in the world you shouldn't push yourself too far with poor genes. 

All in all knee pain while running can be very painful and the best thing is probably to see your local doctor. If you decide not to, make sure to listen very careful to your body while running with knee pain. Pain is the body's method to say that something is wrong. Sometimes it fixes itself, but not always.

Sources: 
Knee pain in general: http://www.medicinenet.com/knee_pain/article.htm 25.12.2011

Runners knee: http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/knee-pain/runners-knee 30.12.2011

Filed under: Injuries

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