Thursday, January 1, 2009

Sleeping in tents....

Just a warning...this post isn't about a run, and I'm guessing it's going to be long. It is, however, related to my running, and the topic we're all sick of at this point...my knee. 

Ever since my knee started hurting, which was in mid-December, I had a sneaking suspicion that it all was related to my hips. My right hip has been really tight, my lower back has been bothering me (nothing new though, so no reason for me to be alarmed), and I just felt "off" when I ran, as if my right leg was striding farther than my left, if that doesn't sound crazy. I really noticed all of this after the night I slept with Shelby in a "tent" she and Ed made in her room. My hip bones dug into the floor all night, and at 4:30 am when I finally gave up and moved to a real bed, my left hip really hurt!  My knee began hurting that week, the 5K came and went, and I've been limping along ever since. 

So yesterday, New Year's Eve Day no less, I was so annoyed with my inability to run and was too impatient to wait for my doctor's appointment next week. I googled chiropractors, called one that specializes in sports injuries, and believe it or not, got an appointment at 4PM yesterday afternoon. He did the whole evaluation thing, and guess what he found?  My right hip (the one that killed me during the tent sleeping experience) was "locked up," whatever that means, and it was causing my left hip to be tight, and was likely contributing to my knee pain. He did an adjustment on me (as in, popping my hips back into place!), and my knee and the muscles in my leg felt instantly better. I'm not kidding. It wasn't all better, but I could tell a difference right away. And this morning, my  knee feels completely better...we'll see as the day goes by. Now I'm not saying I'm totally healed, but I feel like I did BEFORE I started having knee issues! I also got a few stretching exercises to do, which I'm sure will also help.

I'm going back tomorrow and he's going to also look at my running shoes and my feet, and do an analysis to make sure I'm wearing the right shoes for my arch, etc. I'm so excited about the fact that I feel better, and I may be back to running "real" runs soon!

Oh, and one more thing - the chiropractor mentioned that he'd seen several people after the 5K on December 20, because of those ridiculous hills! :-)

Hopefully, the next thing I post is about either a great run, or a great appointment tomorrow! 

3 comments:

Claire said...

Wow, a chiropractor, huh? I've always been very skeptical but that is awesome that you are feeling so much better. Way to start the new year! Sore knee no more!!

Susan said...

So, does this mean I need to see a chiropractor to check my shoe fit?

I can't believe you (we) did not think of a chiropractor sooner!

Angela said...

I've been to a chiropractor once before and it actually helped a lot, so I'm feeling hopeful!

I'm not sure I'd go to a chiropractor just for a shoe fit though - I'm still not convinced that the advice I got from the guy at Inside Out Sports was wrong. I guess we'll see tomorrow though!

BTW - knee still feels great, at 5 PM! :-)