Today for the first time, ever, I was told that I needed to keep working a sore area to improve a niggle that I have been having. None of the rest and ice advice here. Nope, keep doing a bit of work and put up with the pain (within reason). And this advice even came from a well respected sports health professional, not just some guy on an interweb forum. Buhhh...
So probably worth taking a step back here for a minute for some context.
A couple of weeks ago I started jogging again. Trying to cram in some fitness before my surgery. Once I started running I really struggled to keep the intensity down and quite predictably I ended up with a sore spot at the top of my left shin, just below my knee.
Now, since having some stress fractures many years ago I have been hypersenstive around shin soreness so I was on instant alert. Icing, stretching, you name it I was doing it. However, I didn't immediately head to a physio because I was fairly sure they would tell me to do what I was doing. I also knew that I had a week of post surgery rest coming up and so my approach was to nurse myself until that break and then that should sort it.
And it kind of worked. With a regime of resting a bit, using the Alter-G treadmill etc I felt like I was on top of the niggle. I hadn't gone away, but it hadn't got worse either. Cue surgery time and some time off for the niggle to promptly go away.
Except it kind of didn't. In fact, if anything it has got worse since I have been resting it. Ummmm.
Physio time.
So here is the old bit. The bit where I remind myself to just got to a good physio early on next time and save myself the stuffing around and the wondering. After seeing the legendary Marc See at The Front Runners (Google Marc to see his recent sub 4 minute mile effort early this year) he diagnosed the pain as being 'Insertional Patella Tendinopathy'. Not the usual shin splints I was expecting. Apparently this sort of soreness is not unusual during a return to training. After a prolonged break, your strength isn't what it was, so your form may have slipped a bit and this sort of irritation can set in, typically due to overloading and overstriding. All very interesting and kind of reassuring to have an answer.
Now for the strange bit. Apparently this sort of niggle needs to be worked to come good. Recent studies have shown that it is actually the best way to treat it. The niggle tends to get a bit worse with rest, which explains why it feels worse than it did a week ago. Now I should clarify that when I say work, I am not talking mega runs or lifting heavy weights. It is mild strength work staying within a very specific range of pain (low to medium levels). This sort of mild work actually tends to make it feel better and over a longer term should sort it out. Another positive is that it means that I don't have to stop running, or rather delay my start. As I mentioned yesterday I got my first training program yesterday and on it are several easy runs. Turns out that easy runs like that are perfect rehab.
Another up side is that if I so choose I get to wear fancy strapping like this:
Just goes to show why a good physio can be so important.
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