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Monday, May 16, 2011

The post you never want to write.

I mentioned my hip pain in this post.  It never completely went away, but was tolerable.  It was killing me last weekend, so I foam rolled the day before my long run.  I thought the foam rolling would solve my issues.  Alas, after the long run, even with icing and foam rolling and stretching and even more stretching...my hip hurt.  Bad.  I started to feel twinges in my left buttcheek.  Shiiiiiiiiit.

foam rollah like a champ

I ran my tempo run on Wednesday on the treadmill, then stretched.  Thursday & Friday?  Sore.  Headed out Saturday AM for my long run.  I could barely move my left leg.  I felt like I was running into a stone wall - averaging barely 12 minute miles for the first mile, wincing with every step.  I stopped and turned around.  I was done.  This HURT, it wasn't normal, and it wasn't warming up.

Luckily, I had a deep-tissue massage scheduled for Saturday afternoon.  I limped in & turned myself over to Eric-the-Great (ETG).  He has almost 10 years of sports massage behind him, knows I'm a runner & a bowler, and that I hold all of my stress in my shoulders.

He started poking around right away, and shoved his thumbs into the muscle on either side of the base of my spine.  The right side? Squishy, malleable.  The left?  Hard as a ROCK.  Couldn't get his thumb into it at all.  It only got worse the closer he got to my hip.  All of the muscles were locked up from my lower back, across the hip, down into my butt, and into the front of the hip.  OUCH.  The next 30 mins were some of the more painful I've experienced recently, but it was a good hurt.  As soon as we got over the very INTENSE pain, there was instant relief.

similar to where I hurt

Today, 48 hours later, I'm feeling *much* more human.  I can sit normally, and walking only causes a bit of pain.  Based on some of his feedback, and feedback from another friend, it sounds like I have an issue with a nerve above the hip, where the ligament is too tight & compressing the nerve.

I'm calling a local sports doc tomorrow, but am scared.  This week at work is nuts, and I'll be in NYC the week after.  Walking around a conference floor for 3 days.  And spending 6+ hours on a flight, each way.   I'm worried about making it through...and not even sure how I'm going to run.

Sigh.

5 comments:

  1. Hang in there. I know it sucks, but try to think good thoughts. It may not be as bad as it seems -- it may just need some time to relax. :)

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  2. I know it really, really hurts, but if it is what I had, it gets better! Try youtubing foam rolling the piriformis. That helped me a bit, along with KT tape (look at the video for gluteal pain). I hope the doctor has good news!

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  3. I had piriformis syndrome recently, and I went to PT at Ballard Swedish. I had a great experience, and I think they were able to correct quite a few problems with my form. Good luck!

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  4. Oh my gosh CHelsea! When I ran the Lake Samm Half with Megan (Daily Sweat), she had to slow down due to hip pain. She blogged about it and an anonymous commenter left her a link to some hip exercises. She said after doing them ONCE she felt better! I will find the link and post it for you...

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  5. Ok, check this out:

    http://www.dailysweatblog.com/2011/03/anonymous-link.html

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