Son ALWAYS gets bad sideaches that are ruining his motivation to run

Does your son sleep on his side? I can sleep on my right side just fine but if I sleep on my left side at all I get debilitating side stitches when I run. I actually can't run at all because the pain is so bad. It stems from putting a strain on the psoas. If he is a side sleeper, tell him to put a pillow between his knees and see if that helps. You can also take him to an ART practitioner to see if he has adhesions in the psoas that need to be broken out.

I don't know if anyone suggested that he might be dehydrated causing cramps or side stiches.. drink plenty of water.

I've done some running with my daughter who is right around your son's age. She also gets sideaches fairly often. I think it's just muscle fatigue from being new to running.

If your son is running with you, let him set the pace. You run with him, rather than him trying to keep up with you. Kids that age are probably not growing real fast yet, so they improve slower than teenagers do. If he gets a sideache, stop and walk for a bit. Talk about school and TV or whatever it is he likes to talk about. When he's recovered, run some more. He'll be motivated to keep running if running is enjoyable rather than painful, and as he runs more, he'll gradually improve and be able to run longer without getting a sideache. Also be sure to figure out where the nearest drinking fountains are for whenever he needs a water break. Having him excited to run again tomorrow or next week is 1000 times more important than how fast he's going or how far he can go without stopping.

Honestly, it sounds like he's just a p**sy. Maybe look in to hip hop dance classes or something instead of running.

How much running does he do? This sort of thing is quite common in new runners - but often after some months of regular mileage the body adapts and it goes away.

drunk runner. wrote:

its definitely a gas issue wrote:

remove his sides. the aches will quickly disappear.

A "side-ectomy"???

If he has two side-ectomy's (left side and right side), will there still be a middle, or will he fall into to two pieces-lower body and upper body?

Please advise.

Stop eating dairy wrote:

I used to get sideaches and was eating a yogurt every day.

I stopped eating the yogurt, and the side aches went away.

because it's gas. A sidestitch is not a cramp. The idea that it's a diaphragm issue is widely believed but there's not a shred of credible evidence to support it.

People seem to think this because they stop inhaling fully. Setting aside that a cramped diaphragm ought to instead make it difficult to exhale, breathing is altered only because of the pain. You CAN breathe normally, but you don't because it hurts. That's no cramp.

The spots where side stitches occur are invariably near the top of the ascending or descending colon under the lower ribs. Ordinarily - sitting on the couch, driving a car, even swimming - intestinal gas remains relatively diffuse, rarely noticeable and usually farted away before it can cause painful bloating. But running, like shaking a can of soda, agitates the gas forcing it to rise. Because you're upright the entire time, it's difficult to fart it faster than it builds up, particularly if there's shit in its way. Eventually it can cause localized bloating at the highest (left) or second highest (right) parts of the gut. Severe bloating leads to sharp pains in surrounding tissue.

For this same reason, your gut can often decide to empty itself in a hurry to prevent this from happening, sending you to the toilet or the woods for an explosive shit.

This is something cavemen understood, but in this age of misinformation the knowledge is rare. I explain it only about once a year due to the amount of flak I get for it.

Your son sounds like, well, a total wimp.

Let's face it, any kid who is bailing out of runs every time with "side pain" doesn't have a future in distance running.

Maybe he has good speed?

It could be a mental thing. The head's gonna have to go too.....

drunk runner. wrote:

its definitely a gas issue wrote:

remove his sides. the aches will quickly disappear.

A "side-ectomy"???

His T is too low. Increase it.

You can effectively increase his pump at the same time and that will eliminat3e the gas issues as well.

titty boi wrote:

Honestly, it sounds like he's just a p**sy. Maybe look in to hip hop dance classes or something instead of running.

I agree with what guy above me said about how it is commonly associated with dehydration, etc.. The problem is that CO2 is heavier in molecular weight than O2, N, etc. The side stitch comes when the body is taxed, requiring more and more air, the lungs take it in, but you have a proportional increase of CO2 as well. That sits in the bottom of the lung, where you get the "pain". Easiest way to get rid of it: breath out more than you breath in. Also, forcible exhaling, with gentle intake breaths will help as well (think 6 hard out, 5 slow in). Sometimes reaching your arms up over your head and leaning to stretch the offending side can help relax that area, and let the lung expand a bit more, which can expedite the process of getting rid of the stitch.