What kind of Doctor?
amandalj
Posts: 28 Member
I feel silly for even posting this, but I’m not sure what type of doctor to call and I’m hoping that someone may have experienced this?
For the last two-ish weeks, I’ve been experiencing some major pain/cramping in my calves when I run. At first, I didn’t think much of it; when I run long on the weekends (or first thing in the AM), I have 0 pain and no problems. I really started noticing the pain during my evening runs, and I thought maybe I was wearing the wrong shoes to work. I know that high heels can shorten the calf muscles, and I thought maybe that was causing the discomfort since I normally run after I’ve been wearing them all day. My job is pretty sedentary, but stiil…
On Tuesday, I tried a short, slow 4 mile run (I wore flats to work that day) and I had to stop every mile to try to stretch out the cramping. Since then I’ve tried heat, ice, rolling, stretching, compression and my calves feel like they are in a constant Charlie horse. Obviously I’m not going to attempt to run through this, but I’m training to run the Pittsburgh Half Marathon in May and I want to get this resolved so I can continue on with training ASAP. I’m fairly confident that it’s not my actually running shoes – I use the Brooks Adrenaline GTS’s and have never had an issue with them before, but who know?
Do I call a sports medicine doctor? PCP? Physical Therapist? I’ve been trying to do some research and came across the Graston Technique and thought that sounded interesting. Has anyone had that done?
I’m just not sure, and I don’t want to look like an idiot and show up to the wrong doctor.
If anyone has insight I would really appreciate it! :flowerforyou:
For the last two-ish weeks, I’ve been experiencing some major pain/cramping in my calves when I run. At first, I didn’t think much of it; when I run long on the weekends (or first thing in the AM), I have 0 pain and no problems. I really started noticing the pain during my evening runs, and I thought maybe I was wearing the wrong shoes to work. I know that high heels can shorten the calf muscles, and I thought maybe that was causing the discomfort since I normally run after I’ve been wearing them all day. My job is pretty sedentary, but stiil…
On Tuesday, I tried a short, slow 4 mile run (I wore flats to work that day) and I had to stop every mile to try to stretch out the cramping. Since then I’ve tried heat, ice, rolling, stretching, compression and my calves feel like they are in a constant Charlie horse. Obviously I’m not going to attempt to run through this, but I’m training to run the Pittsburgh Half Marathon in May and I want to get this resolved so I can continue on with training ASAP. I’m fairly confident that it’s not my actually running shoes – I use the Brooks Adrenaline GTS’s and have never had an issue with them before, but who know?
Do I call a sports medicine doctor? PCP? Physical Therapist? I’ve been trying to do some research and came across the Graston Technique and thought that sounded interesting. Has anyone had that done?
I’m just not sure, and I don’t want to look like an idiot and show up to the wrong doctor.
If anyone has insight I would really appreciate it! :flowerforyou:
0
Replies
-
Are you getting enough potassium and magnesium (or too much sodium which would deplete your potassium)? That could cause the symptoms you're seeing and be fairly easy to fix.0
-
Thanks for your help!
I'm sure I could definitely be getting more of those in my diet - I was researching this last night and printed out lists of food that will help me work more of those into my meals. I hope it's as simple as that!0 -
Thanks for your help!
I'm sure I could definitely be getting more of those in my diet - I was researching this last night and printed out lists of food that will help me work more of those into my meals. I hope it's as simple as that!
You may have a deficiency in those minerals and, if you have, that's quite an achievement. Even though many folks here are on a diet, so many foods in this country is so full of nutrients and minerals that a mineral deficiency is very uncommon.
Very few food labels report magnesium correctly so even if you are ingesting enough magnesium, for example, you may think that your levels are too low.
Last item - magnesium is a hot ticket in the supplement industry as of about two years ago. My fiancee ran a weight loss clinic here in SoCal and about a year ago, she told me that lots of people were asking about magnesium. IIRC, she traced it back to a Dr Oz show and//or a book that got really popular.
It might be salt or magnesium, and taking a pill is a very sound remedy, but you've said that your long runs are OK vs runs that start in the evening. In that it's not all runs, I'd question why one would look to diet.
Just checked your diary - your sodium numbers look good.
Exertional muscle cramps, per Dr Noakes in "The Lore of Running", are believed to be a result the failure of the muscle to be able to relax - rolling, icing, etc. , etc. feel good on the calf (and are helpful for recovery) but have impact on an exertional muscle cramp.
No problem with popping a pill but I'd head over to sports doc.0 -
You may have a deficiency in those minerals and, if you have, that's quite an achievement. Even though many folks here are on a diet, so many foods in this country is so full of nutrients and minerals that a mineral deficiency is very uncommon.
Very few food labels report magnesium correctly so even if you are ingesting enough magnesium, for example, you may think that your levels are too low.
Last item - magnesium is a hot ticket in the supplement industry as of about two years ago. My fiancee ran a weight loss clinic here in SoCal and about a year ago, she told me that lots of people were asking about magnesium. IIRC, she traced it back to a Dr Oz show and//or a book that got really popular.
It might be salt or magnesium, and taking a pill is a very sound remedy, but you've said that your long runs are OK vs runs that start in the evening. In that it's not all runs, I'd question why one would look to diet.
Just checked your diary - your sodium numbers look good.
Exertional muscle cramps, per Dr Noakes in "The Lore of Running", are believed to be a result the failure of the muscle to be able to relax - rolling, icing, etc. , etc. feel good on the calf (and are helpful for recovery) but have impact on an exertional muscle cramp.
No problem with popping a pill but I'd head over to sports doc.
Thank you so much - that is great information!0 -
If you are wanting to get it looked at, I recommend calling your local running store and ask them to recommend a doctor or PT. I know my local running store has connections to the medical directors for some of the local races, and they can help you figure out what's wrong AND recommend what would be best to do if you want to continue training. A doctor who is a runner, or at least understands runners, is most likely going to be more helpful.0
