How to Cure a Side Stitch While Running

A shooting pain in your side can be not only annoying, but frequent side stitches can adversely impact your performance and impede your running progress. Reoccurences are good indicators of other problems, such as overtraining. Listen to what your body is telling you under certain conditions when stitches arise, which allows you to then take care of the side stitches once and for all. If they do strike, you'll have some alternatives to cure it so it doesn't interfere with your run or training program.

Instructions

1. Exhale as the foot on the opposite side of the stitch hits the ground. For example, if the side stitch is right under the rib cage on the right side of your body, exhale when your left foot hits the ground. Yes, this requires a bit of concentration but it works.

2. Monitor and alter your breathing. A common cause of side stitches is too-shallow breathing. That's why side stitches are often experienced most by beginning runners, who haven't developed proper breathing or footstrike patterns. Acknowledge how you are breathing and consciously take deeper breaths. These breaths should come from your belly. This type of breathing will place less stress on your diaphragm, the muscle between the chest and abdominal cavities that is at front and center of this affliction.

3. Ignore it. Eventually it will go away. Try to focus on something else if need be. One trick that works, keep telling yourself: No one has ever died from a side stitch. It can be painful and uncomfortable, but it is not a fatal affliction. Repeat this over and over. A lot of overcoming pain during a run is simply mind over matter. Exercise your mental strength!

4. Walk it off. It's painful as a runner to stop mid-run. But if it's getting excruciating and nothing else seems to work, slow your pace or stop running altogether. You may simply be running too hard. As you walk it off, exercise the proper breathing pattern, taking big, more laborious breaths as opposed to quick, shallow gulps. Once the stitch goes away you can always pick up where you left off.

5. Place pressure on the side that hurts. There are all sorts of variations on this, including physically hitting that side of one's body. You need not resort to self-inflicted violence, but placing pressure where the pain is located can relieve it.

6. Identify the real problem. Track your conditions, symptoms and other characteristics that may impact a run in your training log. Note patterns: Every time you have that pain did you eat a big meal beforehand? When a stitch strikes did you drink very little water beforehand, or did you eat one hour before you exercised? Lots of times eating too much or too soon before a run, as well as drinking too little are major culprits. Another area you might want to look at is strengthening your abs -- stronger abs will be less susceptible to the jostling of the muscles which occurs while running and precipitates a side stitch.