Overuse Injuries

Our management of walking or running injuries will typically follow this overall pattern:

• We identify the root of the problem - that means the movement causing the problem, plus the tissues (muscles/ligaments/tendons/bones) causing your discomfort. This always involves detailed examination, and may occasionally involve X-Ray, MRI or Ultrasound imaging, which we organize either through your health insurers or at discounted private rates. Our turnaround for imaging results is usually around three days.

• We identify any secondary problems which are “sub-symptomatic” - many injuries are the sign of an abnormal movement or weakness and addressing the individual injury often leaves another area vulnerable. We try to get you injury-free and keep you injury-free in all areas.

• We manage the different injury components individually: Soft tissue work (massage/manipulation) plus home exercises (often stretches, sometimes we also teach self-massage) to settle the injured tissue. We will never fob you off with electrotherapy or any other treatment type which might be ineffective for your individual condition - we get our hands on to fix the problem in a way that works.We teach strengthening work (home exercises) to support a better way of moving and give you a personalized exercise card.Where necessary, we provide a footwear type “prescription”- a footwear advice form which describes the shoe best suited to your foot and movement type (see The Tortoise and Hare for our prescription running-shoe providers or Mountain, Trek & Travel for prescription walking shoe providers)Where this footwear does not suffice, we prescribe custom insole / footbed orthotic devices specific to your needs. We stress that not everyone needs orthotics, and that each prescription type must be specific to your individual needs.When you have better tissue condition, stronger muscles, and better support and mechanics, we often give you some simple “gait drills” - movement patterns which you can practise and work into your normal walking or running activities to ensure long-term changes are made. This helps recovery and minimizes risk of future injury.Finally, and where relevant, we will provide nutritional advice and if necessary ask you to see our nutritionist for extra support - some long term/chronic injuries which are reluctant to heal may be signals of something that is missing in your diet.

• Finally, and depending on the severity and cause of the original problem, we may schedule occasional check-ups to ensure that you are not becoming injury prone again. These may be as seldom as two-yearly, and we advise each patient according to their individual needs.