First and foremost, thank you to everyone who sent well wishes for my hip. As I’ve lamented before, I’ve had problems with my hip since high school and every now and again it starts to flare up. Given that I am a huge proponent of preventative care, when something isn’t right, I don’t wait until it gets worse. I look for an answer asap and that’s exactly what I did this time around. So what happened? Here’s an abnormally long explanation…
Earlier this year, the hip pain came back with vengeance and I went to a chiropractor who was recommended by a friend. That chiropractor was beneficial as he took x-rays and we found out that one leg was actually shorter than the other and I was given a shoe insert to help fix this problem. However, my following visits were a bit disappointing. I would literally be in his office for five minutes max and then I’d be sent on my way. Something didn’t seem right.
Time went on and I picked up my usual routine – all running, no strength training or stretching. Bad Page.
After too many hours lugging around a gigantic bag across multiple cities and sitting in numerous planes for countless hours, my hip once again revolted, but this time it was something new. The sharp pain started on the right side of my lower back, wrapped around my hip and shot sharp pains all the way down my leg. Each day it seemed to get worse – I was unable to drive or sit at work without fidgeting to find a comfortable spot.
A professional triathlete that I know (he’s an Ironman after all) recommended a chiropractor who works with professional athletes in the city and was conveniently located right near my office – score! I immediately made an appointment and committed myself to the “hurts so good” pain of ART (Active Release Techniques – basically a really deep a painful massage targeting specific muscles).
His office walls are covered in signed Ironman posters.
This makes me feel better and a sucker for their marketing.
I’ll skip all of the stuff in between and tell you what I found out:
I’m weak and my psoas muscles are pissed.
If you don’t know what the psoas muscles are, don’t worry…neither did I.
As put by About.com, “The psoas major is a large muscle that attaches at the bottom of the thoracic spine and along the lumbar spine, then runs through the pelvic bowl, down over the front of the hip joint, and attaches at the top of the femur (thigh bone). It is the only muscle connecting the spine to the leg…We can’t see it, and most of us can’t flex or release it at will as we might a quad or bicep. It is a deep muscle, involved in complex moves and communications through the core and lower part of the body.”
Apparently, what happened is my excessive forward motion activities (eh hem…running), increased travel and sitting in small spaces, and lack of stretching caused my psoas muscles to shorten up (i.e. tighten), inflate and cause an imbalance in my hip placement and the joints that were taking the load, thus, the pain. The solution? Decrease the inflammation, elongate the psoas muscles through ART and stretching certain muscles, get my pelvis back to where it should be, and time off to let the body calm down.
He also prescribed one more very important item: strengthen lateral movement muscles. As runners, our muscles are used to forward motion activities. This is great news for some muscles, but not so much for the lateral muscles that have important jobs of holding our hips in the right place and preventing injury. Turns out that my lateral muscles are extremely weak and I was given specific exercises to strengthen those to help prevent further hip issues.
Whew…so there you have it. A combination of ART, chiropractic care, strengthening, lots of ibuprofen, and ice. It’s getting better, but I can still feel the pain. The doc said I could only do three more runs this week at an average pace, all no longer than four miles. Thus, I’ll be getting in those four miles tonight along with some pool time — hoping to pick my Las Vegas training back up soon!
Tell me, are you big on preventative care? How’s your lateral strength?
Happy Running!
P.S. PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM NOT A DOCTOR AND AM PROBABLY NOT SAYING THESE THINGS IN OFFICIAL TERMS, LOGIC OR RECOMMENDING ACTUAL TREATMENTS. Just doing my best to reiterate what the doctor told me and share my two cents.
What a great write up of what I dealt with for 8 years. You are so smart to get a handle on all of it NOW! I still deal with this from time to time…when things get ‘pissed’. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery! And hoping to meet a fellow local runner either here or at Vegas 🙂
As the wife of a chiropractor, I am always working on preventative care! 🙂 Making sure your spine is in alignment and protecting your nervous system is one of the most important things you can do to make sure your body is functioning and healing optimally. Glad you are addressing your hip pain issues and best wishes for a speedy recovery!
Okay, I had the exact same problem and did the stretching/ART for two months with minimal improvement. Go back to a yoga class. After 1 Bikram class my leg was 95% and after three it has been 100% ever since.
All this jargon confuses me. (Probably not a good thing.) CONTINUE GETTING BETTER. THANKS.
Very interesting! This is making me wonder if I have a similar problem with my hip. I’ll have to read up on this crazy muscle. Thanks!
Thanks for this information! Could you maybe do a post on the lateral-movement exercises you’re using? I know a lot of us runners would benefit! 🙂
I hope this works out for you!
I love ART. That and massage have really helped me keep any potential problems at bay. Definitely big on preventative care!!!! Never want to be out of running for a long time again… Hope you continue to feel better! Doctors who treat athletes are the best 🙂 Posters make me feel so much better too!
I have long suspected my legs are two different lengths — but until I started running it wasn’t an issue. I wonder if I should get an x-ray to confirm…
In theory, I’m all about preventative care, but almost never put that theoretical preference into practice. I had similar issues last year with SI Joint Dysfunction and my pelvis being all wack. Not cool.
A very similar problem (at least it sounds like) is what landed me in PT for four months earlier this year. The PTs told me that they can’t even begin to count how many recreational runners end up in their office for some version of the same thing, & that probably something on the order of 75% of running injuries are due to weakness of lateral & pelvic stability muscles. Ironically, running itself apparently doesn’t keep strong some of our most important muscles for safe, comfy running!
I’ve heard similar stories like this from other people, over time your muscles will hopefully lengthen back to their regular length! I also heard that sitting for long periods (a la desk jobs) don’t help them, which doesn’t surprise me at all.
The rehab exercises that I was doing for my hips and glutes have been useful, the PT said that I had to build up strength in my hips and glutes to help avoid injury. It is a bummer that running alone isn’t usually enough to keep away the injury gods!
These are the exercises that I did for my PT rehab, most of them relate to either hip or glute strength, so most of them might be what you were prescribed to do. I need to do these more often even though I am now starting to feel better:
Exercises:
-balance on 1 leg, leg abduction with other leg with theraband – 15 reps
-step forward and backwards with band around ankle – 10 reps
-bridge with abduction with band – 10 reps
-bridge with abduction single leg raise – 10 reps
-lunge holds – 10 reps with 10 sec hold
-plank – 45 sec hold
-plank on side – 45 sec hold
-perpendicular stepups – 10 reps
-dead lift – lean over to flex hip – 10 reps
-foam roll marching – 10 reps
Stretches:
calf stretch – 30 sec hold
hamstring stretch – 30 sec hold
groin stretch – 30 sec hold
hip flexor stretch – 30 sec hold
And I also agree with Roadbunner, yoga does help a lot with core and hip strength – if you don’t do it now, maybe try it out and see how you like it. It stretches and strengthens muscles you didn’t know you had!
That is exactly where I had problems in college and also the last two years. I do yoga now and it really seems to help keep my legs happy. But i have been slacking on my cross training, foam rolling and lifting and I know I need to get back into it so that my body stays happy. I am all about preventative care and although I love running, I know that I must do other things because all that forward motion of running makes other parts of my body weak which stinks. Thank goodness for yoga!
I feel your pain! My favorite lateral workout is side steps with a resistance band tied around the ankles. Take the needed time off your doc suggests and keep up your strength and stretching : )
sounds like you are doing all of the right things! and it seems everyone is having good luck with ART these days.
That stinks, but this ART stuff sounds kind of great and scary all at the same time. I have some crazy sciatic nerve pain that hits me and the most inopportune times so I broke down, joined a gym and decided to shell out some $$ to meet with a personal trainer once a week. I need to get stronger and needed some motivation – I figure if i’m paying someone to work out with I’m more inclined to go.
I had the same problem last summer. It was so bad I had to see my chiro regularly for a couple of months, but we got to a point where I just go once a month for maintenance. I’m not sure if you have had ART on your psoas yet; it was rather traumatizing but really helped in the long run. Good luck with it and hope you heal much faster than I did!
Whenever you use the hip (for example, by going for a run), a cushion of cartilage helps prevent friction as the hip bone moves in its socket. Despite its durability, the hip joint isn’t indestructible. With age and use, the cartilage can wear down or become damaged. Muscles and tendons in the hip can get overused. The hip bone itself can be fractured during a fall or other injury. Any of these conditions can lead to hip pain. .*;.
My current web-site
http://healthmedicinebook.comus