So today I went back to the physical therapist. I thought I was going for my IT band. It has continued to haunt me since the Corvallis half. What I learned today though was that it is a symptom and not actually the problem. The problem originates in my right hip. Which is so funny because I have complained about feeling crooked for about 3 years. Turns out, I move incorrectly using the majority of my muscles in my lower right back and hip to stabilize myself. This causes my right hip to be way tight and raised and my pelvis to tilt forward. Nice. That causes my left leg to have to compensate in such a way that puts a ton of pressure on my knee and IT. Nice. Now I know. I thought that my left leg wasn't working correctly but actually my left leg is more engaged than my right. Freaky!
Of course I knew there was a bigger problem a long time ago. I just wish someone would have listened to me when I have gone through several courses of PT for everything else. If they just would have looked a little higher up the leg they could have saved me months.
Now I must decide if I want to rehab it once and for all (hopefully) and take a break from running yet again so that I can concentrate on the process. My new PT says I can still run if I want, but it will take longer to get where we want to. If ultimately the goal is to get to run pain free, with proper form, then I guess I should just hang up the shoes for a bit.
I'm scheduled to take a Chi Running seminar over the next two weekends. Maybe between that and the back to basics PT I'll have a chance for some pain free summer runs. Who knows. At this stage I'm just thankful to find out I"m not crazy.
It's the little things you know.
No comments:
Post a Comment