Sorry for such a late post today but if you have read the blog earlier this week you may have remembered that today I had my appointment with the Orthopedist. Instead of just telling you what happened there today, I thought I would give a run down of what all I've been through while dealing with this IT Band and hip pain. It seems like I've been reading that quite a few other runners are starting to have the same pain/symptom as I had.
I am not dispensing medical advice, I am simply just sharing what I have done, what worked and what didn't. It has been a long road ( and a painful one)
In January: I started to have my pain It was on the side of my knee and it was an awful pinching feeling. It was actually both knees.
Some things that I had been doing that may or may not have contributed to the pain:
*I got a new pair of Drop zero shoes back in October. Although I was wearing them gradually, I was starting to wear them more regularly.
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I was running on the treadmill more often.
* I may have been increasing my mileage too quickly ( Doing 4 miles one day and the 10 miles the next) I assumed that since I had already been able to run 13.1 miles that I would be okay running any distance at anytime. Not the case.
*I was getting lazy and instead of driving to my favorite trails, I would run along the road/highway near my house. The unevenness of the road is not a good thing.
I have posted about my pain several times and many bloggers gave some great advice. I followed the advice of one blogger who told me to seek a Chiropractor that does ART ( Active Release Therapy), so I did. After my first visit, he said that he would not perform ART on me because it would hurt way too bad ( I knew that it was painful and was prepared for that, but it was a no go). He sent me home with a
list of stretches to do in hopes that we could fix the problem that way. I had gone back a few times before The Disney Princess half in hopes that I could get some relief.
February: I ran the Royal Family 5K, the enchanted 10k, and the Princess Half Marathon. After each race I promptly came back to the resort and iced my legs. I got through the half marathon by jogging, walking and then sprinting. The faster I ran, the less the pain was. But I could not keep up that pace for all 13.1 miles.
March: After the races, my IT band pain was even worse and the pain had now traveled to my hips and it was bad. The pain was worse at night and in a book I had read it said that was normal. As your body gets tires, the pain will feel worse. Even though the IT band exercises and stretches were not painful for me to do ( they actually felt good), I couldn't do some of the other stretches that involved hip movement. I told the Chriro that too. After several weeks of Chiro with no results, I started going to Physical Therapy.
My legs were SO weak when I first started PT.
I went over the list of the things that I did differently and my PT told me that if a runner is a strong enough runner, then they can wear any shoe and to not blame my injury on the shoes ( not sure if I agree with that yet). He told me that I was weak and that's why I was injured. He was tough on me, but that is what I needed. I wanted to get through this because I was registered to run the Big Sur Marathon at the End of April.
We all know how that turned out!
April: I'm Still going to PT and doing the
stretches and strengthening exercises at home. My legs are getting stronger but I am still having some pain. Most of the pain again was when I was doing the exercises or stretches that involved hip movement. I told my PT this too.
I was able to do the
April Fools 11K. I wanted to bump myself down to the 7K, but since they wouldn't let me, I sucked it up and did the 11K. I'm glad I did it. It was painful, but I finished and was actually pretty happy with my time!
May: Both my chiropractor and PT told me that they could no longer help me and that I needed to seek another medical professional for possible x-rays. I went to my family dr. and right away he could tell that I had an inflamed bursa and that is why I was still having hip pain. He gave me a shot of cortisone in the left hip and it has been fine ever since. When I called back to say that I was still having pain in the right side and in my lower back, he decided that I should go to Ortho.
June: I started running again regularly and although I am having very little IT pain/knee pain when I run, I am in much pain when I am seated or standing in one place. I couldn't believe that I made an appointment for ortho back in May and I had to wait till July. How would I get though
July: So this brings me to today. I had my ortho appointment. I had the x-rays done and everything came back normal. After being examined by the doctor and me telling hip where most of the pain was, we also said that he thought it was an inflamed bursa. So guess what he did? He gave me a cortisone shot in the right hip this time.
So I was going on 6 months of pain when I probably could have just got a cortisone shot to begin with. I went 6 weeks at Chiro saying that I had a problem with my hip, and nothing. I did 6 weeks of PT and also said I knew there was something wrong with my hip and nothing was done there as well.
I am hoping that all of this pain is behind me now.
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Here are a few tips for those of you who may be suffering with IT Band pain now.
*Stretch and strengthen as much as you can. I had a set of stretches and a strength exercise I was doing after every run last summer and fall and I can't believe that my body had lost that much strength over the winter to cause that injury but apparently it had.
Here are a few great stretches.
*Because I was running while injured, I aggravate my hips as well. If you feel you are in pain. Stop running.
*Don't be afraid to get the cortisone shot. I had heard various opinions on cortisone shots like they only provide temporary relieve and once you get it you will have to keep getting the, etc, etc. The reality of it is ( from my doctor) is that the shot can actually help in the healing process. It helps the swelling to start going down. it may work and you may never have to get the shot again.
* They numb the area they will shoot the cortisone in. It's not that painful. But after you get it, make sure that you keep moving around and that you are active. This will allow the medicine to circulate better.
* Its not just runners that suffer from IT band injuries. Cyclers get them often too. So don't think you will avoid it by cycling instead of running. Make sure you do your stretches after your bike rides too.
Again, this is just my story of how I've dealt with my IT band / Hip pain over the last 6 months. maybe some of these ideas will work for you but you should certainly see a medical professional first.
Now that I have all this taken care of, I am going to schedule my much needed massage!
Thank you for everyone that offered suggestions and advice to me during that past several months.
(If you read through this whole long post, thank you) -M
