Running Injuries: A Multi-Billion Dollar Problem With A Simple Solution

It is estimated that there are now 40 million (or more, depending on the study) runners in the United States. There are almost 11 million of those runners that are running twice per week or more. In the context of health benefit, the rising numbers are good.

There is a sad reality attached to these numbers as well. The research would indicate that at least 60% of all runners will be injured in any given year, and that 70% of injuries are recurrent. For those who like to do math, that amounts to 24 million injured runners, of which 16.8 million runners will have recurrent problems.

When you start doing the math on running injuries, some frightening economic numbers rise to the surface.

Let’s take a look at those 24 million injured runners - a modest estimate from most accounts. The running community is subjected to countless treatments that have little or not scientific plausibility or supporting evidence. Runners are receiving these treatments from chiropractors, physical therapists, massage therapists, and a whole slew of practitioners. Based on the stories I hear from clients, and the national averages on a variety of orthopedic complaints, I don’t think that it is unreasonable to project 8 to 10 treatment sessions per injury. That gives us 192 to 240 million treatment sessions – and that doesn’t count the visits that address the recurrent problems.

If you look at the available data on cost per visit for these types of complaints, it is reasonable to project a cost of $150 per treatment session. A little more number crunching and we now have an annual total cost of $28.8 – $37.2 billion for running injuries. Again, this isn’t including the recurrent problems.

Remember, these are health care expenses for people that are actually pursuing an active lifestyle – not those that have chronic medical conditions like diabetes.

Am I the only one that sees a problem here?

The harsh reality lies in a simple fact: at least 70% of running injuries are related to training error. The vast majority of running injuries are NOT due to biomechanical mal-alignment, asymmetry, flexibility, or any other “perceived causes”. In the running community’s current state of running injury mismanagement, we see a lot of runners that have injuries related to training error - yet are continuing to be treated with all sorts of approaches that focus on minutiae that has little or no relevance to the onset of their problem.

The solution? Better training – plain and simple. I would suggest that some well-organized training groups or, better yet, some specific educational modules, could address the mechanisms of this problem.

The cost of this solution? A few hundred, or even thousand, dollars perhaps? That is one significant return on investment, don’t you think?

Running is an activity that has significant health benefits. But it comes at a significant health care cost. Is that cost acceptable to you?

Photo credits: Eryn Vorn