Exercise is essential to your overall health, but unfortunately, it also comes with the risk of serious injury. These risks can be mitigated by wearing the correct shoes and by seeing your podiatrist on a regular basis, but injuries are bound to happen nonetheless.

 Some of the most common injuries that happen while exercising include the following:

• Achilles tendon rupture—The Achilles tendon is the large tendon that connects your calf muscle to your heel bone. Exercises that involve sudden stops and starts such as from doing wind sprints or playing tennis can be a risk factor. A severe rupture often requires surgery.
• Shin splints—The muscles that surround the shin bone can become irritated and swollen from the incessant pounding encountered during some forms of exercise like running and the pain often radiates to your feet and ankles. Shin splints often occur when one suddenly changes exercise surfaces from hard to soft, or from a soft surface to a hard one.
• Plantar fasciitis—Heel pain from exercising is a common problem that is caused by an inflammation to the plantar fascia which is the wide band of tissue that spans the bottom of your foot.

An excellent method for avoiding these types of injuries is to perform proper stretching routines before and after exercise and by wearing correctly sized and fitted shoes with custom orthotic inserts.

If you are experiencing pain from an exercise injury, see your foot doctor for the proper care. At Your Next Step, our team of board-certified podiatrists has experience treating a variety of foot and ankle problems including sports injuries, arthritis, bunions, nail fungus, chronic tendon pain, and skin problems. Podiatrists Dr. Eric Ricefield, Dr. Mark Yagodich, and Dr. Aliza V. Eisen provide high-quality foot and ankle care to patients in the greater Philadelphia area at our offices conveniently located in Ardmore, Paoli, Woodlyn, and Downingtown, PA. Contact us for more information or to schedule an appointment.