Doc On The Run Podcast

Discipline is the difference between choosing what you want now and what you want most. The problem with discipline is that most runners often seem to perceive discipline and hard work are synonymous. After all, it does take lots of discipline and hard work to become a strong runner. We learn to suffer. Through discipline we learn to put on our running shoes and run in the dark. We run in the rain...

My ankles pop and click all the time. They have for years. I am going to help you understand whether or not you might have subluxing peroneal tendons and whether or not it’s a problem. If you think you have peroneal tendon subluxation you probably have some popping or clicking sensation or maybe even pain at the outside of the ankle. So what causes all of that noise? Today on the Doc On The Run Po...

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we’re talking about peroneus longus tendonitis, and what runners can do about it. Whenever I do consultations for runners who have peroneal tendinitis, they seem to be confused. Even though many of them have already been seen by an emergency room physician or their primary care doctor, they seem to be really unclear about what exactly is going on in their foot a...

In the earlier episodes we explained that peroneal tendinitis is just inflammation of one of two tendons on the outside of your ankle: peroneus brevis and peroneus longus. In most runners these are overuse injuries. Although they have similar names and they’re both in a similar location they each have very different functions when you run. In the simplest terms, they work together to act as your l...

If you are listening to this, you’re probably a runner and you probably also have pain on the outside of your ankle. You may have already been to see a doctor, or you may just be trying to figure this out on your own. Either way, either you or someone else has suggested that you have a problem with the peroneal tendons. And you’re probably worried that it’s going to screw up your ability to run at...

I recently had the honor of being interviewed by Runner’s Connect to contribute my thoughts on peroneal tendinitis in runners. This live recording was part of the 4-Day Injury Prevent Summit where Runners Connect interviewed 25 of the world’s most renowned running injury experts. This episode is going to be an overview on peroneal tendon injuries in runners. For most of you listening this, it will...

In Part 1 of our series on Achilles tendinitis we talked about how runners with mild forms of Achilles tendon injuries can decrease the inflammation, decrease the stress and tension on the Achilles tendon, get better and keep running. But we also talked about the unfortunate reality of some runners having a tendency to ignore these injuries when they are in there earliest stages. Because many runn...

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we’re talking about how runners with Achilles tendinitis skip the doctor visit and keep running. The Achilles tendon is the biggest tendon in the body. So when the Achilles tendon gets injured, the runner has a really big problem. If you neglect the early sign of problems with the Achilles tendon and develop a severe form of Achilles tendinitis, you can be cripp...

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we’re talking with legendary orthopedic surgeon Kevin Stone, M.D. about runner’s knee and knee preservation strategies for runners. Dr. Stone gets invited to travel to medical conferences all over the world to teach other orthopedic surgeons the specifics of his joint preservation research and knee surgery techniques. And in this episode he will share some strat...

Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast, we’re talking about what a runner should do if you’re worried the pain under the big toe joint might be a sesamoid stress fracture. Sesamoid stress fractures may be one of the very worst injuries affecting runners. In fact, of all overtraining injuries that could actually seriously put your future of running at risk, it may be the sesamoid fracture that has the...

Summer has a dirty little Secret… If you get injured and wander into the hospital in the summer months you are more likely to end up with a bad result. Believe it or not, statistically, you are even more likely to die. Your chances of dying in a hospital are highest in July. A study published in 2010 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine exposed one of medicine’s dirty little secrets. All me...

If you’re a runner, the chances are good at some point in your running career you have had an aching, throbbing sensation in the front of your shins. And chances are also good if you talk to your running buddies they would quickly explain to you that you have a case of shin splints. Shin splints may be common, but they can also be confusing. As I have said in many other episodes, you have to know...

Is over-resting slowing your recovery? It might be. Sitting still is a killer for athletes. Not only does it bum you out, but a long period of immobilization can actually increase your chances of having another injury later. A few days ago I got a call from an athlete who had been unfortunate enough to have a serious injury that required surgery. So when he called me, he already had surgery and wa...

Let's face it, the primary tool used by runners are running shoes. Although we often think about heart rate monitors, GPS watches and all sort of fancy fabrics for our running clothes, nothing will affect your performance as much as the very best, properly chosen running shoes. Given I am a sports medicine podiatrist with a practice catering solely to helping runners run, and I like to run, you ca...

Whether you’re training for your first 5K, a half-marathon, Ironman triathlon or 100 mile ultramarathon, you have to put in lots of miles. To keep logging miles, increasing your speed and building your strength…you have to avoid injury. The real game with building strength and fitness in long distance running is to systematically stress your tissues so those muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments a...

This week I was invited to lecture on Runners Heel: Pearls for Podiatric Physicians at the International Foot & Ankle Foundation Meeting at the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. The attendees to this conference included podiatrists, foot and ankle surgeons and sports medicine specialists. The lecture was on runner’s heel pain and I was discussing the differences between plantar fascii...

Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast we have a truly inspirational guest: the Iron Cowboy, James Lawrence who is famous for settling two world records: both the number of Half Iron Distance triathlons done in one year and then in 2012 he also set a new world record for the number of full Iron Distance triathlons done in one year. But then, he did 50 Ironman distance triathlons in 50 days, and in al...

The very first step in healing a plantar plate sprain is to make sure that you don't make the condition worse. Because it's a tiny little ligament and it's easy to make it worse! In many cases you can continue to run and still heal a sprain of the plantar plate. But this depends on many different factors. However, there are some exercises which I believe are much more stressful than running when i...

One of the less common ways you can get pain in the ball of the foot is if the cushioning within the foot becomes diminished. If that happens it can feel like you’re walking on rocks or standing right on the bones on the ball of the foot. If you think about it, when you stand up, your skeletal system, primarily the bones and everything that hold the bones together is what supports you. Obviously,...

Is your doctor on your team? If you’ve been training for a marathon or any other event and you suffer a running injury the first thing that happens is that you become concerned that your foot is going to hurt and slow you down during your training. But then as things get worse you actually realize it may not just hurt when you’re running. You may have to change your training schedule or even stop...

Ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries that brings an athlete to the emergency room. Of course, as we talked about before, the emergency room may be the very worst place to go when you actually have an ankle sprain. Since many runners are starting to learn that they don’t need to sit around all day in the emergency room it’s important to understand what is a myth and what is reality whe...

In previous episodes we talked about the different causes of pain in the ball of the foot in runners. We talked about the differences between Morton’s neuroma, plantar plate sprains, and osteochondritis. But a great question occurred to one of our listeners. Why didn’t you include metatarsal stress fractures in this series of discussions? After all, the metatarsal stress fracture can also cause pa...

If you are a runner and you have pain in the ball of the foot there are really only a few conditions that could be causing the trouble. This episode is the third of a three part series that explains what you need to think about if you’re a runner seeking treatment for these problems. Previously we talked about pain in the ball of the foot caused by plantar plate sprains and neuromas. Today, we're...

If you are a runner and you have pain in the ball of the foot there are really only a few conditions that could be causing the trouble. This episode will be the second of a three part series that explains all of the things you need to think about if you’re a runner seeking treatment for any of these problems. Last week talked about neuroma treatment in runners. Today I’m going to explain a little...