Conditions
Running injuries
Most running injuries are overload injuries: shin splints, Achilles tendinopathy, IT band pain, runner's knee, and plantar fasciitis show up when training outpaces what the tissue can tolerate. At Next Move in Orlando, a 60-minute one-on-one exam looks at how you run and train, treats the irritated tissue, and builds a return-to-run plan designed to end.
Shin splints, a cranky Achilles, IT band pain at the same mile every time. Almost all of it is a load problem: more running than the tissue was ready for. Load problems can be measured, treated, and trained.
What's actually going on
The five injuries behind most running pain
Different spots, same story: a tissue asked to absorb more running than it had adapted to, usually after a jump in miles, pace, or hills.
Shin splints
Pain along the inside edge of the shin, spread over a hand's width or more, worst in the first minutes of a run and often easing as you warm up. The bone and the tissue anchoring to it are reacting to a spike in training. Rest calms it. It does not change the reason it showed up.
Achilles tendinopathy
Stiff and sore on the first steps out of bed, better once you are moving, worse the morning after a hard session. Tendons rarely rebuild from rest alone. They adapt to the right dose of load, so the plan is built around calf and tendon strengthening, not just time off.
IT band syndrome
A sharp, focal pain on the outside of the knee that shows up at a predictable point in the run and fades almost as soon as you stop. Foam rolling the band is where most runners start. Hip strength and stride mechanics are usually where the fix is.
Runner's knee
An ache around or behind the kneecap on hills, stairs, and after a long sit. The kneecap tracks the way the hip and the foot tell it to, so the exam spends as much time above and below the knee as on the knee itself.
Plantar fasciitis
Heel pain on the first steps of the morning, easing as you move, back after a long run or a day on your feet. Calf tension, foot strength, and how much you asked of the foot lately all matter. It is also the running injury with the strongest research support for shockwave therapy.
Shin splints, or a stress fracture?
Shin splints spread along the shin and usually warm up. A stress fracture is pinpoint, gets worse the longer you run, and can ache at rest. Early ones hide on X-ray. Telling the two apart, and sending you for imaging when it matters, is part of the first hour.
Why it keeps coming back
Because rest treats the pain, not the reason
If every fix so far has been time off, whatever overloaded you is still waiting at the same mileage.
The usual cycle: something starts hurting, you back off, it settles, you go back to the same plan, and it returns around the same point in the build. That isn’t bad luck. Time off calms tissue and quietly lowers its capacity, so you come back less prepared for the load that hurt you.
Most running injuries are overuse injuries. Not a tear, a tolerance problem: the tendon, bone, or joint was asked for more than it had adapted to. Where the pain lands depends on your weak link. Why it landed depends on your training log, and that is where the fix lives.
So the plan has two jobs. Settle the irritated tissue so you can move. Then change what overloaded it: the mileage jump, the hip that fatigues before the run ends, the calf that has never been trained, the stride that reaches too far out in front. Skip the second job and you’re renting a pain-free stretch until the next build.
How we treat it
The four-step pathway, applied to your running
Same framework as every plan at Next Move, aimed at the specific tissue, stride, and training load in front of us.
01
Assess & Collaborate
A full hour on how you run, not just where it hurts. We watch you walk and run, test single-leg control, calf and hip strength, ankle mobility, and foot mechanics, then read the training history: miles, pace, hills, shoes, time off. Where it hurts and why it hurts are usually two different places.
02
Reduce Pain
Hands-on care to calm the tissue: adjustment where the foot, ankle, or hip is restricted, cupping and IASTM where the tissue is overloaded, and shockwave therapy for stubborn tendon and heel pain when it fits. Plus clear guidance on running. Almost never “stop.” Usually “less, flatter, and slower for a few weeks.”
03
Fix Your Patterns
Retrain what set it up: progressive calf and tendon loading, hip and single-leg strength, cadence or stride changes if the mechanics call for them, and a return-to-run plan with a schedule instead of “see how it feels.”
04
Become Resilient
Build capacity past the demand of your goal race, so a hard block or a hilly route sits inside what your legs can handle. The goal is not surviving the training. It is having room to spare.
Who to see first
Chiropractor, physical therapist, or physician for a running injury?
Running injuries get treated by all three, and the right first stop depends on how the pain behaves and what you need from the visit. Here is how we would sort it if you asked us straight.
Sports chiropractor at Next Move
The pain is mechanical and not an emergency: shin splints, tendon pain that came on during a build, IT band or kneecap pain at a predictable mile, heel pain on the first steps of the morning. You want someone to watch you run, test strength and mobility, treat the irritated tissue, and hand you a return-to-run plan in one 60-minute visit. Not the right first stop for a suspected stress fracture, a pop in the calf or heel, or a leg you cannot bear weight on. Those need a physician first, and we will say so at the exam.
Physical therapist
Rehab after surgery, or a recovery that has to follow a surgeon's protocol, such as after a fracture, a repaired Achilles, or a stress fracture that was managed medically. Also a strong choice when you want a long, supervised progression with a therapist rather than hands-on treatment plus rehab from a doctor. In practice a good running PT and a good sports chiropractor overlap a lot. Pick the one who assesses before treating and gives you a plan with an end date.
Sports medicine physician, orthopedist, or podiatrist
First stop for anything acute or alarming: pinpoint bone pain that hurts at rest, a sudden pop with immediate weakness, a joint that swelled fast, a calf that is swollen and warm without a run to blame, or numbness that is not fading. Also when a fair trial of conservative care has not moved things, or you need imaging, a boot, or a conversation about injections or surgery. A podiatrist is the specialist for stubborn foot and heel problems and orthotics questions. Most of these cases come back to rehab afterward.
What about imaging?
Most running injuries do not need imaging on day one; shin splints, tendon pain, IT band pain, and plantar heel pain are diagnosed by the exam and the history. Imaging is warranted when a bone might be involved: pinpoint tenderness on the shin, foot, or hip that worsens with running or hurts at rest points to a stress fracture, which an early X-ray can miss and often needs an MRI or bone scan; a sudden pop with weakness points to a tendon rupture that needs a physician the same day. Next Move does not have imaging on site. If your exam raises any of these, we refer you to a physician or imaging center and pick the rehab back up once you are cleared.
When to see someone
When to see a physician first
Most running pain is mechanical and responds well to the kind of care we do. Some of it isn’t. A sudden pop in the calf or the back of the heel, a leg you can’t put weight on, pinpoint bone pain that hurts at rest or wakes you at night, a calf that is swollen, warm, and painful without a run to blame, or numbness and weakness that don’t fade once you stop: see a physician first. Those need imaging or a medical workup before anyone treats the mechanics.
Screening for exactly this is part of the 60-minute exam. If what we find looks like a stress fracture, a rupture, or anything else outside our lane, we’ll say so plainly, point you to the right next step, and pick the rehab back up once you’re cleared.
Start here
New Patient Exam: $150 · 60 min
A full hour, one-on-one: history, movement assessment, root-cause diagnosis, and your first treatment.
Not sure yet? The Free Consultation is $0 (15 min · telehealth): talk it through with Dr. Nguyen before booking anything.
Where to start
Chiropractor, physical therapist, or physician for a running injury?
Running injuries get treated by all three, and the right first stop depends on how the pain behaves and what you need from the visit. Here is how we would sort it if you asked us straight.
Sports chiropractor at Next Move
The pain is mechanical and not an emergency: shin splints, tendon pain that came on during a build, IT band or kneecap pain at a predictable mile, heel pain on the first steps of the morning. You want someone to watch you run, test strength and mobility, treat the irritated tissue, and hand you a return-to-run plan in one 60-minute visit. Not the right first stop for a suspected stress fracture, a pop in the calf or heel, or a leg you cannot bear weight on. Those need a physician first, and we will say so at the exam.
Physical therapist
Rehab after surgery, or a recovery that has to follow a surgeon's protocol, such as after a fracture, a repaired Achilles, or a stress fracture that was managed medically. Also a strong choice when you want a long, supervised progression with a therapist rather than hands-on treatment plus rehab from a doctor. In practice a good running PT and a good sports chiropractor overlap a lot. Pick the one who assesses before treating and gives you a plan with an end date.
Sports medicine physician, orthopedist, or podiatrist
First stop for anything acute or alarming: pinpoint bone pain that hurts at rest, a sudden pop with immediate weakness, a joint that swelled fast, a calf that is swollen and warm without a run to blame, or numbness that is not fading. Also when a fair trial of conservative care has not moved things, or you need imaging, a boot, or a conversation about injections or surgery. A podiatrist is the specialist for stubborn foot and heel problems and orthotics questions. Most of these cases come back to rehab afterward.
When imaging makes sense
Most running injuries do not need imaging on day one; shin splints, tendon pain, IT band pain, and plantar heel pain are diagnosed by the exam and the history. Imaging is warranted when a bone might be involved: pinpoint tenderness on the shin, foot, or hip that worsens with running or hurts at rest points to a stress fracture, which an early X-ray can miss and often needs an MRI or bone scan; a sudden pop with weakness points to a tendon rupture that needs a physician the same day. Next Move does not have imaging on site. If your exam raises any of these, we refer you to a physician or imaging center and pick the rehab back up once you are cleared.
Questions
Straight answers
Can I keep running through it, or do I have to stop?
Usually you keep running, with changes. Blanket rest is rarely the answer for shin splints, tendon pain, or IT band pain, and it costs fitness the injury did not take. The first visit sorts out what the tissue can tolerate right now: often fewer miles, flatter routes, easier pace, and no back-to-back hard days for a few weeks, with how the tissue feels the next morning as the gauge. The exceptions are a suspected stress fracture or tendon rupture. Those need imaging first.
Is it shin splints or a stress fracture?
Shin splint pain tends to spread along a longer stretch of the inside of the shin and often eases as you warm up. Stress fracture pain tends to sit in one spot you can press on, keeps hurting the longer you run, and can ache at rest. Early stress fractures are often hard to see on a plain X-ray, so a suspected one usually means a physician and an MRI. If your shin pain is pinpoint, present at rest, or getting worse, get it imaged before you run again.
Should a runner see a chiropractor or a physical therapist?
For most running injuries either can be the right first stop, and the label matters less than the process. Pick the clinician who watches you run, tests strength and mobility, reads your training history, and hands you a loading plan with an end date. At Next Move that is a 60-minute one-on-one visit that combines hands-on treatment with rehab. A physical therapist is the better fit for rehab after surgery or under a surgeon's protocol. If you suspect a fracture or rupture, start with a physician either way.
How long until I can run again with Achilles tendinopathy?
Longer than most runners want to hear. It depends on how long the tendon has been irritated and how you load it. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons notes that even with early treatment, Achilles tendon pain can last longer than three months. Many runners keep running, modified, while the tendon adapts to progressive calf loading. Morning stiffness and how the tendon feels the day after a run tell us when to progress or pull back. Nobody can promise a date, but we can give you checkpoints.
Does shockwave therapy help shin splints or Achilles pain?
It depends on the tissue. A 2023 systematic review found high-quality evidence that shockwave has a large effect on pain and function for plantar fasciitis, but only low-to-moderate evidence of a negligible effect for Achilles and patellar tendinopathy. Shin splints were not part of that review, so we do not offer shockwave as a shin splint fix. For heel pain it is often worth adding. For the Achilles and the shins, progressive loading is the treatment; shockwave is at most a supporting layer, decided at your exam.
How often should a runner see a chiropractor?
As often as the plan needs and no more. Early on, visits are closer together while the tissue settles and the loading program gets started. As you take over more of the work yourself, they spread out, and the plan ends. Some runners come back before a goal race or during a heavy block. That is a choice you make with the doctor, not a standing prescription. If a clinic wants you on a schedule with no end date, ask what changes if you stop.
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