One of the most difficult running injuries is a plantar plate injury. 

I know, because I have had a plantar plate sprain myself. 

Plantar plate sprains are really frustrating because the plantar plate is a very small ligament. It takes very little to aggravate or stress the plantar plate, to irritate it, to stretch it, strain it, or injure it further when you are running. 

I had a patient who asked a really interesting question. He said:

“Should I expect to have pain as soon as I start running?”

I basically said, “Well, if you do, you are doing it wrong, because if you are having pain, you are stretching and straining the ligament in the way that is predictably going to re-injure it.”

Should I expect to have some pain when I return to running after healing a plantar plate sprain? 

Great question and that is what we're talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.