Sunday, April 06, 2008

Making Progress?

I saw the chiropracter on Friday, and it was a wonderful experience. The woman I saw had a completely different diagnosis than any other person I've seen, and made more sense than anything else.

She thinks that everything stems from a bad ankle sprain I got 3 years ago, before I even started seriously running. From that, I have a weak ankle, which meant that as I stepped up my training, I tended to roll my ankle out, which put strain on my calf. That strain turned into calf pain. From that, I ended up with a chronic tightening of these little ligaments that run down the side of the leg. And when the quad muscle swells up with blood when I'm running, it puts lots of pressure on those tightened ligaments, which causes the burning soreness. Because of all that, I started favoring my left leg, which caused my pelvis to tilt and my spine to become unaligned at the bottom.

So, she is optimistic that with adjustments of the spine and pelvis and some specific stretching, I should get better :) She also said that we'll know if this is working in about 3 weeks. But, this diagnosis actually makes sense for where I hurt (my previous diagnosis, sciatica, is supposed to be down the back of the leg, which isn't what hurts for me). Also, it explains why the steroids didn't have any effect.

So far, I do think it feels a little better, and I'm feeling hopeful :D

15 comments:

RSD_Terry said...

Addy,

This is great news. It's amazing how everything in your body is so connected, isn't it? I swear by chiropractic for keeping me running. I'm sure you're well on the road to recovery now.

Phil said...

This makes a lot more sense Addy ... best of luck with the new treatment. I'm always very suspicious of steroids. They can mask the real problem.

Hope you recovery soon.

Bob - BlogMYruns.com said...

Awesome News Addy, sounds like this is someone you can work with to help get you back on the trails.

Best Wishes!!

Sarah said...

Great news! I hope this really is the answer (it sure sounds like it). And the really great thing is you'll likely come through this better than before.

Andy B. said...

That is good news, Addy. Chiropractors can work wonders, and I have been a big fan of their work for years. I'm actually looking for a good chiropractor in the Santa Cruz area - would you be willing to share the name of yours?

I hope you feel better and can get back to running regularly soon.

Backofpack said...

Makes good sense! I hope you find yourself out on the run soon.

runningtwig said...

I'm glad you are finally getting some answer! Hopefully you'll be back in no time...and we can read some of your awesome race reports!

Catherine said...

Addy, I'm so happy for you. I know how frustrated you've been lately.

I've "tagged" you for a little game if you want to play. Check out my blog for info.

Hopefully you'll be back on the trails soon.

Mark Tanaka (Ultrailnakaman) said...

Unofficially as a physician who understands allopathic medicine's limitations especially with these sort of problems, and a runner who's dealt with enough mechanical issues myself, yes, this makes sense, so I hope this works (and you can make AR next year!) Regardless, take it easy / don't push anything too fast.

Rick Gaston said...

Good news. I hope that's the answer you've been waiting for. Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Soapin' Cindy said...

Finally...something that makes sense!!

Jean said...

Addy, good luck, and I hope this will get you back on track with your running. That does sound like some good news!

Best wishes to you in your continued recovery! :)

Journey to a Centum said...

The head bones connected to the neck bone the neck bones connected to the backbone the....

It's amazing when all the puzzle pieces come together to form a clear picture!

My only other concern would be PT for the ankle to make it stronger or some sort of kineso tape routine to help support the ankle as you start running again.

Ryan said...

It’s been to long….catchin up with u….sorry to hear about the downtime but looks like ur still having lots of fun out there. That’s visit is a step in the right direction…heal well.

Josh said...

Wow! Amazing how one thing can have such a chain reaction! The wonders of the human body! That all seems to make since. I hope that's the problem and you're on the fast track to a summer full of running!! :)