That's A Stretch

A few years ago my back was so sore and stiff I would struggle to bend over to tie my shoes, but that would not stop me from playing soccer. I went to my doctor, whose initial suggestion, based solely on my physical condition since he had never seen me play, was that I should stop playing soccer. In July of 2005 I went for a 5 mile run comprised of running 4 laps around the apartments where I was living. As the apartments are situated on the side of a hill, this course, surprisingly, included a significant amount hill running - - both uphill and downhill. After about 1 mile my right hip began to hurt a great deal, but I persisted. This January my third or fourth attempt to recover from that day failed - - in each attempt I rested the hip many days until there was no pain, built up my running speed over a period of several weeks, but would ultimately re-injure the hip. I finally went to the doctor, whose diagnosis (of me) was tendonitis or bursitis in my right hip. He prescribed anti-inflammatories. In both of these situations my doctor also wrote a prescription for physical therapy. In both cases I was treated with ultrasound, electric stimulation, and stretching exercises. In the case of my back, it turned out that my problems resulted from very tight lower back muscles that kept the “SI Joint” from functioning properly, although my "CV Joints" remained unaffected. Stretching exercises would have prevented the problem, and now stretching exercises have prevented a recurrence. I’m in the middle of treatment for my hip, but so far so good. It turns out that the problem, not uncommon among runners (as well as those who run), is that the “IT Band” running from the hip area to the knee gets too tight, rubs against a bursa sac, and the rubbing results in bursitis. Stretching exercises are proving to be key to my recovery. So, all of this could have been averted had I never played soccer and never gone running, or had I stretched properly. Good thing I did neither, or what could I have written about today? NOTE: This entry relates to experiences of February 21, 2006, but was actually entered on March 13 and March 14, 2006,