Doc On The Run Podcast

The Only 3 Steps Runners Need to Heal Plantar Fasciitis

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we’re talking about the only three steps runners need to heal plantar fasciitis.

You don’t need to watch a hundred of different videos to get better. If you do these three things and you really have plantar fasciitis you should start getting better. In this episode we’re going to talk about the only three treatments needed to heal plantar fasciitis in almost every runner. If you’re not getting better, then the chances are good that you probably don’t have plantar fasciitis and have been misdiagnosed.

This problem is so common that I even wrote an entire book on Runners Heel Pain and you can get it on Amazon. Even after I wrote the book on heel pain, runners kept calling to schedule Virtual Doctor Visitconsultations on Skype where they can actually talk to me and ask me questions. I pretty quickly realized they were all asking the same questions about what I do to diagnose and treat runners when I see them in person.

So then, we even created an online course on Runner’s Heel Pain that teaches runners like you how to do their own self-diagnosis and make sure your are doing the correct treatment once you know which condition is really causing your heel pain. We’ve put links to the book and the course at the bottom of the show notes for this episode. Check those out if you’re confused about whether or not you actually have plantar fasciitis.

But you don’t really need the book on Heel Pain or the course on Heel Pain if you just have plantar fasciitis. Let’s talk about what plantar fasciitis is, and what you as a runner have to do to get rid of plantar fasciitis.

Top 3 Mistakes Runners Make When Getting a Second Opinion

Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast were talking about how runners can get the very best second opinion.

The other day I had an interesting conversation with a runner who has had a really difficult time recovering. The bottom line is that she had a couple of surgeries that didn’t work out exactly the way she expected and now she is still having trouble.

So we were having a conversation about how she can make sure that her current treatment plan is the best plan to get her back to running. We talked about all different kinds of surgical options, different approaches and how the doctor’s decision making process works. And through the course of that conversation I realized that many runners just don’t understand how they should approach a doctor when they’re getting a second opinion.

Your goal when you are getting a second opinion is to make sure you are getting an unbiased perspective on where you are right now and where you want to end up.

Hope… An Invaluable Commodity

Have you ever had a race that you really only made it through just because you believe you can do it?

Sometimes you get to a place where it seems like all you have left is hope and when you get to that place it seems like hope is really all that you need.

Today I was doing a remote consultation call with a frustrated runner in Texas. We worked through her problem and came up with some options that should help her figure out what’s really going on and get her back on track.

After the call, she sent a really nice email to me in which she said,

“Thank you also for the understanding and hope… an under-appreciated but invaluable commodity.”

That was a really nice thing to say but it really brought up a lot of things for me because I realized a lot of doctors do not offer hope. In fact, they do quite the opposite.

Today on the Doc On The Run podcast were talking about hope an underappreciated, but invaluable commodity.

The Power Of Meditation To Relax And Heal With Jason Stephenson

Today on the Doc On The Run podcast we are talking about how you can use the power of meditation to relax and heal.

Jason Stephenson has been involved in the meditation and relaxation field for over fifteen years and he even has a YouTube meditation sleep music channel that has over 700,00 subscribers with over 90 million views.

For whatever reason when runners become injured they don't really seem to recognize the value of meditation. Maybe it's just that they've lost their focus and they kind of forgot about it. Maybe they're distracted because they're kind of upset that they signed up for race they don't think they're going to get to run it. But in this episode Jason's going to help us all understand a little bit more about meditation, living in the moment and how meditation has helped him and how it maybe can help us runners as well.

Not Running is Optional

Every day I talk to runners who tell me their doctor said they have to stop running. Just stop and think about that for a minute. A runner is told to stop running.

A runner has pain in her foot. Maybe it’s a metatarsal stress fracture. Maybe it’s a plantar plate sprain. Maybe it’s plantar fasciitis. But the runner wants to run and not have foot pain.

So the runner makes an appointment with a supposed expert (a doctor), sits in a waiting room, then sits in a second waiting room waiting for the doctor to actually come in to do something.

Finally, the door swings open and you tell the doctor that you have this pain in your foot when you’re running. And then the doctor tells you to stop running.

So what just happened? Did the doctor not understand that you’re a runner? Did the doctor not understand you actually want to keep running? Does the doctor think running is not important to you? Or does the doctor really think you showed up to have somebody in a white coat tell you you should trade your running shoes for a bike helmet or a pair of swim goggles.

That doesn’t really sound like much of a solution to you, does it?

In this episode we are talking about how not running is optional.

There Is No Key To Healing. It’s A Combination.

Today I was on a 15 minute Virtual Doctor Visit call with a runner who has been trying to get over a nagging case of Achilles tendinitis and still wants to do well in the Boston Marathon.

It may not surprise you to hear that he is worried about how skipping long runs to protect the Achilles tendon will make it very difficult for him to have a good run in Boston.

He’s been doing all the right stuff. He has taken the right steps to remove the inflammatory fluid around the Achilles tendon. He’s been doing the right supplementation routine to help rebuild the collagen. He’s been doing the right workouts to help break up cross-linking and reorganize the collagen alignment in the Achilles tendon.

He has been improving but, he had very mild setback, got a little swelling and it made him worried. So, he just wanted to have a quick call to talk about his progress and figure out whether or not he needed to stop running or shift to some different activity.

In 15 minutes we were actually able to come up with several different ways he could augment his training to add some longer workouts that wouldn’t put as much stress on the Achilles tendon.

Can You Fix The Plantar Fascia After Surgery? Question From A Runner

This episode is based on a question sent in from one of our listeners and she actually wrote in and said “I mistakenly had “plantar release” done to my right foot 16 years ago. I am no longer able to run because my arch has collapsed and my foot now rolls inward significantly with every step. I’m in constant pain in both of my knees (because of the change in my gait) as well as my foot as a result. A Mayo Clinic orthopedic surgeon recommended fusing the first and second metatarsals above my arch to reduce pain affected by the release but who knows if I’ll ever run again, which is what truly breaks my heart. My main questions are could stem cell therapy help me run again and can it decrease pain in the long term? Long shot question- is it remotely possible to “replace” (using that term very loosely) the cut ligament or it’s role in the foot, also allowing me to run again? (which is most important to me honestly).”

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we’re talking about what a runner can do to help the plantar fascia after plantar fascia surgery.

From 400 Pounds To Running 100 Miles

Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast we’re talking about the special considerations overweight runners need to think about when they want to get to their goals without getting injured.

 I am really excited to have Gary Stotler on the show today and Gary is a guy who is truly inspirational. He actually went from 400 pounds to running 100 miles.

Stress Related Eating and the Consequences for Injured Runners with Stephan Guyenet, PhD

I’m really excited to have Dr. Stephan Guyenet as a guest expert today. Dr. Guyenet spent 12 years at the University of Washington as a neuroscience and obesity researcher. Much of that time he was studying the role of the brain in eating behavior and body fatness. His publications have been cited more than 1,400 times by other scientists and in peer-reviewed scientific publications. He is the author an intriguing book entitled “The Hungry Brain” which explores the neuroscience of overeating, focusing on the following perplexing question: Why do we overeat, even though we don’t want to?

One of the reasons I wanted to have him on the show is that I have noticed many injured runners and triathletes let their diets slide a little bit when they get hurt. When we talk about this it quickly becomes apparent that these athletes understand nutrition. They understand the value of quality ingredients going into their system. They know what they need to eat to recover from hard workouts.

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we’re talking about Stress Related Eating and the Consequences for Injured Runners.

Mindfulness For Runners With Linda Hall

Today on the Doc On The Run podcast we’re talking with Linda Hall about meditation and how to focus on the mind-body connection and stress management as a tool that runners can use to recover faster, decrease the risk of running injury and hopefully even recover from overtraining injuries.