Remedies for common walking injuries:

[pebbleswa]

ACHILLES TENDON INJURY:

Possible Cause:
• Caused by hard surfaces, overtraining, heel tabs rubbing, or the Achilles tendon shortening through the wearing of high heels.

Treatment and Prevention:
• Follow ICER
• Vary your walking surface and heel size, build up the intensity gradually, and check that your shoes have a soft heel tab.
• Practice the lower calf stretch

[Anonymous Bot]

[pebbleswa]

ANKLE INJURY:

Possible Cause:
• Recovery from injured ankles can leave tight scar tissue, vulnerability to further tears and weakness, and loss of balance and awareness.

Treatment and Prevention:
• Retrain the balancing senses:
• Balance on the uninjured foot alone first, holding on to something for support.
• Try to balance without support.
• Repeat the exercise, this time with your eyes closed.
• Bearing in mind what your good foot can do, repeat steps 1 through 3 on the injured foot.

[pebbleswa]

KNEE PAIN:

Possible Cause:
• Often due to gait but can be caused by tight or unbalanced muscles in other areas, such as the back, buttocks, and quadriceps in the thigh.

Treatment and Prevention:
• Follow ICER
• Strengthen your quadriceps; sit down on a chair or the floor with your legs stretched out in front of you. Use your hands for support. Squeeze the thigh muscle and make the knee flatten. The heel may lift off the floor, but this is not important. Turn your foot outward, and supporting your back with your hands behind you, lift your left 2-3 in (5-7.5 cm) off the floor. Repeat this small up-and-down movement between 10 and 20 times.
• If caused by muscle imbalance or tight iliotibial (IT) band. Check with a physiotherapist if self treatment fails.

[pebbleswa]

SHIN SPLINTS:

Possible Cause:
• Overpronation or shortened tendons in the toes cause the shin muscles to over contract. Most common in beginners or when changing terrain.

Treatment and Prevention:
• Follow ICER
• Consider orthotics (shoe inserts) for overpronation.
• Pay attention to shin and calf stretches.
• Strengthen the shin muscle by running or walking up steps, and stretch the calf muscle with a standard calf stretch.