I wish I had an update.....concerning running anyways. I do not unfortunately.
I started the month with a sub-par run at the Great Bay Half followed by an injury below my right knee. I then followed that up with another sub-par run at the Merrimack Trail race and you guessed it, followed that up with another injury. This time I hurt something between my outside right hip and my butt.
I've been running long enough to know most injuries are not always what they appear to be. So what do these seemingly unrelated injuries have in common. Well, they happen to be opposite ends of my VERY tight hamstring. In fact, I suspect my problems started months ago during the Boston Prep 16 miler when my back spasmed on the same side. My guess is I compensated or made slight changes to my gait each time something happened (back, shin, hip, etc..). In addition I put a LOT of miles on running flats (Boston Prep 16 miler, Jones 10 miler, New Bedford Half, Eastern States 20 miler and finally the Great Bay Half).
Slowly but surely I've managed to get myself all out of alignment and in the process managed to give myself quite a bit of pain and discomfort. I've seen 2 doctors and a chiropractor so far this week. One doctor thought it was related to my hip flexors. I didn't agree so I got a second opinion from a sports medicine doctor (who I liked a lot). She was very thorough and diagnosed something called Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction and explained how all of my problems were probably related. In fact my SI joint may have been the original problem with my injuries cascading from there.
So I rest again. In a strange coincidence, I also managed to get vertigo this week, so even if I was healthy I probably couldn't run anyways. I'm not really sure if you get vertigo, but I do know I have vertigo (5 days and counting). My doctor suspects its from some sort of inner ear infection and should go away on its own. In the meantime I am nauseous most of the time and dizzy every time I move my head too fast (getting up, sitting down, etc..).
The good news is I'm not stressing about being injured. I know I'll be running again soon enough so I guess the timing was pretty good. No races planned until early May.
7 comments:
There's always May right? take care
Steve,
Now you are entering my world. I just hope it is a brief stay there for you! I have been trying to work out this stuff for years. I have been reading some interesting stuff lately on SI joint malalignment as well as well as information on the visual system and balance problems. Let me know if you want some pointers.
Jim
...and you are right, everything is interconnected. I know when I started getting my SI joint properly positioned a few months back my chronically tight hamstrings completely loosened up as well as the pain and tightness in my hips disappeared. I just have to figure out how to keep everything in proper alignment.
Jim
I'm sorry to hear this, Steve. I have chronic problems with my SI joint stemming back to overtraining in high school. It'll flair up (i.e., causes my lower back/butt/hamstring to spasm severely) if I run, walk, sit, or stand too much. No fun. I hope you're able to get everything back in order again soon!
I'll take any advice anyone has to offer at this point. Heck, I'm just surfing the web playing doctor anyways. Sounds like I have some real experts with Jim and Chelsea :-)
My muscle soreness seems to get better each day (although slowly). The sharp pain is actually near my hip, right above the bony part (IT band attachment?). All the other stuff is just incredibly tight.
I'm not one that usually stretches. I realized years ago that I would never be 'flexible' and stretching didn't seem to help me. So most of the stretches I'm doing now via doctors orders I can't even do the same as the picture because I'm so darn inflexible.
My real concern is this vertigo. I'll feel perfectly normal, bend down or stand up and then feel like I just finished a game of 'place your head on a bat and spin around in circles until you puke'.
Take care Steve. You body soundly like it's telling you to rest.
Steve
SI joint subluxation is very common cause of running related injuries but often overlooked or misunderstood by many in the medical community. Back in the 80s, after running 3 marathon in 4 months (yeah, real smart) I developed severe back, hip and hamstring pain, tingling in my foot and throbbing in my big toe. One and a half years later, after seeing 2 different Orthopedic sports medicine docs and 2 different Chiropractors, and getting a different diagnosis and treatment from each of them, I was still in pain, not running and ready to toss in the towel.
I went and talked to a runner at Bill Rogers’ Running Store and he gave me a name of a Chiropractor in Hingham that “all the guys here go to”. He was treating several elite runners at that time and got me back to running in 2-3 months. It took me a while to heal because I received the wrong treatment for so long. I have occasional flair-ups that require an “adjustment”, but I no longer need to go on a regular basis. Without him, I’m sure I would not be running today.
I know Hingham is probably too far for you to travel but if you call his office he may know a Chiropractor in your area that can help you. The Chiropractor needs to practice SOT (Sacro-Occipital Technique), most don’t. It’s the only thing that’s effective for SI joint issues.
The name of my Chiropractor is F. Michael Blair - (781) 749-3365. I’m not sure if he will know anyone near you but it’s worth a shot. Please tell them I referred you. My last name is Scotina.
Good Luck!
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