Running Injuries In Spite of Doing Everything Right?

One of the latest trends I have seen come through my chiropractic practice lately have been a similar plague of running injuries. While I have never personally been a long distance runner, I have always had a fascination with those who are. As a matter of fact I just had a lengthy "chicken or egg" discussion with an athletic trainer a few days ago in reference to common running injuries. It has been my opinion that spinal alignment, including that of the hip, knee, and ankle should be ideally aligned to optimally perform and prevent injury. If rehabilitation is performed on injuries prior to realignment and reactivation of the kinetic chain, there is an excellent chance of re-injury or new injuries in areas that have compensated. As a Seattle chiropractor, I have witnessed this with a high performing long distance athlete who had a rash of Achilles tendon issues. They were so terrible in fact that he lost a college scholarship as his performance was so impeded. This lead to a surgery on one tendon, and eventually to the end of a promising college career. When I met him he has never received a chiropractic adjustment, and actually questioned the validity. He had a difficult time understanding why none of the "experts" he sought care under suggested a chiropractor. While I didn't have an answer for him, I explained that he had a problem with alignment, not his Achilles. I quickly used a car analogy. If a vehicle repeatedly wears our its shocks or tires, do we continue to fix or replace those parts, or do we check the alignment? He obviously understood and recognized the correlation, so he allowed me to adjust him. The next day he came in for a follow up appointment, and revealed that it was the first time he had slept without pain in four years. Within a few months he was back to running long distances, however his surgically repaired Achilles continues to bother him. Sometimes the simplest solutions can have the maximum benefit, and chiropractic care is no different. It is cost effective, safe, and just might keep a person away from an unnecessary and costly surgery. If you are a runner who takes their training seriously, consult with a chiropractor to check for ideal alignment. Chiropractic isn't just about back pain, neck pain, and headaches. It is about alignment and ideal nervous system function, and what athlete doesn't need that in their training regiment?