Running a marathon can be a pain in the Butt. What a strain.

So many of us in the athletic world are preparing for marathons 

right now or at least gearing up our runs. It is a good time to remember that many running problems can be insidious.  I hear from runners all the time that they NEVER had a knee, glute or hamstring problem before, and that this problem just showed up. It's really important from a rehab point of view and a running point of view to understand that injury is often cumulative. When you are doing something like running a marathon, where you are constantly stressing the SAME muscles over and over, that much like your training, small increments can lead to larger ones.  Take for instance a hamstring irritation.  Every day you run, and you are in your arc before your taper. Things are great! But you are running after work and you're pretty tired. Now you never had pain exactly--however, every day you did a longer run, you noticed your hamstrings were super tight and even tighter in the morning.  Like a good runner who is invested in their home care, you made sure to stretch them out.

Now--I would never tell someone not to stretch at all.  However, if the hamstring tightening is the result of micro-tearing from overuse, muscle imbalance,and fatigue, it is a signal that your hamstring is saying “hey, back off! I am trying to grow new hamstring here!!’. So when you stretch that site, you are pulling the fibers away. What happens is the micro trama from friction and repeated overloading causes inflammation at the site of the ishial tuberosity (usually just under the butt).  That inflammation is a direct chemical signal to your body to build new tissue in order to support the damaged ones.  So now each time you run, it gets tighter and tighter…Ouch! What a pain in the butt! Now its hard to run at all and you are nervous about a long run.

So what went wrong? Well, maybe nothing.  Or, maybe a little of everything.  Don’t take the injury personally. You can't predict the future and there are many races coming down the line. So much can go into a hamstring strain--fatigue, overuse, muscle imbalances, the wrong shoes….the list goes on. It could be you did not warm up properly. It could be that you tripped and pulled it without realizing. It could be that the evening runs were not ideal for your healing because your circulation slowed down at night. Or it could be that there was no reason whatsoever other than that your body reached a point where it could not recover. The problem is, there is a tipping point for all people and many small ignored problems can add up to a larger one.  You can help yourself by following a few guidelines.

Recovery is a pre-game event.  Stretching and foam rolling really help, but it's best to use them preventively before you are scrambling. You should also really understand RICE protocol. That’s Rest (which runners hate) Ice, Compress, and Elevate….and they all have to be done together.  You can’t just stick an ice cube in your sock and hope for the best.

So now what? Your hurt, but you want to run. My first suggestion is to see a physical therapist and find out what they say. Strains are categorized by severity and you really need to see if you're doing permanent damage to yourself. If they give you the all-clear, there are some things you can do for yourself after you run it past them.

 Injury treatments that are not acute often include contrast baths. You submerge the offending limb in warm water and then cold, and then repeat. The ongoing cycle causes vasodilatation and contraction, which aids in recovery and flushes out the area.  This technique can also be used for general recovery. This is old school, serious recovery.

No one advises running on an injury, but if you do, you might use a compression sleeve to limit the inflammation.  Runners often use this sort of device for injuries that are older and come back with a vengeance.  You can also use KT tape or Rock Tape to help support and  increase circulation to the area. These two treatments are slightly different in approach, as KT tape lifts the skin a bit to increase lymph and blood flow to the area, while compression does the exact opposite.  So how do you choose? With compression, you are saying, “I know this is going to swell up, I am going to minimize this."  When you choose tape, you are saying,  "This might swell a little but not too much and I am am taping preventatively". The tape can also be used in places no compression garment can go.

Above all, listen to your body and bear in mind that the number one thing you can do for yourself is rest. No runner likes to hear it. Even if you make it through your big race on your injury, afterwards you will still have to take that break (and by then you will really deserve it).  Boy, what a pain in the butt. For more information on recovery please see For more information see our sports massage program in NYC

or http://www.bodymechanicsnyc.com/#!athletes-corner-strains/c1541

What's touch got to do with it?

Many years ago I visited a doctor in Canada who was an expert in TMJ (Tempromandibular Joint-this sort of doctor works with the dysfunction of the joint). He was sort of an old school doctor, the kind with a desk littered with papers and a big laugh, so that you felt as if  you were walking into his home rather than his office. While questioning me, he found out I was a massage therapist.

Excited, he quickly posed this question to me,  "Do you think if we did the exact same touch, detail by detail, but replaced the touch with that of a robot, you would get the same results? Furthermore if you replaced me with a robot, would you get the same doctor-ing?"  At the time, I was very young and a bit  intimidated by him, despite his warmth. I thought perhaps I was being tricked by someone with a higher level degree than mine, and that his point was that it was information that mattered, not the person delivering it.  But I was wrong.  As it turns out, he himself was doing research on human touch, and why it is so important and ultimately healing. 

One of the body's most important biological features is its division between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, or in lay terms the 'fight or flight' and 'rest and digest' systems. When the body is in the fight or flight mode, it is sending the signal to you that all is not ok and that you should protect yourself. Your heart rate will go up, your posture will change to that of one preparing to flee, sounds and perceptions might increase, and your pain tolerance might go down, prompting you to move quickly. In essence you are on high alert for anything remotely threatening. Unfortunately, this is the constant state many of us live in, in cities like New York. We are forced to defend ourselves with headphones, sunglasses and external disconnects just to shut out the stream. 

When we are touched, we have to take down those barriers. The simple act of allowing another person that close to you can override the stress response by mimicking intimacy, even in a clinical setting. It is a built-in part of our biology to expose soft things like the neck, the belly, and the vital organs only to those we trust and deem safe. This is an unavoidable part of the intimate human experience. By mimicking this behavior, you unconsciously send a signal to the brain that all is well. That reduces your heart rate, reduces your perception of pain, and changes your posture substantially - and all of these things are connected to blood flow and hormone secretion which drive our lives.  

Whether your therapist is skilled at effecting lasting change for injuries, or is a beginner who gives a basic Swedish massage, so long as it is done calmly, in a safe comfortable manner, you have the opportunity to change your health for the better that day. The Mayo clinic lists stress as the number one killer of adults.  It decreases health, and often leads people to cope by taking on other killers, like smoking and excessive drinking. Perhaps today more than at any other time, where we live in a world of technological isolation, the biological response of community and touch is even more relevant.  Your " luxury" of having a massage takes on a whole new meaning if you begin to look at it in terms of a way to override the biological response to stress and eventual disease. My personal and professional opinion is that we all must take a little ownership of our lives, and decide honestly if we are doing enough to reduce our stress. Bike, swim, run, climb, laugh... massage ...touch...but do something. For more info see our Massage program in NYC or email at info@bodymechanicsnyc.com