Hey Mark and community,
I love this idea and would like to open up a discussion about decreasing the amount of medial tibial stress syndrome of student-athletes in the secondary school setting. I currently have freshmen and new runners ease into the season a little bit more than the veterans but I believe there is an aspect of nutrition that I am missing. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated!
Mike M. LAT
Hey Mike,
Thanks for checking us out! It's interesting that your thought process went to nutrition as a prevention method for MTSS. I love that! Typically, when I think of MTSS and prevention methods, my thought process goes immediately to biomechanics, leg-length discrepancies, inactive glutes, hypermobile (or hypomobile) subtalar joint, overactive ITB, and/or a history of LAS/CAI. I'm curious to learn more about your thought process and how you came to your curiosity about nutrition, as I definitely believe that there is promising strategies in this area.
Off the top of my head, my first thought is anti-inflammatory foods. Evidence demonstrates that red meat and processed meats, as well as dairy products promote inflammation. Eating animal products (such as meat and dairy) promote the inflammatory response. So avoiding these items or limiting them is especially important for those who are struggling with inflammatory conditions like MTSS. Anti-inflammatory foods such as strawberries, blueberries, almonds, walnuts, and dark leafy greens can help fight inflammatory conditions. However, at the secondary school system, implementing this might be difficult. Many of these patients are probably subject to the meals prepared by their parents. Putting together an infographic or other education material might be helpful to your patient population as a prevention strategy.
Another thought, is to create short social media videos of nutrition tips/tricks. If trying to create awareness within the secondary school system, using social media might not be a bad idea for getting this information in front of them in a more interactive way. Plus, if it's their athletic trainer (you) doing the video, it might catch their interest even more so. Hope this helps!