According to my chiropractor I'm lucky to be still alive

[OrmRenewed]

My pelvis is mis-aligned, I hold my legs strangely and I have a very 'unusual' gait - I over-pronate excessively (tis true - my shoes always wear on the outside). My stance is wrong and I slouch.

According to him that is the cause of my lower-back problems and my tendonitis in the feet. And of course the upper back issue isn't helped by sitting in front of a screen at work all day.

He's been mauling me for a couple of weeks now and I am feeling a bit better and he's told me to do various exercises that seem to be making things hurt more. He reckons I need to do these for a few weeks before I can go back to running again.

He doesn't think that running has caused this but he does think that I have been running 'badly' for a while to compensate for discomfort which has made things worse. He has seen me running a few times and says my shoulder are up by my ears

Question is, has anyone managed to retrain the way they run to prevent injury. I was loving it up till last summer until the tendonitis started and then it started getting more and more painful and difficult. So can I have a fresh start - I will have to start from a very low base of course - and be back to painfree running again?

if you've had bad posture for ages you might need to retrain your body using something like Alexander technique... have you condidered that?

Hmmmm yes. I seem to remember something about that from many years ago. I will look it up. Thanks

In answer to your question about changing running style - yes, it's possible. A running shoe shop recommended a private footcare chap who has really helped me (with shin splints) and my other half (with toe pain). He measured us for custom made orthotics, gave us core exercises to do and re-educated us on running style. I am flat footed, overpronate and previously ran with rounded shoulders, not picking my legs up enough. After re-training on walking then running style over a period of time, everything was much improved. Back much straighter, picking up legs, landing softer and using a longer stride.

I had already tried an NHS podiatrist, but although the podiatrist helped a little, she didn't know much about running.

So I would recommend asking around - running shop, running club etc for somebody who can help with posture, gait and insoles.

Wow! Thanks fascicle. I have been to a good running shop and got some shoes properly fitted after having my gait analysed. I have tried a sports physio who told me to massage my feet and hot and cold soak them after a run (yeah right ). I am hoping this chiro who noticed I had a problem with my feet without me mentioning it (I had gone in about my back) will be able to sort me out.

Gulp! At finding foot specialist..... I have spent a fortune on my running problems over the last few years already. I will see how I get on with chiro for now and see. He's doing an iron man next weekend so he knows about running (well you'd think so!).

How long did it take you to retrain yourself?

Orm - I had foot problems - then saw a podiatrist, got orthotics - and have found that my back has been much better generally, so I've saved on osteopath bills...

OK. Thanks mistlethrush. Sounds as if I will have to look into it then.

See if you can do Yamuna body rolling in your area.

You will never need a chiro/osteo/massage appointment again. It will help you to realign yourself and get rid of all muscular pain. It has completely transformed my life!!! I went for 1:1 pilates lessons but by luck my practitioner had just finished training with Yamuna so I did that instead.

Sounds interesting ! Off to google. I can almost guarantee there will be nothing round here though

I have similar back probs. Here is the history if what I have tried for mine:

Have spent hundreds on chiro - minimal benefit
hundreds on osteos in conjunctions with accupuncture needles- very good short term but don't fix anything so eventually you need to go back again for another course
hundreds on deep tissue massage - eases things a bit temporarily
pilates 1:1 lessons helped a fair bit
physio was a waste of time
but yamuna body rolling was the magic bullet - took me 5 years to find it though

You need to find a practitioner and book 1:1 lessons. After 2 or 3 lessons you will start to notice a lot of changes and reduced pain.

It works well in conjunction with running as running acts to shorten the muscles in your legs and around your pelvis but body rolling lengthens them out again nicely. Honestly it is the route to a well aligned and pain free future.

dp was injured for quite a while but has had training in \link{http://www.posetech.com/\Pose Method} and found it worked fabulously
he now looks really funny when he runs though!