Update on my hip

[EDIT: finally figured out what was causing the tight hip capsules (tight muscles), as well as the cure: deep tissue massage as I explain here.]

[UPDATE: if you have tight hips or hip pain you should definitely check out this mobility blog, where you work on one stretch a day. Do the stretches and you will see the pain go away, did for me.]

[UPDATE 2: This is a great, great stretch for fixing a hip impingement:

]

So I've received two injections of Euflexxa into my hip. It's a pretty cool (if not painful) procedure where they guide a needle under flouroscopy into my hip capsule. Once the needle is in, they then inject the Euflexxa directly into the hip capsule. Euflexxa is some kind of real viscous solution, meant to help with some friction points. Last week I really felt like it was working. Of course, my level of activity was lower than usual.

Last week I saw Dr. Bills so he could work on some kinks in my back/right side of my neck. He asked if there was anything else and after a pause to think I told him about some tightness in the lower left side of my back, which Chriss seemed to think was my illiopsoas. After a bit of a feel Dr. Bills determined it was my quadratus lumborum, a muscle that connects the ribcage to the top of the pelvis. The discomfort I was experiencing was like a toned down version of the excrutiating pain I felt earlier this year where it felt like fire right on top of my left kidney. Dr. Bills was pretty amazed with how much tighter one side was than the other. Having the left "QL" as it's called be really tight makes sense, given that my pelvis used to be twisted so that the right side was forward and down while the left side was backwards and up. After Dr. Craddock re-aligned my pelvis, this would have lowered the upper-left tip of my pelvis, stretching out my left QL. After a little work on it, Dr. Bills had it right as rain. Five ailments down (Bursitis in my hip, tightness in my lower back, tedonitis in the left shoulder, weakness in the left ankle, and tennis elbow in my right arm), one final one (pain in my hip joint) to go.

I told Dr. Bills about the fact that I have tight hip capsules, and his eyes kind of lit up with recognition and said, "ok I know just what to do." Basically he twisted my leg right into what is painful because of the impingement, and I told him that. Apparently that's how this particular treatment works because he continued and then there was an audible, and very tactile, clunk. It didn't hurt, and it didn't feel any different, but Dr. Bill seemed very happy with this and said it was significant. The point of this was to break stuff up, much like how trigger point massage is to break up the scar tissue and help the muscle relax. I might have to start seeing Dr. Bills on a regular basis for this, I don't know. If it does end up looking like the best course of action I should take it will definitely be motivation to get in as much overtime as I can.

The second injection of Euflexxa was similar to the first one in regards that there was great difficulty getting the needle into the hip. Like the first injection, this also helped reveal some more information about what exactly is going on in my hip. The doctor doing the injection commented that my bones look great, but my hip capsule looks tight and shows signs of inflammation. The capsule usually looks nice and smooth, but in certain areas mine looks fuzzy and cloudy. Weather this is acute inflammation from Dr. Bill's adjustment (the good kind because the joint is healing) or chronic inflammation from Crossfit (which would be bad) I can't say, but I plan on asking Dr. Bill as well as Dr. Johnson.

I was scheduled for three injections of Euflexxa over the course of three weeks, but due to some wacky series of events that are too complex to really describe here one of the syringes was disposed of when it shouldn't have. Not sure why Dr. Johnson can't get me another syringe of Euflexxa, but now I'm going to just see how two injections work.

Regardless, the fact that my impingement may stem from too tight hip capsules rather than a malformation of my bones. This may mean that surgery won't be needed.

I will have to find out if there's a way to tell if the inflammation is acute or chronic, and if it's chronic perhaps I need to take a few weeks off from crossfit. The idea doesn't make me happy one bit, but because I have an idea of what to do that will be hip friendly, I'm not scared that I'll lose ALL that I've gained here.

In the mean time, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing, because even through all these problems, I'm getting stronger and faster. I looked at myself the other day in a mirror, and I have to say I know I'm getting closer and closer to where I want to be. Can't wait to see how I do in the next Mid-Atlantic Hopper.