Running is the most popular and important way to maintain and improve your fitness as well as helping you stay in shape. It is a way of assisting people to remain active in their day-to-day activities and that is why you will find so many people engaging in this kind of activity regularly. 

The benefits of running to your body are numerous. Some of these benefits that running can lead to are, strengthening muscles, burning calories and maintaining a healthy weight, building strong bones and improving cardiovascular fitness.

However, running can cause some common injuries to runners, such as dental injuries.

Dental Injuries

Many types of dental injuries can occur due to running. A particular study shows that high rates of erosions and cavities can be caused by heavy endurance training. 

Other activities that may cause dental injuries are:

Taking Too Much Sugar from the Refueling Drinks

Those sports drinks, gels and chews capable of refuelling your body for running may be having too much sugar that might be feeding the bacteria that naturally occur in your mouth. As a result, they produce an acid that eats away the protective enamel that covers your teeth, causing decay. This decay appears at the base of your teeth, where they meet with the gums.

It is advisable to swish water in your mouth immediately after taking the refuelling products to protect your teeth from decay. An alternative way of protecting your mouth is using non-sugary beverages.

Using Your Teeth to Open Packets or Open Tight Corked Bottles

Opening packets and tightly corked bottles can lead to chipping off your teeth. This is a serious injury to your teeth as it can cause painful gums and cracked teeth. It is good not to attempt opening anything using your teeth to avoid this.

Physical Dental Injuries

Injuries can lead to serious long-term health issues. The most dental injuries that can occur while running are;

Cracked teeth – When a runner experiences a blow on the face by probably falling, it can lead to fracturing or cracking of the teeth or tooth. If the crack appears as a longitudinal crack across the tooth, it might only be having what is referred to as ‘Craze lines.’ These craze lines cannot put you at a very high risk of dental health. Symptoms of craze lines on your tooth are pain while drinking or eating, loss of a tooth’s outer enamel section and sharp pain when biting something.

Tooth intrusion – Caused by a knock on the teeth. It is a type of trauma of the teeth. Its healing time can take so long that it can cause an athlete to be out of action for a long time. Some of its symptoms are root resorption and tooth pulp destruction.

Fractured roots – Can be caused by a blow at a certain angle. A fractured root begins from the root level towards the part of the visible tooth. This injury can only be realised when an infection of the tooth develops. It can only be repaired by root canal therapy.

It is essential to take the best dental insurance plans in case of injuries to your teeth.

Other injuries that might occur to an athlete are as follows:

Shin Splints

It is also referred to as tibial stress syndrome. It is a pain that occurs along the shinbone in your lower legs’ inner or front part. This type of injury can happen when you suddenly increase running volume on a hard surface. They are not usually severe injuries and can disappear on resting.

However, if it is a much severe shin splint, it can lead to stress fractures if it is left untreated. Some symptoms are a faint pain in the inner or front of the shinbone, mild swelling and tenderness on touching and pain that can worsen on exercising.

Achilles Tendinitis

Achilles tendinitis is inflammation of the tendon connecting the calf muscle to your heel. It can be caused by increasing mileage or the intensity of your running. When it is not treated on time, it can increase the risk of the Achilles tendon rupture.

If the Achilles tendon is torn, it must require surgery to repair. Common symptoms are swelling along the Achilles tendon, a feeling of warmth over the tendon and a faint pain on the lower leg above the heel.

Symptoms of these injuries are gradually developing, pain worsening in the morning, pain that occurs after prolonged activity and a burning sensation at the bottom of your foot which could be indicative of plantar fasciitis.