Hey guys, Dr. Axe here. Founder of draxe.com, doctor of functional medicine. Today I want to talk to you about how to overcome a running injury or athletic injury. Whether you’re a runner or a soccer player or basketball player, any type of athlete, you’ve had an injury that has been running or jumping related, there are specific things you absolutely want to do to overcome that injury and to start to heal very quickly. And the first thing you want to do is rest the area, and you want to actually start doing exercise that is non impactful. Typically the best things to do, especially if you’re a runner, are to start cycling and swimming. Cycling and swimming, you’re going to still be working your lungs, you’re going to be working larger muscle groups like your legs. So it’s going to help your body stay in shape at the very same time increasing circulation into that area, helping you heal faster.

So again, if you’re not able to run right now, start swimming and start cycling on a good spin bike or do spin classes. That’s the first thing you want to do when you’re overcoming a running injury once that area feels well enough for you to start being active again. Step number two is you’ve got to change your diet. You’ve got to start eating anti-inflammatory foods, things that are high in omega-3 fats like wild cut salmon, grass fed beef, and chia seeds.

Also you want to start consuming anti-inflammatory herbs like turmeric, and ginger are some of the best, they’re fantastic. And then also, in general, just getting more fruits and vegetables in your diet. And in terms of a liquid coconut water has a lot of potassium that can actually help eliminate toxins in your system, can help heal an area that’s injured from a running injury. The next step and thing you want to do from a running injury is start strengthening your muscles. And one of the best things to do is to do band exercises. You can do bands, those are very non-impactful, and they actually help your body work through a full range of motion. So start using bands both upper and lower body, doing lower body exercises. One of the next steps I’d do, step four, is get some soft tissue work done, and go and find a good quality athletic trainer, massage or massage therapist. Somebody that can really go out, and look at your body, feel for different knots or muscular or physical imbalances.

It could be possible that you have a muscular imbalance or a muscle spasm somewhere that’s causing your body to run out of balance. Imagine this as well, lets say you have a short leg, and you’re running all the time, it’s like you’re putting extra stress on one joint more than the others over, and over, and over again. And that’s when you may even consider seeing someone like a chiropractor. But again seeing a nature holistic physician whether it would be an athletic trainer, massage therapist, a chiropractor, they can really look at your physical structure, and your musculature, and help balance things out. And then when you start running again, start running on softer surfaces, and work your way up slowly. A lot of times we increase our mileage too fast, that can cause a running injury. And so what you want to start doing is just increasing 10% a week over time in your running volume or athletic volume or whatever you’re doing.

And I’ll tell you, you can actually trust me on a lot of this, because not only am I a physician, I’m a former triathlete, runner, swimmer, and cyclist. So I feel your pain when it comes to running injuries. I’ve had them before, I’ve rehabbed myself, thousands of patients as well in doing so. So those are my top tips for how to helping you overcome your running injuries fast.

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