There’s nothing like that rush of endorphins that follows a great workout. Nothing beats the feeling of being completely in the zone, fully in this moment with yourself as you push past all your inhibitions. You become limitless and the further you go, the further you feel from all of the worries and anxieties of the past. If you’re an avid runner, you are likely aware of all of the benefits that come along with it. You might know that running is a great way to enhance cardiovascular health, sleep better, increase lung function, lose weight, and reduce stress. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, just a thirty-minute run on the treadmill is enough to lift an individual’s mood and improve symptoms of depression. Running can even lower the risk of having a stoke, heart attack or developing breast cancer later on. The possibilities are endless, but while running may make us feel immune to life’s woes, there is one downside to it all, injury.
Common Injuries
Unfortunately, mild aches and pains, tight muscles, and transient soreness can often come with the territory of the running trails. It becomes difficult, then to know when you have a dangerous issue that needs to be addressed. Achilles Tendonitis is a common injury that occurs when too much stress has been placed on the Achilles tendon, the tendon that connects the calf muscles to the back of the heel. Plantar Fasciitis is another nagging injury that brings a great deal of strain and pain to the tendons and ligaments in the body. As we run, our feet absorb a great deal of shock from the force of each step. Small tears known as Plantar fasciitis can then develop and create aching inflammation from our heels to our toes. There are a variety of injuries that runners may face, although 40% of such injuries are actually knee injuries, according to Runner’s World.
Preventing Runner’s Knee
These issues have become so commonplace that a new and all too fitting term has emerged, ‘runner’s knee.’ Runner’s knee, more formally known as Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) is typically an overuse injury that causes pain around the kneecap. Some runners may even hear a frightening popping sound as the pain continues. There are several issues that may contribute to this popular injury. For one, some athletes have a tendency to run through the pain and not take the required rest or modifications. The injury may also originate form an imbalance in strength or mobility. The problem is, many runners lack the appropriate knowledge about their own bodies. This is something that technology company, dorsaVi is working to change.
The Wearable Solution
DorsaVi is a motion sensor wearable that is transforming both the clinical and wearable market. The wearable is an FDA-cleared tool that incorporates tiny biomechanical instruments with intelligent sensors that measure the body’s motion and muscle activity. Much like your favorite fitness tracker, dorsaVi delivers health and fitness data in real time. Most importantly, it provides you with the insights needed to go further and achieve optimal health and longevity. “The dorsaVi wearable sensor solutions allow many aspects of detailed human movement and position to be acutely captured, quantified, with the same level of accuracy as a biomechanics lab – but with the benefit of it being simple to use, low cost and accessible for use in real situations in real-time,” says Megan Connell, Chief Marketing Officer at dorsaVi.
The company was started by practicing Physiotherapist, Andrew Ronchi along with his brother, Dan Ronchi. Deeply engrained in the clinical world, Andrew saw a lack in the objective information he could provide his clients. Setting out to develop dorsaVi, he and his brother wished to create a wearable that could better guide and inform treatment of patients while erasing the guesswork from the equation. Ever since, dorsaVi has become a modern clinical solution used by a range of health and performance professionals. This includes physical therapists, chiropractors, pain physicians, orthopedic surgeons, strength and conditioning trainers and coaches. It has also become a trusted team member in elite sports, joining the ranks of the NFL, NHL, MLS, and NBS.
Professional Suite for Runners
Whether you’re an elite athlete or an everyday champion, dorsaVi’s intelligent wearable can help to improve performance and prevent injury down the road. “It provides detailed insight into how patients are really moving. With the benefit of this data, the treating professional can identify injury risk, guide rehabilitation, make return to play decisions, track progress and improve performance,” says Connell. The dorsaVi clinical solution – Professional Suite allows users to capture detailed movement analytics from three core assessment modules, Low Back, Run, and Knee. The knee module quickly assesses movement data for varus/valgus, flight time, speed of collapse, and tibial inclination. It can be especially helpful for runners who are susceptible to ‘runners’ knee and similar complications.
If you’re quite literally running into trouble these days, a tool like dorsaVi can help you get back on track. It’s about moving better and moving forward with the right information on your fitness journey.