Monday, July 13, 2009

Back to the drawing board

Sorry, dear readers, I have been off the grid for some time. This is due to a combination of things: (1) injured, so not running still, (2) stress at work, (3) two weeks vacation in the gloriously unpopulated woods of northern Wisconsin.

My summer of 2009 has been without running so far, which is horribly depressing. Just before I departed for my vacation, I saw a recommended "Physiatrist", who diagnosed my problem as piriformis syndrome. That label scares the heck out of me, because my best friend had his running career essentially ended because of piriformis problems. Not good. Now that I'm back at home, I'll go to a follow-up appointment this week and undergo whatever aggressive treatments they recommend (I assume this will include an injection of cortisone/lidocaine to the muscle itself, followed by physical therapy). If all goes well, I might be back to running in 2-4 weeks. If all does not go well ... who knows?

It sucks not to be running, I'm sure you'll all agree. What's ironic is that when I'm running well, I take it for granted and/or even sometimes feel a bit resentful about getting out there everyday ... but now that I can't run, I would do anything to be able to jog even a few steps without intense, shooting pain in my left hip and hamstring. My 2009 running goals are all out the window at this point. All I want to do is be able to jog again.

Hope that your running is going much better than mine!

1 comment:

  1. Douglas, I feel your pain...trust me! No runner enjoys being sidelined, especially when it seems most injuries are either misdiagnosed or generalized to the point that 'time heals all things', and we essentially end up waiting it out. Still looking for that magic man (or women) that can connect the dots of an injury to find the true root cause, saving us all months of trial and error and more importantly, repeating our mistakes in the first place.
    Although I'm not convinced how effective they are with running type injuries, I'd still seek out a chiropractor. It won't be a quick fix but I think there's some validity to keeping the body properly aligned. My experience has been they at least look past the injury and attempt to look at the bigger picture (and hopefully the root cause).
    Hang in there buddy.

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