When you get any stage of Achilles injury and you're a runner, you're trying to figure out what you can do to get it to heal as quickly as possible. 

The biggest concern with runners when they have an Achilles tendon injury is that the tendon is going to continue to degenerate, turn into Achilles tendinosis, and then potentially even rupture.

But the good news is that stress, when actually applied in the right way, can help your Achilles tendon recover faster, become stronger, so you can get back to running, possibly even with less risk of re-injury.

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast, we're talking about how stress can actually help your Achilles tendon recover faster. 

There are the three forms of stress that can affect you and the injured tissue when you actually get back to running after you've been injured and you feel like you've recovered.

I was just recently doing a telemedicine visit with someone who had an injury and was getting better. She was told to start running, but she wasn't really given any specific instructions. 

She was told, "You can go and just kind of run a little bit and see how it feels." 

If you're a runner and you haven't been running for weeks because of an injury, you're probably going to feel so good when you start running that you're going to do too much. If you do too much, and then you start having pain, you're going to completely freak out because you're going to be worried that you've completely set back your injury.

Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we're talking about the three forms of stress when you start running after injury.

Just a couple of days ago I was doing a telemedicine call with a runner who wanted to know what it meant to have “thinning of the plantar plate ligament on his MRI.

He asked, "What does ‘thinning’ really mean? Do I really have a plantar plate tear? Is it a problem? Will I be able to continue to run?" 

“What is the issue with this idea of thinning of the plantar plate ligament, and why does it happen?”

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we're talking about thinning of the plantar plate ligament on an MRI in a runner.

When you break down the goal of running a marathon, it really only has 3 key elements. 

You are crystal clear on the distance, the starting point and the end point. 

All you have to do to compete the marathon successfully is break your training down into the daily and weekly stages of growth to establish the fitness required of your body on race day.

Running injuries are difficult because they lack the clarity and simplicity of training for a marathon. But make no mistake. The process is just the same. 

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we're talking about the 3 key elements of marathon training and running injury recovery.

Metatarsal stress fractures are one of the most common injuries in runners. Unfortunately for runners, 4 weeks to 6 weeks in a fracture walking it boot is the common recommendation from doctors.  

Part of the reason you get the boot for 4-6 weeks, is that you didn’t give your doctor enough information to recommend anything else. The doctor wants you to heal. The way you tell your stress fracture fracture story leaves the doctor imaging the worst possible scenario and you get the worst possible treatment as a result.  

To heal a stress fracture you need to stop stressing the bone. You need to stop causing damage. It is that simple. 

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we're talking about why doctors prescribe 4-6 weeks in a fracture boot for stress fractures in runners.

This weekend, I was giving a lecture at a medical conference that was specific to running injuries. 

During the question and answer period, one of the physicians in the audience asked a completely valid question. 

She asked, "Why wouldn't you just begin with a prescription medication if you're 100% sure that medication had the highest probability of reducing the patient's symptoms?”

The difference between the treatment options really lies in what is best for a runner long-term, versus what may best in the short term.

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we're talking about why runners should not start running injury treatment with prescription medications.

Think back to the last time you really remember getting a second wind. Maybe it was 2 miles into your fastest 5K. Maybe it was mile 18 or mile 22 of a marathon.

Just when you felt you really couldn’t got on, just when you hit an all time low, your energy started to grow. You felt revived. Energized, you pressed on the the finish, thrilled with the boost of energy moving you forward. 

Every runner recovering from a running injury will have dark days. The energy vaporizes and is replaced by frustration. If not careful, despair can set it. 

On these days in your recovery it is crucial you dig deep. 

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we're talking about finding your second wind in running injury recovery.

A few minutes ago I was on a second opinion telemedicine call with runner who was told he had an MRI showing an “osteochondral defect.” 

The doctor told him to stop running.

If a joint surface gets damage, you may develop a little soft-spot called an “osteochondral defect.” 

Just because you have an osteochondral defect, it doesn't necessarily mean you have to stop running, but you do need to figure out whether or not it's actually a problem that could get worse if you don't address it.

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we're talking about osteochondral defects in runners.

I just got off a telemedicine call with a woman who was an elite runner in college.

She has been having a difficult time getting back to an acceptable level of activity after recovering from her overtraining injury. 

When you have been doing a certain run at a certain pace, as a part of your training for years, you always fell like you can do that workout. 

But when you get a running injury and take time off, unfortunately, your sense of reality is off in that moment. What you sense about your fitness is off.

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we're talking about how your sensor is broken.

If you over-stretch any nerve it can become inflamed and painful.

If you roll your ankle on a trail you can get a condition called traction neuritis.

Most of the time when I am on a telemedicine or second opinion call with a runner with traction neuritis, they have been misdiagnosed with some other condition.

If you understand how to tell the difference, you can understand how to get back to running sooner. 

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we're talking about traction neuritis in a runner and what it really means.