Dry Needling for Running Injuries
Dry Needling for Running Injuries
Taryn Cohn PT, MSPT, COMT, OCS
Don’t let running injuries keep you from your goals. Look to dry-needling as a treatment option.
Completing a marathon takes hours of training, dedication and perseverance. Along the way there can be several obstacles, injury being one of them. Knowing what to do to prevent injury or head it off at the path can be instrumental in making sure nothing derails you from your ultimate goal of finishing the race. Dry-needling is an excellent treatment in keeping runners on the road. I have asked former patients who also happen to be multiple-marathon competitors offer testimony about their successful treatment and recovery from injury through dry-needling physical therapy.
“I was suffering with a painful ITband and I was just 2 short weeks away from running a half marathon in hilly San Francisco. Dry needling quickly reduced the stiffness and pain and allowed me to run the race and cross the finish line pain-free.”
“During a marathon training, I severely strained my calves. I visited Taryn who treated me with dry needling. The treatment worked very well and I was back to training sooner than I would have expected! At the peak of my first full ironman training, I again strained my calves but not severely this time. Taryn once again treated with dry needling and I was back to training within a few days!”
“Dry needling really helped to relieve my back and leg pain. Dry needling in conjunction with other physical therapy techniques got me back to pain-free activities. I would highly recommend dry needling!”
Runners’ injuries take many forms, calf strain, ITband syndrome, low back pain, hip pain and plantar fasciitis to name a few. Injuries often begin as biomechanical imbalances in the body, too much mobility or weakness in one direction countered by inflexibility and tightness in the opposite. Combine this with repetitive stress activities, like long distance training / running and you can have tissue breakdown. Quick and timely intervention with techniques like dry-needling combined with proper strengthening and stretching can get you out of the clinic and back out on the road.