Inconsistencies and a Plan For Progress

Wow, my injury diagnoses and leg pain are about as inconsistent as the Alaska weather. I woke up to a beautiful day with fresh snow on the mountains! It’s June in case anybody hasn’t noticed! Beautiful none the less.

Then, I drove into Anchorage to work on my house. The weather was really nice, sunny, and warm.  But in no time, that all changed drastically.  I heard thunder (which we do not get a lot of in Alaska) and then it started hailing!

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Crazy! And this is kind of how I have been feeling about recent diagnoses: First I was diagnosed with ITB syndrome and given exercises to strengthen the hips and feet. Then I was diagnosed with hamstring tendonitis and given exercises and stretches to improve that.

Another inconsistency was the pain I was experiencing. Most usually it was on the side of the knee, but sometimes it was above the knee, sometimes below the knee, sometimes in my foot and at times I felt like I had shin splints. At other times my whole leg just ached or it would just give out or lock up when I tried to go from sitting to walking.

And through all of the diagnoses and treatments (read all about them here and here), I was not getting any better as you all know. Believe me, I am about as tired of saying it as you are of hearing it!!! I have not run since March…I am like a crazy person ha ha

I just stopped all treatment and exercises for a few days. I just wanted to try to find someone that treated mostly runners. Just so happens, I like to listen to running podcasts and came across this podcast by the Ak Athlete who was interviewing a local physical therapist.  Zuzana Rogers works at Advanced Physical Therapy in Anchorage. Her credentials and the fact that she works with olympic athletes – oh yeah!- was a bit intimidating.  But after listening to the podcast, I knew that she was the person I needed to see. She is interested in sports injury prevention and so am I!! We have something in common! Meeting her confirmed that she was the right person for me.  By the end of my appointment, I just wanted to give her a great big hug and never let her go 🙂 I am not a huggy, touchy, feely person. I maintained my composure.  Check out this podcast, though ,and read her bio, she makes so much sense!

Zuzana did a complete and thorough evaluation. First, (after taking my injury and medical history), she actually put me on the treadmill to watch how I walk and run on different inclines and speeds. When I felt pain, she wanted to know exactly where the pain was and what I was feeling. During my very short run on the treadmill, she observed that I was not straightening my knee very well. I had to admit that it wasn’t due to actual pain that I was experiencing at that moment.  I was simply afraid to straighten my leg because I was worried that it would be very painful. She also noted that I don’t swing my right leg back as I run.  She then did a series of test/manipulations (not sure what they call it in PT terms) to try and figure out the actual source of the pain. She tested those areas in question/recreate the pain in isolation in a sense and those test  proved to be negative for any major injury. But pressure on certain areas of my knee was painful. She also compared one leg to the other and tested leg lengths & etc…

And…

Remember this photo of the strange wear pattern on my running shoes: She explained and demonstrated how this was happening based on her evaluation. I almost got a bit emotional about this because I was thinking – Wow she gets it – she understands how the body works!

So the burning question, where is the pain coming from?

Bursitis of the knee!

Now, I don’t know much about bursitis, but for some reason I felt relieved to get this news. I do realize that this can be pretty debilitating as well. I really think I am just more relieved because a very thorough exam was done before giving this diagnosis. I trust that! Zuzana actually wants me on the treadmill with a steep incline and either walking or running. Interesting! Remember in my last post , I mentioned when walking uphill at the Nature Center, my pain went away.

To sum it up – according to Zuzana’s evaluation, contributing factors causing my pain:

1. Right leg is slightly shorter and right foot supinates
2. Right hip is limited in extension
3. Right ITB is tight
4. Glutes on right are not working properly

To start the healing process:

1. Get 1/4″ or 1/8″ sole lift
2. Ice on lateral knee, daily, every other hour x 10 minutes
3. Hip extension exercises (demonstrated and return demonstration completed)
4. Running /walking on steep treadmill
5. Continue with current exercises except for Warrior hip twist and lateral banded side steps

I will see her again in about three weeks. Once this bursitis calms down, the goal is to begin strength training which will help with form and decrease the overloading of certain muscle groups. I am a heavy foot striker (sound like a herd of cattle on a treadmill) and she says we can fix that. Awesome! And eventually get back to running with a specific plan. A progressive plan of attack. I love that!

So icing and stretching – no problem. I know somewhere at some point in my blog, I have written about how much I hate the treadmill. But today I am glad that I didn’t cancel my membership which I was planning to do because I never go to the gym.  I was actually excited at even just the thought of being able to  attempt walking on the treadmill. That’s progress in my book.

Just being on the treadmill and moving made me feel so much better. I only walked and did a total of 30 minutes, gradually increasing to an incline of 12, maintained a speed of 3.5  and at about 21 minutes started decreasing the incline. My leg felt okay the entire time. It was not completely without pain, but it wasn’t the kind of pain that made me think I needed to stop. It was just some discomfort that I believe was more related to having not done anything since March. Ice and Ibuprofen afterwards. I do realize that my injury isn’t going to heal overnight.

I am hoping that in the next few weeks, I will start improving and I will be back to running soon. Remember, I “accidentally” signed up for that marathon in February. And here I am in phase I – getting back to running. Being on that treadmill today was my first step….okay, well finding the right person to treat me was probably really the first step.  Stay tuned for progress reports 🙂

I can’t leave without a couple of photos of my new grand baby of course. I have not been by to see her this week because my daughter and her family have company….Grandma Linda…and my schedule has not exactly coincided with theirs. I am sorry that I am going to miss seeing her this visit but hope to see her next time.

So very beautiful, love them!!!