Can I run through pain?

No runner wants to be told that they can’t run, especially when they are a few weeks out from the big race. We get asked a lot in the clinic “can I run through pain?” and the good news is that the answer isn’t always no.

We all get transient pains when we run, and a lot of the time they disappear.

Sometimes altering factors such as the distance, speed, stride length, surface or time of the day can make running more comfortable and help reduce load on an injured tissue. Changes like these can be for the short term only and when symptoms settle you can ease back into your normal running.

When should I run through pain?

You may run through pain if your pain is mild (0-3 on a scale of 1-10, where 0 is no pain and 10 is the worst pain imaginable) and/or if the pain settles after the run.

When in doubt, listen to your body and swap a session to give your body a chance to heal. For example, if you are following an online running training schedule and you had a 2/10 left knee pain during your run yesterday and you now have a hill or speed session tonight don’t be afraid to rest, swapping it for a recovery day or cross training then return to running the next day and reassess. If the knee pain has improved you may return to running as normal.

When should I stop running?

Ongoing or persistent pain is a warning that something isn’t quite right. You should never run through pain if it doesn’t settle 24-48 hours after a run, or if the pain is severe (greater than 5/10).

Signs of injury that are important to get checked out are:

• Severe pain (>5/10)

• Swelling

• Restricted movement

• Bony tenderness

• Giving way

• Locking of a joint

• Referred pain eg from the back down the leg

• Pins and needles

• Numbness

If you do experience pain like the above, use the acronym PRICE or more recently POLICE: Protect, Rest/Optimal Loading, Ice, Compression, Elevation, and then get a Physio to look at it to out rule any severe pathology.