Personalized Healthcare for Runners
At First Coast Running Medicine, we specialize in helping runners of all levels overcome pain, recover from injury, and optimize performance. Whether you’re new to running, returning after an injury, or aiming to set a personal best, our tailored approach ensures you meet your goals.
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Recreational Runners
Are you just starting your running journey, returning after a long hiatus or pregnancy, or someone who just enjoys hopping into an occasional holiday 5k? We help recreational runners dealing with musculoskeletal pain, including common issues like plantar fasciitis, shin splints, or knee pain. Our personalized treatment plans address your specific concerns, improve your running form, and reduce discomfort so you can enjoy the miles pain-free.
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Athletes Returning to Running Post-Injury
If you’ve experienced a significant injury like an ACL tear or Achilles rupture, we’re here to guide you back to running safely. Our comprehensive rehabilitation programs combine strength training, gait analysis, and progressive loading to help you return to running stronger than before—whether it’s getting back on the road or track after surgery or overcoming chronic pain that’s sidelined you for too long.
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Seasoned Runners
Have you been running for a while, but haven't quite been able to hit the paces you want? Or worse, can't seem to stay injury free during training? For experienced runners preparing for their next race—whether it’s a 5k, 10k, half marathon, marathon, or even an ultramarathon—we provide advanced performance training that fine-tunes your mechanics and enhances your endurance, speed, strength, and overall efficiency. We’ll help you optimize your form, avoid injury, and break through performance plateaus so you can hit that new PR.
Common Injuries We Treat
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Plantar fascial pain, commonly referred to as plantar fasciitis, is most often experienced as a sharp stabbing pain on the bottom of your foot that is worst in the morning during those first few steps out of bed. If you've ever experienced it, you know how painful it can be while running, but fear not! We have been extremely successful at helping our patients decrease their foot pain and increase their tolerance to loads to get you back on the road!
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Achilles tendinopathy can often present itself as sharp or even burning pain at the backside of the heel or up to the lower calf and is associated with overuse or irritation of the Achilles tendon, which connects your calf muscle to your heel. This pathology can make the push-off phase of running feel both painful and weak.
To address this pain we will take a combined approach of tweaking your gait mechanics, dry needling when appropriate, and strengthening the glutes and calves to make your push-off more efficient.
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The source of your knee pain can vary widely from patellar tendinopathy to IT band syndrome and meniscus tears to ACL tears. We so lovingly call the knee the "dumb joint" of the leg, so whatever your hip and ankle are doing - your knee has to follow suit and often gets injured in the process.
By strengthening the muscles above and below the knee and working to decrease the impact forces that the knee feels during running, we will help you increase your tolerance to loading and get you back on the road!
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The hip is a complex joint with over 20 muscles working together to provide stability and movement. Common injuries here can involve your hip flexors at the front of the hip, your hip abductors on your outside hip bone, and often your hip extensors including the glutes and hamstrings.
Through a combination of dry needling, strength training, gait retraining, and SL balance work we will get your hips stronger and more resilient to get you back on the road pain-free.
