While running........

Hi

Lately Ahmad has been telling me that while he is running he feels some pain in his left side of his tummy and so he stops running. So does this have to do with the enlargement of spleen??

Any body has expierenced this before?

Manal

on my expierenced with my son i remember his spleen was arround three fingers enlargment but never ever had complain i think Ahmed was running with full stomach .. but i sugest to make an ultra sound to be sure ...
                                               khalifa
                                          state of kuwait
                                    one for all and all for one

I've gotten these from running since I was a child and always got them on my left side under my ribs, although it is more common to get them on the right side. From http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/archives/side-stitch.php

Side Stitches
Causes, Prevention and Treatment

 

A side stitch, also known as exercise related transient abdominal pain (ETAP), is one of the most annoying and painful conditions suffered by participants of sport and exercise. Although not considered a true sports injury, it has been estimated that 70% of regular runners suffered from a side stitch in the last 12 months.

A side stitch causes an intense, stabbing pain under the lower edge of the ribcage and although it can occur on both sides of the abdomen, research has found that it occurs more frequently on the right side.

The pain is usually brought on by vigorous exercise and activity. Side stitches occur more frequently in sports that require a lot of up and down movement, like running, jumping and horse riding. They also occur more frequently in novice or amateur athletes.

What Causes a Side Stitch?
The pain is caused by a spasm of the diaphragm muscle. The diaphragm is a dome shaped muscle that separates the thoracic (lung) cavity from the abdominal cavity and moves up and down when you inhale and exhale. To understand why the diaphragm muscle spasms, we need to understand what is happening during exercise: Let's use the sport of running as an example.

It is interesting to note that more than 70% of humans exhale when their left foot strikes the ground, while less than 30% exhale when their right foot hits the ground.

When you inhale, your lungs fill with air and force your diaphragm downward. Conversely, when you exhale your lungs contract and your diaphragm rises. This pattern of rising and falling occurs quite rapidly when you're running and as most side stitches occur on the right hand side, consider what happens to your diaphragm when your right foot strikes the ground.

As your right foot strikes the ground, gravity forces your internal organs downward. Some of these organs are attached to the diaphragm, which in turn pulls the diaphragm downward. Now if you're also exhaling at the same time as your right foot hits the ground, your diaphragm is being pulled upward as your lungs contract. This creates a stretching of the diaphragm muscle and the ligaments that are attached to your internal organs, which inturn causes the pain.

Treating a Side Stitch
Like any other muscle spasm, when a side stitch occurs it is important to stop the activity that brought the stitch on in the first place, or at the very least reduce the intensity of the activity.

Another effective treatment for a side stitch is to alter your breathing pattern. First concentrate on taking full, deep breathes and avoid shallow breathing. Then, if you are one of those people who exhale when your right foot hits the ground, try instead to exhale when your left foot hits the ground.

Preventing a Side Stitch
There are a number of measures that help to prevent side stitch, the main ones being:

    * Improve your cardiovascular fitness;
    * Concentrate on breathing deeply during exercise;
    * Warm up properly before exercising;
    * Gradually increase exercise intensity;
    * Strengthen your core muscles (lower back, abdominal and oblique muscles);
    * Stretch more, especially your lower back and abdominal muscles;
    * Avoid eating before exercising; and
    * Drink more fluids.

If you enjoyed this issue of The Stretching & Sports Injury Report, please feel free to forward it to others, make it available for download from your site or post it on forums for others to read. Please make sure the following paragraph and URL are included.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Article by Brad Walker. Brad is a leading stretching and
sports injury consultant with nearly 20 years experience
in the health and fitness industry. For more articles on
stretching, flexibility and sports injury, please visit
The Stretching Institute.
-----------------------------------------------------------

Thanks Khalifa and Andy sooooooooo much for your reply, happy to know it is not thal related. Its true Andy, i remember that i too had the same pains when i used to run at school ,but can't remeber which side

Manal

MANAL

It doesnt matter what side a stich happens...but when they do they do hurt alot...so your son is probably experiencing a stitch while he is running..I am sure that most of us have experienced a stitch or two while doing exercise!!!

Thanks Smurfette for your reply

Manal