Running injury physiotherapy

Running injuries are rarely mysterious. Almost all of them are load errors: too much volume too soon, too much intensity on tired legs, or a change of surface or shoes the tissue was not given time to accept. The coastal path from Golden Beach to Moffat, the Currimundi lake loops and a busy local parkrun scene keep Caloundra running, and keep a steady line of runners coming to us with the same five problems.

The big five

• Runner's knee (patellofemoral pain). Pain around the kneecap on hills, stairs and long runs. Hip and quad strengthening plus short-term load adjustment has strong evidence. More on our knee pain page.
• Achilles tendinopathy. Morning stiffness above the heel that warms up and then bites after runs. Progressive calf loading over about three months, detailed on our ankle and foot page.
• Shin pain. Medial tibial stress syndrome at the mild end, bone stress injury at the serious end. Distinguishing them matters enormously, because one is managed with modified running and one is not, and getting it wrong risks a fracture. Focal bone tenderness, night pain or pain that worsens through a run earns imaging.
• ITB syndrome. Outside-of-knee pain, classically on downhills. Managed with hip strength and run modification rather than foam-rolling the ITB into submission, which the evidence never supported.
• Plantar heel pain and calf strains, both load stories with well-established rehab paths.

Treating the runner, not just the leg

Every running injury assessment here includes your training history: weekly kilometres, recent changes, surfaces, shoes and race plans. Most runners keep running through rehab at adjusted volume, because total rest trades one problem for another. Where useful we assess running technique and cadence, and we will give you a week-by-week return plan rather than the useless instruction to come back when it stops hurting.