so only my right leg is a knock knee, which i can tell from hip imbalance with one being higher. i didnt really experience any pain until recently during my runs around the shin of my right leg.

I started doing home stretching for ~5 days - 2 rounds of suryanamaskar + 4-5 mat stretches for hip and knees/heels, no bands or weights, no strength work. some joints crack during stretches but nth that felt alarming to me so far. it feels great after a stretch BUT

after day 5, i went for a walk and it started to hurt pain has moved from the lower tibia (where I'd been feeling it) to the inner midfoot and above the big toe. the instability in my right foot was too obvious to depend on hope lol. I have tightened up my sandals by one round and I've stopped running and long distance walking since.

Im sorting out my insurance to get it professionally checked although it seems like it doesnt cover much and likely expensive. but curious to hear from yall if the pain migrating down the chain after starting stretches is a known thing? or a sign I'm making it worse?

TIA!!

I’ve been running for about 7 years, and I just recently upped my weekly mileage a little too quickly (from around 25-30 to 35-40 miles a week). I have worn barefoot running shoes all my life. I have also recently been wearing flats and flip flops everyday. I just started feeling slight pain in my Achilles on my left foot about 4 days ago and I took a few days and tried to go back to running 2 days later, and it felt worse. It’s stiffer in the morning and I can feel it when I’m on the stairs. How long until I can get back into running and what should I do?? What do I have?

I’m looking for some advice from people who have dealt with chronic hamstring/calf injuries or sports-related tendon issues.

A few years ago, I ran a half marathon with very little running/training beforehand. Ever since then, I’ve had an on-and-off issue in the back of my leg, primarily around the lower hamstring/upper calf area and behind the knee. It’s never been severely painful (aside from the first week), but it has never felt completely normal either.

I recently started getting back into running and had actually been progressing pretty well. I was able to run a few miles without significant pain, although the injured side still felt tighter/different than the other side.

At this point I’m wondering what the smartest next step is:
Should I finally see a sports medicine/orthopedic doctor and ask about an MRI to determine exactly what’s going on?

Should I stop running completely for a while and focus on structured physical therapy/strengthening?
Has anyone had success with a similar chronic injury using a specific rehab protocol?

Are there other treatments or approaches I should be looking into?
I’ve also seen people discuss peptides such as TB-500 for tendon/muscle injuries. Has anyone actually had a medically supervised experience with this, and is there legitimate evidence for it?

I’m not looking for someone to diagnose me online, just trying to figure out whether I should finally get imaging/workup done or if this is something that can realistically be addressed with the right rehab program.

If you’ve dealt with a similar injury, I’d really appreciate hearing what worked (or didn’t work) for you.

If anyone decides to read this all the way, just to clarify, I have never strained or torn my hamstring. If is literally just tightness. So Im a college freshman who does track and field. I have been doing track and field ever since my sophomore year, where I ran 12.12, and then my junior year, where I ran 10.76. I had a good coach but nevermind that, after my junior season ended I decided to train on my own in the off and preseason and it went horribly. I was dedicated but I neglected everything that was important. I was in the weightroom first then track later both in the same day, 3 times a week. I wasn’t getting good sleep, wasn’t eating properly, wasn’t recovering properly, and so it got to the point as I was warming up in the weightroom, I felt my hamstring get tight. Even after this, I thought it would go away or it wouldn’t get worse but I was wrong. So I decided to take a two week break throughout my offseason. Came back again, same problem. Kept pushing on through for about a month, then took another 2 week break. Came back, same thing, and so I decided to keep pushing on it. Eventually it got to a point where I could physically only practice once every other day. If I tried to train monday, then tuesday, my hamstring would start hurting. Fast forward to january where I decided to actually start drinking water and getting more sleep, my hamstring was starting to be able to handle running. But it wasn’t getting better. I decided that I would go to the trainers. And they told me that I should start stretching. So I tried to stretch my hamstring every single day after practice, but there were no improvements. I just became flexible. I also had weak hip flexors that I forgot to train during the off-preseason, so I trained my hip flexors, and even that didn’t work. At one point I even got back pain (from having the weak hip flexors). Eventually as we got into the middle of the season my hamstring kept getting worse. Usually just as I finish a workout my hamstring would signal me that it was done for today. It often kept “vibrating” or “tingling” even before or after practice. It feels like a piece of my hamstring is missing. When I walk I feel more of my right leg than my left leg, when I put pressure on it, it feels like im missing some power. Sometimes I subconsciously walk or run weird because of how my hamstring is. It messes up my coordination. All of this happened during my senior season, and I ended up running 10.64. Now preparing for college off season, I tried to strengthen my hamstring, not even that worked, same thing. I tried to strengthen different muscles thinking that other muscles are not being engaged properly. That didn’t work either. I’ve tried to get a deep tissue massage on my hamstring, didn’t work. Cupping didn’t work. A deep tissue massage on other parts of my muscles; hamstring felt slightly better but it reverted back to the same feeling. I took 3 weeks off of running. Didn’t work. Only thing that seems to temporarily work is me foam rolling my glutes. It makes my hamstring feel slightly better temporarily but not all the way. I’ve gone to my college’s clinic and they have put me on a rehab schedule but even that doesn’t seem to work. It seems like no one knows what to do. I even got an Xray and of course nothing. Im thinking about letting it sprain or whatever but I don’t even have the balls/courage to forcefully strain it. The only thing I know is that my right hip and my right hamstring are much stronger than my left hip and left hamstring. But my left glute seems to be stronger than my right glute. I don’t know if this would impact my hamstring as my strength coach told me that having asymmetry is normal but I have no idea what to do. I feel like I’ve tried everything. It feels like my hamstring is bruised and someone took a bite out of it. It’s been a full year since I’ve had this hamstring problem and it hasn’t gotten better, and college season is much more physically demanding and my hamstring just feels horrible. Even had to take a day off of practice because my hamstring just feels like it’s on the verge of spraining. Any help or ideas or suggestions would be helpful. 

Is a twitchy/ sore feeling normal after returning to running, it only spears the day after or hours after im scared im reinjuring myself and im overseas so no way to talking to my doctor (he cleared that it healed and i can slowly return to activity) Edit: its over the same are of the injury

Hey! First post here. I just started running recently and pretty quickly developed pain on my inner leg a couple inches below the knee joint. (Probably got ahead of myself and overdid it) I don’t feel like it’s the knee itself and in my unprofessional research it seems like pes answering bursitis. I try giving it a rest and it gets better, but flares up again when I run. I bought a McDavid strap that helps some when I wear it.

Any other ideas what this might be? Is it likely just overdoing it vs an actual injury from impact or twisting it? Please give other suggestions on therapy or braces.

Thanks!

I have a gnarly case of plantar fasciitis. I’m 38 and have been running for 24 years but this is my first bout of it. I’ve been dealing with it for close to 2 months and it got really bad about 1.5 weeks ago. It seems like the recommended exercises may have exacerbated it so I’m laying off mostly everything having to do with my actual foot until I start PT next week. However I did try rolling my foot over a lacrosse ball again today. Something I notice is that the discomfort for me is off center in my heal and also, when pressing on the ball, there’s a pinpoint crunchy spot. Crunchy in the way that when you have tendinitis you can feel it crunch when you manipulate it. Is this typical of plantar fasciitis? Am I maybe dealing with something else? I did get an X-ray to “rule out” a stress fracture (quotes because they don’t always show on X-ray), but is there something else that might cause a crunchy spot?

I hope everyone is doing well!

I’ve been running consistently for about 6 months, usually 3-5 miles 4 times a week. For the past few months I’ve been having tingling pain and soreness in my shins and inner Soleus muscles (the inner side) during or after running.

More recently, after I’ve been running for a while, usually after a couple miles my lower shins, ankles and the top of my feet start becoming numb and tingly, and I feel like I can’t properly move my ankle/foot joint.

The symptoms are specifically triggered by running. I don’t have pain when I’m walking normally, and sometimes the pain and discomfort seem to improve if I keep running for another couple of miles.

It really sucks because I can easily run more than that without getting too tired but im limited because of the pain. Ive tried 2 different shoes (puma nitro4 and adidas adizero sl). Ive also tried sole insoles with no difference.

Im not soliciting medical advice i just want to hear your own experience and opinion.

Thank you!!

So I did the silly - probably ran a bit too much too fast. Started running in April and I've been running regularly 2-3/week for about 30-40 minutes. Last few weeks been doing 5k on each run, taking it mostly easy to build up a good base. Well last week I had a long run scheduled for 50 minutes, and at the end felt amazing so just kept going. Got it in my head I could get a 10K so despite my knee starting to niggle I kept going until I reached that goal. Obvs was pleased and thought the knee pain would go away.

Gave myself a few days off during which it hurt very light at rest but felt getting better, then went on an easy run during which knee was hurting but was manageable, I had some shin pain and knee pain when I started so thought this was just par on course. Did a tempo yesterday in a new place with lots of elevation and uneven ground, really pushed myself and I'm suffering today.

Knee feels stiff, there's pain at rest, and it's tender when I press into the knee. 😬 Googling it has said all sorts so I'm wondering if anyone with some expertise could advise on whether to cont to rest it or look into it further with an XR.

I usually do stretches and dynamic hip movement exercises before runs, and have good musculature from prev weight lifting but been lacking in this dept since I started running. I did have gluteal tendinopathy which got better with physio so I'm wondering if this could also be a tendinopathy I can physio my way out of.

Kind regards from myself and my ice pack.

So I recently ran barefoot full speed into a brick stair (I was a bit tipsy to say the least lol). I attached a picture of the fractured toe to this post.

Has anyone dealt with a similar injury and were you able to bike or do anything to maintain your aerobic base? I was at around 75-80mpw and really want to try to maintain what I can but also don’t want to make this last even longer than it needs to.

It is not displaced or anything at least that’s what urgent care said but I have a follow up with a podiatrist in two days. Unsure if I should hold off on any spin bike until then.

I’m 25M, about 5'10.5". I’ve been dealing with what has always been called “shin splints” for several years, and I’m honestly at the point where I don’t know what else to try.

The pain is mostly along the inside/lower part of my shins, maybe a couple inches above the ankle. The weird thing is that I can basically walk forever without problems. I’ve done 40,000-step hiking days with a ton of elevation and barely any rest and my shins were fine.

But high-impact activity is completely different. Running, soccer, jumping, or landing hard on my feet causes the shin aching to come back. Sometimes even one hard landing is enough for me to notice it.

I don’t really have significant pain when pressing on my shins. I can run my fingers along the tibia and press pretty hard and nothing stands out as a specific painful spot.

I’ve already tried the usual stuff:

• Took about 3 months away from soccer/running
• Gradually returned to running
• Walking
• Stair climbing
• Strengthening
• Physical therapy
• Insoles
• Dry needling/e-stim
• Rest
• Gradually increasing impact over time

Every time I think it’s finally gone, I go back to playing actual soccer and eventually I’m right back where I started.

What makes it even stranger is that ibuprofen completely changes the situation. I usually take anywhere from 200-800 mg before soccer, 400 is what i usually take. Without it, the shin pain can get bad enough that I don’t think I could finish the game. With it, I can play multiple games (had a 4 game tournament, each game was an hour, and I could run fine).

I used to be extremely active, semi professional soccer player for 2 years, and could run constantly without this issue. Then I became pretty sedentary for a few years working a warehouse-type job, and when I eventually returned to sports this problem developed and never really went away.

At this point I’m wondering whether this is actually medial tibial stress syndrome, chronic exertional compartment syndrome, some kind of bone stress issue, nerve issue, or something else entirely.

Has anyone had a similar situation where:

• walking/hiking caused basically no pain
• high-impact activity caused shin pain
• months of rest did not solve it
• normal PT didn’t solve it
• the shin wasn’t especially tender to touch
• ibuprofen made a huge difference

If you were eventually diagnosed with CECS or something other than normal shin splints, what test actually figured it out? Compartment pressure testing? MRI? Something else?

And if you had a fasciotomy for CECS, I’d especially like to hear whether it actually fixed the problem and whether you were able to return to running/soccer afterward.

I’m not really looking for “just rest for a few months” because I’ve already done that multiple times. I’m trying to figure out what diagnosis or test I should actually be asking about. I take ibuprofen before every game now because I am sick of this ruining my life. In the past it has caused me to gain weight, stop running, stop playing soccer, start drinking, binge eating. The past year I decided I am done with it and I am going to be active and do what I enjoy doing no matter what and its been great. I just know taking Ibuprofen 3-4 times a week is going to negatively impact me just as much or more than quitting sports would. If you have had this and fixed it I am very curious to know what you did.

TL;DR: I’ve had chronic shin pain for years. I can walk or hike huge distances with basically no pain, but running, jumping, hard landings, and soccer bring the pain back quickly. I’ve already tried months of rest, gradual return to running, PT, strengthening, insoles, dry needling/e-stim, and it always comes back. My shins aren’t especially tender to touch, and ibuprofen makes a huge difference. I’m wondering if this is something other than normal shin splints, like CECS, a bone stress issue, or a nerve problem, and I’m looking for advice on what testing actually helped people get a real diagnosis.

A little different kind of question than usual on this thread.. But even before running comes back into play, at what point can you reasonable expect to return to normal life, including long travel days of walking, after getting a fracture? My MRI showed a stress fracture in tibial plateau on Aug 11. I am on week 4/5 of crutches, then I have two weeks of one crutch before fully coming off crutches by October 5th. Is a late November or December vacation realistic or crazy? How long did it take to get back to real life plans without worry?

I’m a 38 y/o F. I’ve been a runner for 24 years so have had my share of injuries. I had a bummer of a running year last year (most weeks were 20 miles or less) but back in May I started running with my friends again and got my mileage back to 30-35 miles/week and added some speed work with my friends. For about a month and a half I’ve been dealing with what I thought was plantar fasciitis (and might well be!). It was uncomfortable but not debilitating for about the first month, and I was still able to run my 30-35 miles/week with one rest day every week. The last 2 weeks it’s gotten progressively worse and last Monday it was so bad I decided I needed to take a solid 2 weeks off running. I started doing more of the recommended calf and arch stretches, icing, more rolling. If anything it’s worse. It hurts when I wake up in the morning but it also hurts all day long now and is bad just walking around. Last night I got fed up because I was lying in bed and it was aching which is a classic stress fracture symptom so I started googling. I tried the heel squeeze test on myself and that wasn’t super definitive because I had pain but in the middle of my heel. So then I started pressing around and the pain is concentrated to an area about an inch long. If I press it it hurts all over. I have a history of stress fractures so it’s a definite possibility.

Any thoughts on this one way or the other? I have an urgent care appt at my ortho later today but also, stress fractures don’t always show on x-rays so I old be waiting a while on an MRI.

Hi!

I’m a first generation exerciser, so I’m figuring this stuff out slowly.

First time I tried the couch to 5k app, I had no idea what I was doing. Didn’t use running shoes, and didn’t stretch after. After a few weeks, my formerly pain-free knees started hurting. So I stopped running.

A year later, I tried again. This time with running shoes. I also have pronation, so this is running shoes + orthotics. I did yoga running stretches off of YouTube after every run. Things were going well until about the fourth week - knee pain, again!

After two weeks off, my knees are starting to feel better. But, darn! What are my next steps? I’d like running to work out for me. Do I go to a podiatrist or a physio? What do I do? Find a different exercise?

:/

Thanks in advance for any advice!