Wednesday 23rd April 2008 - Posted by Dan
Hello there my learned physicians and atheletic friends!
I beseech your help. I am doing a bit of running at the moment to improve my fitness but I’m getting hampered by a stitch that I seem to get half way through my run. It stops me in my tracks as I need to recover from it before I can run again properly.
As doctors or knowledgeable athletes, can any of you explain what causes a stitch and how to avoid it or overcome it so that it doesn’t hamper my running.
Please post your helpful ideas in a comment below. I’d really appreciate some advice!
6 responses so far ↓
1 Daniel Harper // Apr 23, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Sarah says stitches are due to relative ischaemia of the viscera (abdominal organs) as blood is diverted to musculature. As doctors we tend not to specialise in things which don’t kill - i.e. stitches and the like! Suggestions: only eat light meals before exercising… um, no others really. Sorry - I am a real thicko.
2 dan // Apr 23, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Thanks Dan! Reading about stitches is far more fun than doing my finance assignment! Great!
According to about.com the side stitch can be caused by breathing out when I exhale when my right foot lands! See http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/injuries/a/aa053100a.htm
Hmmm! I think a good stretch and not eating too much might be the best thing!
3 Chris Thiele // Apr 23, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Hey mate - I am far from an expert on these things but used to get stiches all the time until I managed to get my breathing pattern right when I run. They are a lot less infrequent now but could just be coincidence! Also when you get a stich rather than stopping try slowing your pace to allow your breathing to catch up before picking up the pace again (which seems to get rid of them for me)
Keep on running!
4 Larry // Apr 23, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Always leave two hours between eating any quantity of food and starting your run, especially for meat and dairy products. Start slowly, and work up speed as you get into a comfortable rhythm and stride. If I get a stitch, I lean forward as I run, which seems to ease it. Do visit the Runners World website, where you should be able to find something.
Keep on running!!!
5 dan // Apr 24, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Ok, so to summarise so far:
Eat a light meal beforehand
Exhaling on my left foot
Slow down a bit
Lean forward if it starts hurting!
Any more ideas anyone?
6 Amanda Lay // Sep 9, 2008 at 9:49 am
I have another idea for you…..don’t run. I told you running was bad for you. If you do insist on running also try taking long slow breaths, that helps me when I run…….I do run you know…..sometimes
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