First post in a while! Need advise about stitch! ☹️

[StudentNursee]

Haven’t posted in ages! so I finished My C25K a few months ago. I managed to work my way to 5K in 38 minutes which is my PB and starting going to park runs weekly which I absolutely love!

On my second or third park run, about 2 miles into my run I started getting a stitch. I slowed right down, stretched and concentrated on my breathing... I carried on slowly running but the stitch didn’t stop! I eventually stopped running and walked for 10 ish minutes, which seemed to ease the stitch but as soon as I picked the pace up again the stitch came back and even worse. I carried on and the stitch got absolutely excruiating. Now I’ve had stitch plenty of times but never as painful as this! The pain was soo bad I was almost crying. My boyfriend was there watching and he came over and told me to stop for 5 minutes, and encouraged me to walk and eventually I could run and finish my last lap.

So, ever since that park run and that horrendous stitch, my side seems to have never recovered. Even when I’m walking long distances I get a horrible niggling stabbing pain in my side exactly where I had stitch... it isn’t full stitch but it’s deffinitly the same feeling as the start of one? I still managed my runs but the stitch was constantly threatening to come back and if I stopped concentrating on my breathing at all then it got even worse. This was the case for about 3 weeks.

After that I had a month off from running due to having a very minor operation and not being mobile and needing to recover etc.

In my mind I thought, after having a month off, once I start running again surely this side pain will have gone... well it hasn’t. I’ve been for 3 runs since my month off and my side is still painful, it’s not full stitch but whenever I walk a long distance or start running my side starts hurting every time. I have to concentrate so much when running to stop it turning into a full stitch.

Has anyone had a similar experience? I’ve spoken to loads of friends and no one knows what I’ve done or what I can do about it?! I’m not sure if I’ve really pulled a muscle or ligament etc, but I just thought after a month it would have recovered? Do I just need to strengthen my abs and core? I don’t know!! Help?! 😂

I’m extremely sorry for such a long message. I haven’t posted in ages and this had been on my mind for a while now! I hope someone can help!

Happy running everyone

Xxx

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

If the usual advice of slowing down and taking full, deep, slow breaths does not work, I am at a bit of a loss to advise, and since you say you now have a permanent pain, it doesn't actually sound as if your issue is actually a stitch.

Which points towards consultation with your GP as being your best route forward.

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate]

Sorry to hear from you regarding your seems to never go away stitch, as your username is studentnurse perhaps you could get a doctor from where you work to have a examination of where the pain is at its worst. By the way are you still a student or have you now qualified as a full time nurse? It's a pity that stitch is stopping you from running.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

I found a couple of chats on running sites by googling “persistent stitch running”. Seems it’s not too uncommon, and often not a stitch as such... GP would be my first move now I think.