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How to Relieve a Side-stitch

February 19, 2008 4:05 pm 2 comments

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A gentle reader of the L.A. Times asks the paper’s fitness-answer-man what to do about a side-stitch. Sometimes, the reader says, the stitch that comes on when he runs goes away of its own volition. Other times, he’s not so lucky.
Answer-man Jay Blahnik has some bad news and some good news. The bad news is that no one really knows what causes a side-stitch, so no one really knows how to make the pain go away. The good news is that there are a half-dozen things that sometimes work. Over to you:
* Take a deep breath and then slowly exhale through pursed lips.
* Contract the abdominals while flexing the body toward the area of pain.
* Mix up your breathing pattern and stride pattern.
* Slow down and reduce your exercise intensity until the pain subsides.
* Jog in place and take a few moments to bend, twist and stretch the torso.
* You can also try extending your warmup period and taking more time to
work up to your steady walking or running speed. This can be especially
important in colder weather, when side-stitches may occur more
frequently.
* Finally, Blahnik suggests that when you drink water before, during and after exercise, you try sipping your water rather than taking big gulps at less
frequent intervals.
Read more from Jay Blahnik in the L.A. Times.

2 Comments

  • Rich Dellaaporta
    February 23, 2008
    8:59 am

    If you take into account that your liver is suspended by ligaments on the right side of your body with the tip just below your rib cage.If this is the site of your pain you may be putting strain on your ligaments. Slowing down or stopping to rest may be your best option. Liver Transplant Patient

    Reply
  • Robert
    February 25, 2008
    2:34 pm

    Hi there Geezer,
    It’s funny, timing is everything. I was just watching Raphael Calzadilla on an eDiets video podcast where he discussed side stitches. If I recall, it was towards the end of the video. I believe he said the cause of side stitches was a bit of trapped gas under your diaphragm. When you start running and your diaphragm starts to work, the up and down movement compresses the gas enough that it sometimes causes pain. He said the best thing to do was preventative. Take some deep breaths before running to help reduce any gas and start jogging very slowly at first to give your body the opportunity to move the gas around. Here’s a link to the video for the real story: http://healthnews.ediets.com/podcast/episode_03.wmv
    I am by no means a runner, this is just a repeat of what I saw, hope it helps.
    Robert

    Reply

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