Runners : Become even better with osteopathy

With the industrialization of our society, physical activity in our daily lives has become increasingly rare. Now we can be everywhere, all the time, without even having to move from our armchair...

But did you know that already in 1843, a London study had shown that regular physical activity considerably reduced the risk of mortality! And that in 2007, another study showed that regular physical activity of about 3 hours per week reduced the risk of death by about 30%.

3 hours per week of moderate physical activity => 30% reduction in mortality

Moving has become a new public health issue!

Some sports are expensive, some require a particular technical mastery but this is not the case of running! Well, it is true that the price of running shoes is increasing more and more...

In this article, I will present you the advantages of running with its small drawbacks, its pathologies, but especially the keys that will make you a better runner!

In France, in 2017, there were 13.5 million runners, of which only 307,000 were registered with the French Athletics Federation (the FFA). This means that more than 13 million runners have never learned to run, except of course for the advice given by PE teachers at school.

If Forrest Gump is to be believed, all you need is the desire to run to cover thousands of miles. And what's more, one runner can inspire thousands!

I often hear in the office the famous phrase "yes, but running is not good for your body".

This is not true: for some people, running may be contraindicated, especially for those with significant body asymmetries. But with a few exceptions, running will provide you with many benefits:

The other big public health issue today, which goes hand in hand with not moving enough, is the fight against Musculoskeletal Disorders.

In 2010, the figures for MSDs became alarming with over 8.5 million lost workdays and approximately 10 million in 2012.

Running solves part of this problem, it makes you move, it makes you muscle and it clears your head. So, when you come home after a little jogging, you are more relaxed, more pleasant with your spouse and at the same time reduce the rate of RSI, you also reduce the divorce rate in France!

Running will strengthen your leg muscles, but also your abdominal muscles, back muscles, etc., etc.

But contrary to popular belief, running will strengthen your back and will not make you feel tired!

An Australian study published in 2017, the impact of running on the size of the discs between the vertebrae. Between each of your vertebrae, you have little cushions made up mostly of water called intervertebral discs. As you age, they tend to pack down and that's why you lose a few inches as you get older. The thicker these discs are, the stronger the back is.

These Australians made 3 groups for their study:

• Non-runners
• Runners running 20-40 km per week
• Runners running more than 50 km per week

Then, they assessed the size of their discs through MRI scans that were performed before and after.

Both groups of runners show better disc hydration!

But it didn't stop there, they also showed that the "more than 50 km per week" group had thicker discs than the other two groups.

So the more you run, the stronger your discs become! It seems that repeated compression of the spine in the axis (and I insist on the fact that it is in the axis) has beneficial effects on the lumbar discs and particularly on the nucleus of the disc, that is to say the center of the disc.

Balance is one of the most important elements of life, as loss of balance leads to loss of independence.

In the elderly, loss of balance often results in a fall. According to the World Health Organization, it is the second leading cause of accidental death in the world. So even if you are young, and even more so if you are older, work on, strengthen and maintain your balance!

What better way to work on your balance than to run on the road, on the grass, in the sand or even in the mud for trail lovers!

Running, just like any other physical activity, because of its stress on the bones, will help strengthen them and thus fight osteoporosis. Of course, many other factors such as a lack of vitamin D, hormonal problems, etc., can be involved in osteoporosis.

Running can also be a source of many pathologies.

A 2012 study by Alexandre Dias and colleagues catalogued the pathologies of runners based on studies done from 1947 to 2011 that included 3,500 runners.

Their results indicate that in order of frequency, we find above all:

• Patellar tendinopathy: 22.7
• Tibial periostitis or tibial stress syndrome: 20%.
• Ankle sprain: 15% of the total
• Achilles tendinopathy: 10.9%.
• Injury to the hamstring muscles: 10.9
• Plantar fasciitis: 10% of the total
• Other :
  • Windshield wiper syndrome
  • Bursitis
  • Fatigue fracture
  • Arthritis, etc.

For ultra-marathoners, the main pathologies are tendinopathies of the dorsal flexors or extrinsic muscles of the foot. They represent 29.6% of the pathologies of ultra-marathoners.

Our body is composed of about 60% water and more when we are children. Playing sports with low hydration is like driving a car without oil, after a while the lights come on and if you don't listen to them, the engine breaks down.

For your body it's the same, symptoms appear, then pathology sets in and forces you to stop running.

Drink 1.5L of water per day and 2.5 to 3L depending on your physical activity.

This is such a vast field that it is complicated to develop it here. However, I invite you to consult the work of Professor Seignalet concerning the pathologies of clogging. But all the studies show that a more basic, less acidic, less sweet, seasonal diet limits the pain and the development of many pathologies.

To use the comparison with the car, it is like putting unleaded in a car that runs on diesel.

Plantar ailments such as corns, warts, etc. can be a source of imbalance in the body. Hence the importance of consulting a pedicure-podologist to take care of your feet.

The morphology of your feet and knees can also be a source of imbalance in the body, in some cases, orthopedic inserts can be useful. Note that not all runners need insoles.

Also think about changing your shoes regularly, but be careful, just because they are beautiful doesn't mean they are suitable for your feet. It's like Cinderella, to each his own!

Many podiatrists are up to date on the latest shoe models and can advise you on the brand and model to choose according to your stride, whether you are an aerialist or a lander, a supinator or a pronator.

Osteopathy is a manual care therapy that aims to prevent, diagnose and treat what we call somatic dysfunctions, that is to say all mobility disorders of all tissues of the body.

Contrary to what we often hear, an osteopath works on all the structures of the body that are accessible to his hands, but not only on the bone.

Indeed, the word osteopathy does not come from the Greek "osteo" "pathie" which would have been translated by the pathology of the bone but by the English "osteo path" which means the way of the structure and thus of all the structures of the body (bones, ligaments, tendons, muscles, viscera, fasciae)

The osteopath, during a consultation, takes care of the patient in his globality, that is to say from the head to the feet in order to determine the structure in suffering, the cause of the complaint of the patient and to treat these structures but also the repercussions that this could cause on the body.

When we walk, climb stairs, carry something, we never perform the movements symmetrically like a well programmed robot. Thus, dysfunctions progressively set in, small ones at the beginning, then with time a blocked vertebra will block the one above or below and then pain may appear.

Don't worry, the body is well made, it rebalances itself around these dysfunctions but in some cases, it can't do it by itself. When a joint is blocked, the surrounding structures will react, for example the muscles will contract, which is often the cause of the pain. Then, with time, the muscles relax and you feel better, but in many cases, the cause has not been removed and the body reacts again. The problem is when this cycle is allowed to continue, because then the pain is continuous and you pass the stage of chronic pain which is much more difficult to treat.

The goal of osteopathy is first of all to prevent, to remove all these small dysfunctions before they generate a pain and you enter in its vicious circle.

In runners, but also in other patients, it is important to check the good mobility of all the joints of the foot, and there are many since the foot has 26 bones and 16 joints. A blockage is therefore common. It is very important to remove any blockage because the foot is the base of the pyramid. And if the base is unstable, the top will not hold.

It is important to check the good mobility of the knee and its joints, the pelvis but also the rest of the body.

Do not forget that movement is life, it is when there is no play within a joint, that the surrounding structures and in particular the muscles and tendons suffer. In osteopathy, one of the main principles stated by the founder Andrew Taylor Still is that the structure governs the function and vice versa. Thus, a structural problem within a joint or a viscera will affect its function.

So if you want to run well and run fast, put some oil in your body, give it a little overhaul from time to time to avoid premature wear of its parts.

Marie Messager
Osteopath for sports
in Versailles Chantiers
78 - Yvelines