I iced the next day, foam rolled and used a lacrosse ball to roll it out. It hurt for a few days, but honestly, most of me hurts a lot of the time. It was just another one of my aches and pains that came and went.Last week it became apparent that this pain was not going, though. I did a run focusing on quarter-mile repeats with two-minutes of rest in between. At the end, I was happy, but my leg was achy. At the Cubs game later that night, my knee really bothered me and my heel was numb.
So it was time to get serious about getting this fixed. I only get one body, and it's going to be a long road to Ironman Wisconsin. So now would be the best time to address any weaknesses in my body or training.
I started with a sports medicine doctor who assessed my leg and said my problem wasn't my knee, it was my hamstring. It turns out I wasn't just sore earlier this summer. I had a series of small tears in the muscle that resulted in scar tissue, which is causing my issues.The good news is I can continue to workout to my comfort level.
The bad news is that I need physical therapy three times a week for the next month, at least.
I went to my first appointment today, which was brutally painful. It started with another assessment, then time with a heating pad, a bit of ultrasound therapy and some uncomfortable breaking up of the scar tissue using the Graston technique. If you are considering physical therapy, don't click that link, it's just frightening. I ended with an ice pack and a treatment plan.
Here's hoping I'm back to 110 percent in four weeks and ready to train for the next thing.
6 comments:
Oh no! Sorry to hear about your hamstrings! Hopefully they get better soon.
Oh, the dreaded Graston! I had it done to my ITB and it left a bruise! I think it helped though, but I'm not sure if I'd get it done again.
I am really worried that you say most of you hurts a lot of the time. Is the PT supposed to help that overall, as well? That doesn't seem right.
That's the plan. I was really surprised that I could have experienced tears without noticing it. The PT said it's not all that uncommon when you're achy to not notice that something is worse than the rest.
Yikes, that doesn't look enjoyable. My husband has tried dry needling on his hamstring and said it was a life changer and helped heal quickly. But it is even more gruesome! Don't google it unless you are desperate. Hope you feel better!
Hopefully a few PT sessions you can continue the treatment at home instead of going in. I found when I saw a PT I only saw her twice and stopped going because it was stuff I could do at home myself.
Great that you can still do things at your comfort!
http://images.wikia.com/glee/images/5/5c/2242102-gamer-gifs-i-know-that-feel-bro.gif
Sounds like you have a bit more of a strain on the hammy than I had...the
Exercise to your comfort level is the worst thing they can say.
When don't stop when it is uncomfortable, we stop when it HURTS. It feels like the pressure is higher to perform and not heal. Training vs healing time is tricky. I've done two months of PT and still not where I was before hand...close, but not fully me.
Good luck and be smarter than me :)
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