Doc On The Run Podcast

Pain is the most underutilized tool for recovering runners

No runner wants pain. 

However, when injured and trying to recover, pain is actually one of the most useful tools at your disposal.

I often tell injured runners and doctors at medical conferences something you should think about:

Pain is the most abundant and most underutilized evaluation tool available to runners when they're trying to get back to running.

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast, we're talking about how pain is the most underutilized tool for recovering runners.

Top 3 Stress Fracture Takeaways from IFAF Sonoma

This episode comes from a lecture I was giving at a medical conference just last week.

One of the lectures was on the differences between stress response, stress reaction, and stress fractures in athletes.

There are really just a few main points doctors need to understand when treating runners with stress fractures.

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast, we're talking about the top three stress fracture takeaways from the International Foot and Ankle Foundation meeting in Sonoma, California.

There is no hope on a downward slope

There is no hope on a downward slope. 

I know that sounds really negative and terrible, but it's true.  

A recovering runner recently called for a called me for a second opinion telemedicine visit. Her doctor had told her to wait...to wait to get better. In fact, she waited for 12 weeks and she did exactly what she was told: nothing. She did no exercise for 12 weeks.

If you just think about the last time you were really fit, and if you just stopped exercising completely, right then for three months, how fit would you be at the end of that 12 weeks?

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast, we're talking about how there is no hope on a downward slope.

Can I run if MRI shows stress fracture but no pain?

In the last week alone I had telemedicine calls with two different runners with different types of stress fractures who asked what it means when they have no pain, but an MRI that "shows a stress fracture, but no crack in the bone."

It gets really confusing when it comes to classifying stress fractures based only on medical imaging like x-rays or MRI. 

If you wonder...

Can I run if my MRI shows a stress fracture, but I don't have any pain? 

That's what we're going to talk about today on the Doc On The Run podcast.

Recover. Don’t Rot.

This episode comes from a discussion I had recently with a recovering runner during a telemedicine visit. She was asking me what to do. 

She is stuck in a cycle of getting frustrated, she gets better, and then gets injured again when she actually gets back to running.

She seems to have a tendency to get re-injured, with different injuries.

To recover from injury, you have to make sure you don't rot while you wait. 

Today on the Doc on the Run Podcast, we're talking about how to make sure you recover and don't rot when you have a running injury.

How can I train with a femoral neck stress fracture?

I got a call from a runner who asked me about staying fit while training with a femoral neck stress fracture. What is interesting to me is that this person has seen a qualified sports medicine orthopedist who told her that she should not train or should not run with this femoral neck stress fracture.

I'm a podiatrist, I treat foot and ankle problems specifically in runners, but I do not treat femoral neck stress fractures. However, I can tell you what I would do if I had a femoral neck stress fracture.

How can I train with a femoral neck stress fracture? Well, that's what we're talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.

3 types of runners who get the most from telemedicine

Recently I was interviewed on a television program about telemedicine, who it helps and who it doesn't help. I do a lot of telemedicine visits with athletes.

Meeting with a doctor via telemedicine can be very helpful because you can get quick access. You can get immediate answers from an expert. 

There are three kinds of runners for whom telemedicine is actually incredibly helpful. 

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast, we're talking about the three types of runners who get the most from telemedicine visits.

Which is worse for my Achilles running hills or stairs?

This episode comes from a question sent in by a runner who was listening to the Doc On The Run podcast. 

This is a runner who had an Achilles tendon issue and was recovering and getting back to running. 

He has recovered enough that he is back to running, he's doing better, he's running without any pain, but he wanted to incorporate some strength training in the form of either hill repeats or running stairs.

He wanted to know...

Which is worse for my Achilles tendon, running hills or running stairs?

Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we're talking about which is worse for your Achilles tendon, running hills or running stairs.

Why wonky is better than weak in a recovering runner

I was just doing a telemedicine consult with a runner for a second opinion. He has so much pain in his foot he actually can't even walk on the foot, much less run on it.

One of the questions I asked him was whether or not he was doing single leg squats to try to maintain some of the strength in his non-injured foot.

He actually said he wasn't doing any single leg strengthening because he didn't want to get "wonky."

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast, we're talking about why wonky is better than weak in a recovering runner.

 

I think I have a bunion but my toe is straight

A bunion deformity is a really common problem, and a bunion is when your big toe moves over and starts pushing against the second toe. Over time that can get bad enough that the big toe actually sits on top or underneath the second toe.

Now because this thing is so common, whenever you get a bump of any kind around that area, people often think that they have bunions, and that's exactly what happened with this runner when I did his second opinion consultation.

Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we're talking about a runner who said that he thought he had a bunion, but his big toe was straight.