If you're like many runners, at least some of your runs take place on the sides of banked roads. Running on a banked surface can cause your hips to become misaligned in your pelvis, as more pressure is put on the leg toward the center of the road than the one closer to the ledge. Hip misalignments can be corrected by a chiropractor, but many runners don't have the issue addressed because they're unaware it exists. Over time, if left unaddressed, this hip misalignment can lead to a number of issues, including:
IT Band Syndrome
Your ileotibial band, or IT band, is a band of fibrous connective tissue that runs down the outside of your leg, from your hip to your knee. When your hips fall out of alignment, excess stress is placed on the IT band, and you may develop a condition known as IT band syndrome, or ITBS. Often, the pain associated with this condition is experienced in the outside of the hip, but sometimes it is felt in the outside of the knee. ITBS can be hard to recover from, mostly because many runners don't realize it is being caused by a misalignment in the hips and therefore don't fix the underlying issue.
Stress Fractures
By putting more stress on one leg than another, hip misalignments can make a runner more prone to stress fractures in the leg that sits lower in the pelvis. Stress fractures are actual breaks in the bone that occur after excess pressure is placed on the bone for a period of time. They can sideline a runner for several months, so they're really important to avoid. Although avoiding stress fractures requires a multifaceted approach of making sure the runner gets good nutrition, does not increase mileage too quickly, and does plenty of strength training, correcting the hip alignment is an important part of the puzzle.
Achilles Tendonitis
The Achilles tendon is a common source of pain for runners who have misaligned hips, since the misalignment causes excessive shock to be absorbed on the Achilles on one leg. Achilles pain often starts off with minor swelling, but it can progress to a partial or complete tear of the tendon if the runner is not careful about addressing the underlying contributing causes of the injury. Having a chiropractor adjust your hip misalignment may be just what you need to curtail Achilles pain that has been nagging you for weeks or months.
If you have any of these injuries and have been struggling to recover, visit a chiropractor to have your hips placed back in alignment. Chances are good that once the stress placed on your legs is evened out again, your injury recovery and future injury prevention will go more smoothly.
For more information, contact Yaeger Chiropractic or a similar location.
Share4 August 2015
One day, in the middle of helping my kids to clean up the house, I lifted a box weird and threw out my back. It was frustrating, but I assumed that it would go away on its own. I was wrong. After trying everything I could think of to resolve the problem, my back still hurt and I couldn't stand up straight. After a week of suffering, I made the decision to meet with a chiropractor. He inspected my back, took x-rays, and figured out that I had slipped a disc. I started a grueling physical therapy routine, but after a few days, things started to improve. Read this blog to learn more about chiropractors.
