Happy Monday! What we plan to do over the next few weeks here on the Injury Zone is some Q from runners that have reached out to us. The first topic we are going to discuss is running with pain and when runners should look to start addressing pain on their own, or with the guidance of a health care professional.

Whether it before, during, or after a run, pain is something that all runners experience at some point in time. If you are in that very small percentage of runners that never sustain an injury, please contact me and let me know your secret! In all seriousness, running with pain is not fun and when runners start to experience discomfort, the first thing they do is it to find an answer. Let not kid ourselves, we all done this and frankly, with all the information available on the internet, it not a bad idea. Unfortunately, a lot of the information that is available can further cloud what you think is going on and leave you more confused!

Pain is not something runners like to deal with, as it can prevent increasing mileage, frequency, and overall training regimens they follow. The key to how runners manage pain initially can be of great importance for long term recovery. Some questions I ask runners when they come to see me are 1) how often is the pain present 2) what activities other than running causes it, and 3) what is being done to help alleviate it.

As a physical therapist, I always try and establish some baseline measurements with my clients, as it something we can monitor and measure as they progress through rehab. A pain scale that I use frequently with runners is from a fellow physical therapist Bruce Wilk, who runs his own practice down in Miami, Florida. He offers a very straight forward 1 5 pain scale based on when the pain is occurring and when it might be appropriate to start managing it.

Stage 5 Pain that cripples you

Wilk believes, and I agree with him, that if you are at stage 2 or further, that is the time to start self managing. Symptoms that don subside after activity and continue to persist need to be addressed to prevent further issues. If you notice that the pain is lingering into your daily routine, then it is probably in your best interest to seek help from a professional.

The thing that sticks out to me most in this scale is stage 4, where most runners I talk to are taking some sort of medication before, during, or after their runs to help their symptoms. NSAID (non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs) such as Ibuprofen, Advil, or Aleve, are pain relieving medications that could potentially mask what your body trying to tell you. The more you rely on medication to get you through your runs, the more you run the risk of getting to the point of no return. Even if a runner looks at this scale and believes they are only at stage 1 or 2, if medication is used for pain management, the runner automatically is at stage 4.

We are very up front with our runners and do not believe runners should be taking medication for pain management. Although it might help in the short term, it puts them at a high risk for potentially developing a serious injury.

Our goals with rehab are to minimize the risk of injury and maximize what we know about it to help with recovery. Every person pain threshold is different, so this scale can help you determine when you need to start doing more to take care of your body.

Are you reading the scale above and asking yourself if you fall into any of these stages? If you are, it might not be a bad idea to pay more attention to what your body is telling you and re assess what exactly you are dealing with. When in doubt, always contact a health care professional such as myself so that we can help you assess what is going on and how we can proceed to keep you running!

Until next time, happy running!

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Traci Adedeji: is a 40 something mother of three adult daughters and wife of local fashion designer, Raul Siro Ferreira. The family moved to Rochester from the New York City area in 2007. Having worked for over 20 years as an insurance professional, Rochester was a change of pace that precipitated a change in career for her. Traci owns Grown Sexy Things, a lifestyle brand offering relationship enhancement products and producing signature “Grown Sexy Girls’ Night Out” events. She cites her status as “a person who wears clothes” as what makes her uniquely qualified to write about fashion. She offers real fashion and shopping tips for real women presented with her special brand of style and humor. Traci believes that true style comes not just from knowing the difference between fashion and style but also from knowing what works best for you and for your lifestyle.

Laura Card is a Nutrition Counselor and Health + Lifestyle Coach.

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Laura comes from the corporate world; her background is in graphic and web design, internet marketing, search engine optimization, and social media marketing.

Laura is a passionate learner and a life long student. She is continually studying to increase her knowledge of nutrition, holistic health and well being, human psychology and behavior change, self improvement, as well as entrepreneurship, modern marketing, and social media influence.

Emily Chen: has always had a passion for the arts, a passion that would land her a growing career in the beauty industry. At an early age she began beauty school and discovered she could utilize artistic talent and creative thinking in a career full of opportunities. Upon completing her cosmetology education, Chen began her work as a salon assistant. She attended numerous advanced workshops, seminars, hair shows, and other educational events and quickly rose to become a Artistic Director at Allora Salon Spa in Victor. Chen enjoys working with her clients to come up with styles individualized to their needs and complimenting their natural features. In 2008, she became a Thermafuse Educator, and then a National Thermafuse Platform Artist and a member of the Thermafuse Artistic Team. Chen currently works full time as a stylist . When not in the salon, she travels the United States and Canada teaching and inspiring other stylists and promoting her love and passion of the beauty industry. “Whether you’ve been doing hair for ten months or ten years, there is ALWAYS something new to learn,” Chen said.

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Tokeya C. Graham consistently works towards personal growth. She applies the principles of what she calls “Soulstainable Living”: reducing her negative karma footprints by recycling positive energy for the benefit of others. She believes that we are we responsible for own happiness and should work hard to achieve it. Tokeya is a word wrangler by day and a dream spinner at night. She currently teaches English at Monroe Community College’s Damon City Campus. Since 2005, she has owned and operated T. Cornell Writing Resource which offers comprehensive writing services and workshops. Additionally, she is a popular local public speaker who is requested at many events that focus on helping women and girls become their best selves. A Rochester native, Tokeya continues to live in the city with her husband and their children. When she isn’t tweeting or wedding planning, she takes to the stage for community theatre productions. She is a Nazareth College graduate who also volunteers for area nonprofits. She is quick to help others with projects that can transform their Air Jordan 10s house into their home. Visit her shop in Palmyra and you will find her enthusiasm is contagious. She refers to herself as a contemporary woman with heirloom hobbies. Her painting includes a wide range of pieces, from French Country and traditional to whimsical and eclectic, to Shabby Chic. She loves resurrecting old wood furniture, giving a side table new life with paint or taking a forgotten dresser and transforming it into the favorite piece in a home. She is a three time Homearama participant and an Annie Sloan Chalk Paint certified stockist and trainer.

She has a passion for painting and her family. Tricia lives in a big, old Victorian farmhouse, painted purple and white, in Macedon with her husband Steve and daughter Danni. She is a hometown girl, born and raised in Rochester. While traveling the globe during her mechanical engineer/software consulting days, she always looked forward to returning “home.”

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