Injured Teen Runner Benefits from Innovative Physical Therapy, Learns to Listen to His Body

Owen Speed was trying to push through the pain. Though only a freshman runner, his goal was to make the varsity team.  

“I was projected to be the fourth guy on varsity, and I didn’t want to lose that spot,” he said. “So I just kept working toward that.” 

Determined not to fail, Owen pushed his body to the limits during preseason practices. He made the high school varsity cross country team, but in doing so, he ignored mounting leg pain that had been nagging him for weeks.

Then came the first meet of the season. Afterward, Owen could no longer ignore the pain. He couldn’t hide it from his parents, David and Melissa, either. 

“We noticed he had a hard time getting out of the car after his first race, and that's when he started telling us about his hip and his knee,” said David. 

Blood Flow Restriction Training at Cincinnati Children’s

When first-attempt treatment options—including icing and stretching—failed to correct the issue, a family friend and local pediatrician recommended that Owen see Jeffery Taylor-Haas, PT, DPT, at Cincinnati Children’s. 

A specialist in running gait analysis, Taylor-Haas is a doctor of physical therapy who oversees the Runner’s Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s. The clinic focuses on the evaluation and treatment of young runners. Taylor-Haas met Owen, diagnosed him with a hip flexor strain impacting his growth plate and began seeing him regularly.  

Twice a week for 10 weeks during the fall of 2022, Owen worked with Taylor-Haas on a specialized treatment plan. Icing and stretching were complemented with an innovative physical therapy (PT) called blood flow restriction (BFR) training. 

“BFR uses an FDA-approved device to measure and safely occlude 80% of the blood flow in the injured leg while the patient performs low resistance strength training exercises,” said Taylor-Haas. “This unique physical therapy technique allows us to work out his injured leg to a high degree while placing low strains through the injury site.”

BFR was combined with an individualized home exercise program to meet Owen’s unique needs. He felt improvement almost immediately and started seeing positive results by the second week of training. 

“The improvement kept getting better and better,” said David. 

Looking back, Owen admits the idea of deliberately restricting his blood flow as a training technique initially sounded a bit scary, but the progress he made was undeniable.  

“I was a little nervous at first, but it was great. It was kind of tough. The exercises were difficult, but it helped.” said Owen. “Jeff is someone I can trust.” 

Owen Returns to Running, Learns to Listen to His Body

After missing several meets, Owen was excited to return to the Moeller High School team—even at a reduced pace—while he built back his tolerance to exertion. 

Using 3D running gait analysis technology, Taylor-Haas determined that Owen had overall good running form. However, he did have a tendency to over stride and over pronate a bit, running with most of his weight on the inside of his feet. 

“The advice was more ‘just don’t push yourself, you're your own worst enemy’ type conversation, type of motivation,” said David, recalling conversations between his son and Taylor-Hass. 

Most importantly, Owen now is training differently and thinking differently in hopes of avoiding any major injuries in the future. 

“I think learning how to listen to my body was probably the most important piece of advice I gathered,” said Owen. “And also that my coaches, my family, my friends, even the Cincinnati Children's team, they're gonna always have my back.” 

He also realized the importance of talking about potential injuries with his family and coaches whenever he feels something might be wrong and to never feel ashamed about speaking up.   

“I know I don't necessarily have to be quiet or not talk about these things, because it's more important to be healthy and stay healthy, rather than not talking about being injured,” he said. 

Owen now incorporates the exercises he learned at Cincinnati Children’s into his regular training regimen. 

“It really alleviates some of the soreness I have, and I've found it to be a great tool and a great success. I believe it's preventing me from going back down that route I had in cross country,” Owen said about the exercises he learned. 

During the spring track season, Owen showed how far he’s come by achieving personal records in both the 1-mile run (4 minutes, 52 seconds) and 2-mile run (10 minutes, 30 seconds). His training will continue through the summer as he prepares for next year’s season. 

“I'm happy with where I am in track season in relation to where I was in cross country season and how much improvement I made,” he said. “From not running at all, to running a 2-mile and being a ranked freshman in the state. I'm really amazed at how I was able to bounce back.”

(Published May 2023)