- Running and back pain
Many runners, both amateurs and professionals suffer from back pain, mainly in the lumbar area. Faced with this situation, the questions are always the same: What do I do? Stop or keep running? Can I do something to prevent it from hurting me again?
In acute pain, both lumbago and sciatica, the recommendation is to reduce exercise to bearable levels, never absolute rest. It is proven that moving is better than being still. In this phase, pharmacological treatment analgesics, with paracetamol being the first choice, muscle relaxants, etc and other non-invasive treatments such as local heat, physiotherapy can help in the control of discomfort.
One third of patients with acute low back pain will need to see their doctor and, between 70 and 90% of them will have improved in less than two months. Only a few will evolve into chronic pain. In this acute phase, the recommendation is clear: to try, in a progressive and controlled way, to return to the previous physical activity, both work and sports and social. This includes 'running'.
Between four and eight weeks of evolution of low back pain, it is demonstrated that aerobic exercise relieves symptoms and aids in recovery. Walking is the easiest exercise to perform. Moving in the pool, swimming or elliptical bike can contribute to recovery.
For the practice of 'running', it is advisable to use appropriate shoes, run through non-aggressive terrain -initially soft and flat- improve the technique including the previous warm-up and stretching at the end, strengthen the lumbar and abdominal muscles and make progressive training in distance, load and speed.
