With the London marathon almost upon us there was a report on BBC breakfast that caught my eye offering good advice to those taking part. It is from the sports presenter Mike Bushell who will be running the marathon this year. Although it is primarily about the London marathon the advice is relevant to any event. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12608592
This is one that I find affects a wide group of people, many of whom do not regularly engage in any particular sport or attend a gym. Recently, I have had conversations with individuals who have seen their GP and been prescribed anti-inflammtory tablets but there is much more you can do. This can be treated with a good deep tissue massage on the affected area along with work on the joints of the foot, ankle and into the calf muscles. You can help yourself with some simple home remedies: use a tennis ball, golf ball or even a rolling pin and sit comfortably with it under your foot and use it for self massage by rolling it across the underside of your foot as you press down on it.
Another option – and one that will help cool any inflammtion – is to fill a small plastic drinks bottle with water and put it in the freezer. When frozen, use this as a roller under your affected foot. This way you have the massage effects of the roller along with the soothing and cooling affect of the ice. I would still recommend seeing a manual therapist who will make sure of the diagnosis and work with you towards recovery.
The treatment I can provide is not just for the recreational or serious athlete, it can be beneficial to everyone no matter what lifestyle you have. Those long hours at work can ‘jam up’ the muscles and create tightness throughout the body. A wide range of treatment modalities can release that tension that can develop not just in your neck and shoulders but equally through the legs and lower back.
It may be your opportunities to exercise are limited, perhaps due to illness or pregnancy; these are often the very situations that benefit the most from deep tissue massage and assisted stretching or joint mobilisation. Remember to look after yourself by treating your body from time to time, as a pregnant client of mine realised through a bi-weekly massage programme.
There are guidelines regarding treatment of people with illnesses and pregnant ladies which can be discussed at a consultation so that the treatments can be tailored to your specific needs.
I have recently worked with a client who is pregnant and recently have had some great sucess in relieving her aches and pains as part of a regular massage programme. As the female body changes and responds to increased demands of pregnancy, lower back pain is often a common complaint, as you may expect, which can lead to some symptons of scaitica; this can be reduced or erradicated with carefully applied massage and articulatory techniques, as has been the case with my client.
In particular the sharp pain that often builds up on outside of the knee when you have run for a little while. I have had some new clients recently who are in the last stages of their training for the London Marathon and as the mileage has increased they have felt this pain which can be very debilitating and a real cause of concern.
Especially after all the long winter months of training the last thing you feel you need now is an injury that will prevent you doing the event you have worked so hard to get to. Fortunately it is normally an injury that we can resolve quite quickly leaving you pain free and able to enjoy the training and the event.
Everyone is different and it will need to be properly tested but generally speaking this condition is a result of a tight Iliotibial Band or IT Band, it is commonly referred to as ‘Runners Knee’. One of the clients I am seeing at the moment is an excellent example of the problem and how working together we can rectify the problem.
He told me that after he has run for about 6 or 7 mile he starts to get this very uncomfortable pain on the outside edge of his knee just about where you will find the top of the fibula bone. He was very concerned that this would seriously impact on his training and the Marathon itself, this will be his second London event and the last one was dogged by this same pain in both legs.
He had decided to call me because he needed to understand what was happening and how serious it was he is keen to have a good event and finish in a good time. When I examined him I found that his IT Band was very tight. I treated him using a combination of deep tissue massage and muscle energy stretching. I discussed with him some options for stretching and pre-warming of the area before a run to soften the tissue and reduce the tension over the fibula bone.
It is the constant and repetitive rubbing of the IT Band over the fibula head that causes the pain and inflammation. He was due to run the Silverstone Half Marathon four days later and was concerned that he would have to withdraw. I assured him that if he was careful and kept his effort at 75% he should be okay, with proviso that if he feels any significant discomfort he considers stopping. He called me the day after and told me that he completed successfully – pain free. I have seen him in the last week and he is now doing his long runs without the previous pain.
We will have one more appointment about a week before the London Marathon just to make sure that everything is still working as it should but he is now much more optimistic about completing in his target time. So if you are feeling a similar pain or other aches and pains it may be something that can be easily and quickly resolved so that you can really enjoy the event and fulfil your maximum potential.
