Have any of you runners ever had this happen...

[lov2bfit]

I went for a run on Saturday and got a really bad stitch in my side. I tried to push through it and kept running. It kept getting worse until I had to stop and walk for half a block. I kept slowing down and trying to stretch it out, but it wasn't going away. Finally about a mile and a half into my run it subsided enough that I could run comfortably. Anyway, Sunday came and went with no problems, then Monday night my side (the same side as the cramp) started to ache. I didn't think much of it. Tuesday I noticed a pain in my side whenever I would twist my body into certain positions. The pain was right under my ribcage on my right side closer toward my back than my front. Wednesday, I took the day off to rest it and it felt the same, no better, no worse. Today I worked out again, but it didn't really give me problems. Well, now it is burning and hurting so much that I am having trouble standing up straight. I don't feel it all the time, only when I seem to stretch that area. Is this normal? Is this caused by the fact that I didn't work the cramp out and rather continued running? I'm really upset because it's getting worse and I really don't want to have to take the next few days off from working out. In fact, DH and I were going to take a spinning class tomorrow night.

Any suggestions from you runners out there???

Thanks!

Katie

 

[Mckmain]

At first my guess would be a side stitch, which sometimes come from shorter breaths, or not breathing deep enough when you start your run. Sometimes just slowing down and lightly pressing on the stitch can help it go away, sometimes not. I am not sure how you stretched the area but that is tough to do...so you might have pulled something stretching. But I am just guessing Katie. If the pain continues you should see a Doctor, or if you know a Chiropractor they might be able to help...keep us udpated......

 

[leanbean67]

No, I've not experienced a side stitch of that duration. One way to test the theory as to whether it's muscular is to take an anti-inflammatory and see if that provides relief. If so, you may have just pulled a muscle while stretching and treat accordingly.

Having said that, I am not a doctor, and have no idea how severe your pain is, etc. I would suggest a visit to the doctor. The fact that it hurts when you're not exercising indicates that there's something else going on. It may just be a fluke that it's the same side as your stitch was on.