r/RunningInjuries

Hey all, I am 3 weeks post discharge for Rhabdo. It was brought on by heat exhaustion. I had extreme severe calf cramping for about 2 hrs at onset. Couldn't walk for about 2 days. I have been gradually working back up to 6 mile runs and was feeling somewhat better. However, I keep going backwards. My calves continue to have waves of calf tiredness and soreness. I should say that my ck levels only peaked around 2400, so it was a mild case apparently....even though the calf cramping was the worst pain of my life. I was yelling it was so bad. Anyway, did I rush back in too fast? Is this normal?

I love to run (although ive never been able to go super long) but lately it seems like no matter what I cant even start consistently with a couch to 5k without having to take a few weeks break because of shin splints. Right now im on week 1 of 3 for my 2nd break of the year. I'm planning to get PT but first I need a referral from my doctor and I wont be able to get that for a month.

Currently i do:

30 heel lifts while im brushing my teeth in the morning

And at night

30 side leg raises (each side)

30 clamshells (each side)

Ive been googling what exercises to do while im on my second break but I keep getting overwhelmed and confused. Would someone be willing to put together some ideas for strengthening exercises while I take a break? I have access to a gym with an elliptical, stationary bike, leg press machine, and calf raise machine (idk what its called).

I was diagnosed with runner's knees on 16th June and was doing okay walking. A few days later I walked 4,000 steps and 2,000 steps the following day and the flare up lasted 2 days. I rested completely and iced my knee daily and felt better then I walked 2,000 steps again and did exercises given by my physiotherapist which caused pain which went away when i went to bed at night. Today, I did another 4,000 steps just going to work and its flared up again i feel pain toward my ankle and heels as well as my hips and lower back too. Should I get checked again? Should I be continuing those exercises despite pain? If anyone has recovered from runner's knees can you please help me...

Hi everyone. I am a beginner runner (21F) who just ran my first half marathon in May. I started running seriously around end of February/March. After doing my half marathon I decided to try to do a full. I have been following a training plan for both including 4 days of running 2 days of strength training.

2 weeks before my half marathon in May I noticed a little pain in my hip. That day I had my 10 mile long run so I took a few walking breaks. The pain subsided around 2-3 days after. I tapered for my half the next week and my hip was fine. After my half marathon I was sore which was expected but nothing that bad.

Over the last few weeks of training my hip has been bothering me every time I run. I had a 14 mile long run last weekend and Saturday afternoon was horrible (pain sitting down, lifting my leg up, stairs, etc.) I decided to book an appointment at my local ortho facility. After taking a look it appeared to be a stress fracture in my hip. I had an xray yesterday and an MRI today to see the severity. They also put me on crutches and I haven’t really been using them.

Basically I am just very upset. I have worked so hard the past few months and was finally starting to see some big progress in my pace and distance. I also kind of loved eating whatever I wanted. I don’t want to loose it. I also need suggestions for gym activities as I don’t want to fall out of shape, but I’m not supposed to be putting any weight on it which is hard because it feels like everything uses my hip (expect arms obviously). I also love walking so I just feel really upset about all of it. I know it is partially my fault (prob not eating enough for how active I am and increasing mileage too quickly) so I’m trying to take it as a learning lesson. But basically I’m going to be upset if I can’t maintain some fitness. Thank you for any advice!

Please help!!

After a very long time I ran a 3k which was easy 6M ago.

One of my leg had bad Shin Splits, I’m worried.

Can I cure it in a month? I have a 10k in 45 days.

Suggest exercises and support. :)

I've just started running a couple weeks ago (maybe once or twice per week) and no matter how slow i go at first or little water i drank before the run, i keep getting side stitches which is stopping me from running. Yesterday, i ran so slowly i almost walked and only managed about 800 metres before getting a stitch.

Does anyone have advices on how to get rid of it or reduce it?

I have had a tibial stress fracture for 10 weeks. Was told by my doctor okay to put weight on it (e.g. Work, activities of daily living). Didnt cross train or anything which was devastating because I was a 6 day a week runner for over a year and have big goals. Just repeated the mri and the stress fracture is WORSE!! Dexa and endocrine/hormonal labs normal. 3000 cals a day but certainly on the low end of normal on the bmi scale. Let myself gain 6 pounds so far just trying to heal and didnt cheat once. This is heartbreaking. Trying to non weight bear with a scooter for this next 6 week block. Just curious if any of you have had anything similar. At this point looks like there is nothing “wrong” but it is far from better and I dont feel confident at all when my doctor says “wow this is wild its not healed.” Really? Discouraged but trying to be a positive light for my running community and kids.

i was out on a longer trail run last weekend pushing for a new distance when i stepped on a hidden root and my ankle rolled hard to the side. it swelled up straight away and i could barely put weight on it by the time i limped back to the car. i have had minor twists before but this one felt different and the pain has been hanging around for days now.

i have been resting and icing but wanted something to give it proper support so i don’t make it worse when i start moving again. i picked up an ankle brace from support brace and it has already made walking around the house much more stable. how long did it take most of you to get back to easy running after a proper roll like this? any tips for strengthening it without rushing things?

I am a trail runner and went out recently for a run, but ended up doing about 4 km extra due to getting lost… Towards the 30 km mark I felt pain in my leg that prohibited me from running for the last kilometre or so and I had to hobble and have been in some discomfort since but nothing intense.
I seem to be able to hop fine, but it’s a bit of a new pain for me and it has me concerned as I have a race coming up
I’ve had shin splints before and this feels different
It can be tender to the touch but isn’t insanely tender so I’m so unclear as to what’s going on
I did go to the minor injury clinic at the hospital and they’ve put me in a walking boot as they believe they saw several stress fractures… My questions are, would this not be an old injury given the fact that stress fractures take some time to show up? And I just feel like the pain would be more severe and I would have more difficulty jumping if it was a true stress fracture.
Oddly when I look at the portal, the x-ray report says no acute findings.
So I’m just all together confused.
Additionally, I find the boot very uncomfortable because it rubs against my tibia and it’s quite sensitive to the boot.
Just looking for insight I suppose

This is going to be a very long post so I apologize in advance, but I would appreciate any advice!

So I am a cross country and track runner who just graduated high school, and I'm going to be running in college. I've been running since sixth grade and I've been taking it seriously for quite a while. However, I never had any major injury problems until my junior year which I'm pretty sure is in response to my underfueling that started after junior cross-country season. During junior track season, I had Achilles tendinitis that went on for way too long, and during my senior cross-country season, I struggled with passing out after races because of my low iron. After this past cross-country season, I started gaining lots of weight, and I don't know entirely why, but I definitely can tell that I needed to gain some weight to get my period back because it had been missing for a year, but I definitely feel like I've gained way too much and I can't lose any of it or stop gaining no matter how hard I try 😭 so the start of this track season was already rough with the extra weight, and then I developed what I believe could have been a stress fracture in late March, so I stopped running, but it never got better. I finally got an MRI about two weeks ago, and it showed a stress reaction, but I'm sure that it was originally a stress fracture during track because it hurt a lot worse and it was unbearable to walk at the start. I was told to be in a boot, but the boot is causing my Achilles to hurt again, and it's also causing my shin to randomly have sharp pain that I hadn't felt in a long time, because it usually didn't hurt to walk besides the first couple weeks of the injury, only when I try out biking or elliptical again that's when it starts hurting again, but now the boot hurts it no matter what. So now I don't know if I should wear my boot or not, and I also just don't understand why it's been three months and my shin hasn't healed yet. I really need to start training for college cross country, and I'm feeling quite hopeless.

Whenever I put 3.5 mph on a treadmill my ankle hurts soo bad, is there any way I can reverse this?

F(21) I’ve been dealing with a grade 2 tibial stress fracture and wanted to share my timeline + ask about others’ experiences. I am NOT asking for medical advice, just wondering if what I’m feeling is normal and if anyone has gone through something similar.

I was told early on that it wasn’t super severe and would likely take around 6–8 weeks to heal, but that I basically needed to stop all activity. I had pain even with normal walking like getting up from the couch or short trips around the house. I was only doing about 3,000 steps a day and even standing hurt. I honestly felt dramatic because any pressure on it was painful.

I couldn’t bike for the first 3 weeks because it irritated my shin. I used crutches pretty often. At week 6, I still had noticeable pain, so my doctor said to give it 2 more weeks. At week 7, I tried the elliptical still painful. By week 8, it felt tight but manageable.

Then I went on a camping trip and ended up hiking about 17 miles over 4–5 days, including one 6‑mile hike. At the beginning of week 9, I started a walk‑jog program. During the jog portions I felt pain, but I convinced myself it might be placebo.

So now I’m wondering:

• What are the chances it isn’t fully healed yet?
• Am I just being dramatic?
• Did I push too hard during that hiking week?
• Should I be worried that I’m still feeling pain?
• I thought I’d be recovered by now — is this normal?

I know there's a bunch of videos online as well as articles but I would like a little help narrowing down my problem and proper way to approach it.

A little bit about what happened. I started running couple month ago with goals of running an ultra this year (just 50k). I would do 2-3 shorter runs and then a long run every Sunday. Well after about a month and a half my long run was supposed to be 16miles, which I ran just fine but since I obviously have brain damage I decided that 20miles isn't that far from 16 so I kept running. After I ran 20miles I figured there's only 6 more miles until I ran a marathon so I did that... Well somewhere, somehow because of that I messed up my knee. Yesterday I tried running and after one mile there was pain. Best I can describe it is it feels like where a knife in my knee and someone is twisting it.

How should I recover? Will doing knee exercises help? How long before I can run again do you think? Anyone know what exactly it could be so I know what to look up?

I know I'm stupid and I learned my lesson..but I just like running a lot and it helps me stay in shape and I want to keep doing it.. Any help is appreciated!

27F who sustained complete non-displaced and grade 3 pubic rami fractures. Marathoner, ultramarathoner, half IM, and hybrid athlete.

This sub gave me so much factual and anecdotal advice for this relatively uncommon (and FRUSTRATING!) injury.

Hi! I've been running for about a year now. Mostly on the treadmill because whenever I go running outside, on the real world I get cramps in my calves.

I've tried everything... Warming up, stretching, doing strength training for the hips, a little bit of core strengthening. Hydration.

But I know I'm missing something. I used to run 3-4 times a week 30 minutes 6mph on the treadmill. When I run outside I run 20-30 minutes but much slower.

I'm 45 yo male. Used to cycle a lot.

Thanks

I’ve always been a pretty athletic person as a kid and I recently started running again because want to get back to it and be healthy. I used to love how running made me feel and I recently got back to running.

But nowadays when I am running my ankles start burning. I thought maybe I wasn’t warming up properly initially but I saw a bunch videos on youtube about warming up before a run and tried them out and I’m still having the same issue.

The funniest part is, this doesn’t happen on race days I sign up for. Is it the adrenaline? Or the fact that I’m getting a medal for finishing at the end? I’m not sure. But I ran a bunch of 5km and about 5 10km runs till now and it never hurts. It only happens when I’m going on a random run out in the open and on a treadmill. Could anyone please give me any tips? It would help so much thanks!

I’m needing some help. I’m fairly new to running, and the shin splint pain is killer. Any help or advice is appreciated!

Hi all, was looking for some advice/validation/support/experiences from people with similar issues to me - not asking for medical advice, just want to know if others have experience similar stories. I have been running half marathons since I was 16 (am now 26), and had done 10 before i did my first marathon. I did my first mara in the middle of 2024, which lead to a R) femoral shaft stress fracture diagnosis three weeks later. I did the whole sports doctor/physio thing where I had every test under the sun to work out why - they found my bone density was perfect, all hormones etc. perfect. My iron was just super low as I was mostly vego at the time / they thought i may have been in a state of RED-S (mind you, I never lost my period/my BMI is considered 'overweight' - I don't hold much concern about this but you get the point I am making). I worked with my physio (who I still see) and began strength training and a very gradual return to running. In May 2025 after eating more/consuming red meat/being very diligent in the gym - I had yet another stress reaction, this time in my left femoral neck. Again, went back to the sports doctor and had all the tests again (nothing wrong, iron great this time). Disheartened, Again i had a few months off running and then began a VERY gradual return to running - and i mean gradual. Alternating between 2 runs one week, three the next for a few months before i moved to three. I did my first 18km last week, which is more than 12 months since the last run of that distance. My pace has been increasing, my HR decreasing, everything going great. Fast forward to two days ago, I had a very familiar feeling and pain in my L) thigh - can't single leg hop, pain when WB etc. i am meant to be doing my first half marathon back this coming Saturday and somehow I believe this could all be happening again. I just don't know what else I can do and what is wrong with me? We have gradually built up the kms, I only run three times a week, i strength train twice a week, I don't run consecutive days, i eat well and i sleep well 7-8. I am a physiotherapist myself and have been under the guidance of my physio this whole time, who has been very conservative. I went to the physio Monday and was perfectly fine, and my strength great on assessment! I am somewhat spiralling - is my body just not allowed to run? Why is it as I have aged my body cannot handle it? For other reference, medications I take are an SSRI, spiro, minoxidil and roacutane (isotretinoin). I have read some information that roacutane can cause issues with stress fractures, but my dermatologist doesn't think so. Please help, I am at such a loss and just don't know what to do. I love running so much and just want to be able to do it without fear.

Rice or Peace? I sprained my ankle yesterday badly. I jumped and rolled it, I believe it sprained it both on the outside and inside (inversion and eversion). It’s very swollen, and is painful to walk, although I can kind of hobble around. More swollen on the outside but the inside hurts more.

I went to urgent care to get an x ray - not broken. But now I am confused about what to do. Do I ice and rest or do I want to do as much movement as I can?

I have had lots of sprains in the past, used to play basketball. But honestly this one seems pretty extreme. Just wanting to do the best course of action.