Anyone who has been running for long knows there are as many running injuries as there are runners. I’m not going to tell you how to treat any injury, whatever it is, but I can say with confidence that you should not just try to be tough and ‘run through it.’ This could be a big gamble. Sometimes you will be fortunate, and there will be no penalty for this, but other times, every step you take does more damage, damage that may be difficult or impossible to repair.
As always, the best recommendation is to see a physician, one who specializes in treating runners.
Once, I had a severe pain in the ball of my foot, at the base of my big toe, so bad that I couldn’t run more than a mile. Every step became more painful. After trying staying off it for as much as three months – I can’t believe I was that patient – and returning to running with just as much pain, I eventually went to a podiatrist. He said I had a fractured sesamoid bone and needed a cast from knee to toe.
I said, “Wait a minute; this problem started six months ago. Are you saying I’ve been walking around with a broken bone in my foot for that long?”
“Yes," he said,” it hasn’t healed because you haven’t immobilized it.
I said, “Okay, I’ll go along with the cast, but only if we do further testing to be certain that it is a break.” He agreed and sent me for an MRI. Guess what? It showed no break.
Next, he convinced me I needed orthotics. I ordered them and tried them. No help with the pain.
After another month, I went to another podiatrist. He suggested a shot of cortisone. That didn’t make much difference, either. Next, he said I should have another shot. Tried that. No help. By that time I had been off running for almost a year and was thinking that I might be the end of my running career.
Then, one day I was chatting with the cross country coach at the school where I was teaching. He said, “Well, I’m not much for cures in a bottle (pills), but, I was facing knee surgery; I was really frustrated. I didn't want surgery but thought that was the only solution. Then someone at a health food store recommended Glucosamine. I tried it, and within a month I was running pain free.”
Well, I thought I had nothing to lose, so I tried it, and within a month, I was running pain free as well. I never had a recurrence of the problem, and that was ten years ago.
Now, don’t get me wrong; I’m not one of those people to say that “It worked for me, so it will work for you.” And certainly many knee problems do require surgery. I just related this experience to point out that sometimes the easiest, simplest treatment may be the right one.
I don’t take Glucosamine anymore. I guess I am a minimalist. I don’t like to take any pills or any other fortification unless absolutely necessary.
This is not an advertisement, but if you google it, you’ll find plenty of research that supports its use.
One more thing, don’t conclude from this story that I don’t recommend podiatrists; far from it. My mistake was that I did not get another runner to recommend a podiatrist. Years earlier I had a wonderful experience with a podiatrist who did exactly the right thing and had me running again, pain free, miraculously, almost immediately.
The message here is not to give up when you have an injury. You may venture down several different therapy roads before finding the one that will take you back to healthy, pain free running.
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