Glut and Hamstring Pain in Runners

I treat a lot of sports injuries at my chiropractor Columbia MD office. One of the biggest groups of athletes I have been treating is runners. I tend to think of runners as a different breed from other athletes. The intensity, commitment, and drive they have make them great, but also impatient patients. They want to get better as fast as possible, so they will come to your office at every scheduled appointment.

However, telling them it’s in their best interest to take a few days off, and all of a sudden they can get pretty cranky. The second they feel better they want to go run that 10 miles again ASAP, and don’t like it if you tell them they aren’t ready quite yet. It’s my job to educate them as much as I can to tell them that the course of the injury will shrink dramatically if they listen to what I say. Going out too soon and aggravating the injury will only delay the healing process and make them unhappy with their progress.

A common injury I have seen frequently in runners is pain in their gluteus, hamstring, and calf muscles. Sometimes a person will hit the jackpot and have all three, and sometimes they will have one or two of the symptoms. The biggest task for me as a sports chiropractor in Columbia MD, is to try to identify if it’s a referral from their low back, or if it’s a truly peripheral (outside of the spine) issue. Everyone has heard of the sciatic nerve it seems. Well, once the sciatic nerve leaves the spine, travels down through the glutes, through the hamstring, and splits just above the knee.

At any of these points, the sciatic nerve can get irritated, causing what seems to me muscle pain or pain that is hard to localize. I will hear patients say that sometimes it starts at the knee and travels up the leg, or vice versa. Sometimes it’s at the knee and travels to the calf. They will tell me the have been to other chiropractors, physical therapists, and medical doctors, and no one has helped them. I am trained as a sports chiropractor in Columbia MD to figure out what is causing these pains and to fix them, fast.

I have had good success with runners. And it’s a good thing because, with this impatient/motivated/driven group, I don’t have a lot of time to show progress.

About the Author

dr josh bross maryland chiropractor

Dr. Bross is the owner of Elite Chiropractic and Sport. He serves as a Certified Chiropractic Sports Practitioner (CCSP) and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. His unique approach to individualized patient care is based on the evaluation and treatment of the “whole” person.

Dr. Bross is a leader in the promotion of health and wellness. He has accumulated an extensive knowledge of the musculoskeletal and nutritional components of the human body. He is skilled in the Graston Technique, Active Release Technique, and Sports Medicine.

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