A Dose of Health

I recently had the dubious pleasure of discovering a new muscle in my body. The muscle is called the Tensor Fasciae Latae. This lovely little muscle is located in the hip area. If you haven’t discovered yours, count yourself lucky.

How I discovered My Tensor Fasciae Latae

I started running again. I decided to get up from the computer and get out running. I had been sedentary for the last couple of months so I thought it was time to get things back on track so I went for a 1 mile run followed by a 1 mile walk. I felt great. I came home and stretched and all was right with the world, or at least I thought all was right with the world.

As the day wore on I noticed some pain around the hip area. It hurt when I walked, moved in certain ways and it also hurt to the touch. For a quick moment, I wondered if this was the beginning signs of osteoporosis and the need for hip replacement surgery (I’m not really a hypochondriac, but my brother just had his hip replaced so the thought was on my mind). Then I thought about it for a moment, since it was painful to the touch; that meant muscle pain…whew!

Because of my advancing years, I decided to rest a day before the next run. I ran the same distance and later in the day the pain was even worse. Not being one to give in, I rested another day and ran a third time. This time the pain was so bad, there was no way that one day of rest would be enough for me to run again.

Calling it quits

I decided to call it quits until I got in chiropractic adjustment. I assumed that I was out of alignment thus causing my lop sided hip pain. I explained the problem to my chiropractor and he basically gave me a stretching exercise, told me to stop being a wuss and get out there and run. So after he adjusted me, I went running the next day.

Excruciating Hip Pain

That running advice was bad advice. The pain was so bad that I had to pull out the ibuprofen (I don’t like taking medicine). I assumed the muscle was inflamed so along with the ibuprofen I ate anti-inflammatory foods and walked around with ice in my hip pocket, 20 minutes on, and 20 minutes off. I did that for the remainder of the day.

Time to Find the Root of the Problem

I decided to find out what was causing the problem and address it head on. That’s when I discovered that the offending muscle is called the Tensor Fasciae Latae (TFL). It’s a neat little muscle located just on the outside of the hip. The muscle engages when you put one foot in front of the other. Here’s a better explanation of what the Tensor Fasciae Late muscle does and how it works.

After finding out what the TFL does and how it works, I found this article that explained why mine hurt so bad and how I caused it to hurt.  One of the causes is an increase in mileage or physical activity. So I guess when you go from sitting on your rear end to running a mile that’s a marked increase in physical activity. Other contributing factors can include (but are not limited to) a leg imbalance, sedentary lifestyle, being out of shape, uneven muscle development or just plain old getting older. What ever the reason, my TFL is a little pissed off.

Fixing the Problem

From what I’ve read, the first thing to do is to stop the acute pain (that’s a no brainer). No one likes to be in pain.

Once the pain has subsided, stretching the muscle is a good idea. There are a few stretching exercises that I came across that seem to target the Tensor Fasciae Latae muscle. It involves standing straight and crossing the leg of the non affected hip over the leg of the affected hip (balance yourself first), then lean to the side of the non affected hip. This helps to stretch the FTL. I’ve been doing this several times a day (even though I’m still in the pain stage).

It appears that the next step is to condition and strengthen the appropriate muscles. I’m still a little fuzzy on how to do this. I’m looking at a few sites that have interesting exercises to help rectify my FTL problem.

In the meanwhile I’ve taken to biking instead. I’m still working on reducing the inflammation and pain (peddling doesn’t seem to bother the TFL) in preparation for the next step.

If anyone has sound advice on how to recover from an angry TFL, I’d love to hear it.

They’re gone! It’s been about 2 weeks since I had a hot flash!

There’s one other weapon in my fighting hot flash arsenal that I added to my routine since my last hot flash update . That wonderful weapon is Wheat Grass. No, not the real, freshly ground, taste like lawn clippings wheat grass (I have a hard time finding a steady supply in my area).

I chose to use the substitute and bought wheat grass tablets. The ones I used were made by Pines. I chose that brand because I liked their ingredient list. It contained 98% wheat grass, 1.5% silica and 0.5% magnesium stearate. The other brands were 95% or less wheat grass and had a few too many ingredients for me.

Pill Popping to Extinguish the Flashes

Not being a stranger to wheat grass, I knew that it had the power to provide the final knock out blow to the already weakened hot flashes. After a couple of days of adding wheat grass to the mix, the hot flashes disappeared.

I can’t say that the wheat grass was absolutely necessary to get rid of the hot flashes, but it sure didn’t hurt. In addition to getting rid of the hot flashes, it also got rid of a bunch of other stuff (I won’t be gauche, so I’ll just say that my system is rather clean).

Family Pill Popping

Wheat grass in pill form is a lot easier to consume. My family would run for the hills when they used to hear the squeaking grinding sound of my juicer masticating the fresh wheat grass blades. They also couldn’t stand the smell, much less attempt to swallow a shot of it. With the pills, they swallow them and don’t complain. Anything is better than drinking fresh what grass (or so they think).

Anyway, if you are suffering from hot flashes and are looking for a way to get rid of them, give it a try. If it worked for me, I would think it would work for you. No longer do I run around the house saying, “Is it hot in here, or is it just me?”

In 2006 I had my first confrontation with hot flashes. At first I didn’t know what the heck was going on. It couldn’t have been hot flashes, I was way too young (or so I thought).

After coming to the shocking realization that I was actually having hot flashes, I started doing some research on how to fight the dreaded condition. My research brought me to the wonderful green drink Green Vibrance. For the past 10 years Green Vibrance and I have been enjoying an on again off again relationship. It’s on when I remember to drink it and off when I forget.

All it takes is a couple of hot flashes to remind me that I’ve not taken my Green Vibrance in the past week or so.

Hot Flash Round 2

Now, years later, I’ve gotten very lax in a number of areas in my life. Not only have I been forgetting to drink my Green Vibrance, I’ve taken to eating really, really bad foods. I noticed that more and more processed foods have crept into my diet; a little pasta here, a slice of cake there.

In addition to my dietary slip ups, I’ve been spending too much time in front of the computer and not getting any exercise. Although I still fit in my clothes, I usually have to slather a generous portion of lotions and oils in order to slide into them. Apparel with buttons and zippers are a thing of the past, everything has elastic waists and pull over tops (no sense in inadvertently injuring someone with a high velocity button flying off of my shirt).

To top it all off, I felt horrible. For the first time in my life I looked at my hubby and said, “I feel old.” My knees hurt, my back hurt, I felt out of shape and just plain bad (probably because I hadn’t been to the chiropractor in months).

Breeding Ground for Flashes

My decline into ill health is all those pesky little hot flashes needed to grab a hold of me again. One night when I least suspected it, I was rudely awakened. I thought the thermostat for the furnace was malfunctioning. I was awakened by intense heat only to realize that it was my internal furnace that was in overdrive. Of course, to compensate for the extreme heat, my body let the floodgates of sweat flow. I was hot and drenched! Not a pretty sight.

After enduring these beastly hot flashes every hour on the hour for a day or so I realized that I had to take control again. It’s now 10 years later, I’m in the worst shape of my life. To top it off, I’ve got to find the strength to put up a good fight if I want to beat these hot flashes.

Strategy for Fighting Hot Flashes

Immediately, I went to the health store and purchased my beloved Green Vibrance. I started taking it twice a day instead of the recommended one time a day.

Expecting to feel the results in the usual 4 to 5 days, imagine my surprise when all I did was reduce the frequency (and the intensity), but they didn’t stop.

Round 2:

Now I had to up the ante. I cut out the processed stuff. If the food was not grown from the ground or if it didn’t have a Mom and Dad, then I wasn’t eating it. I know for a fact that a Twinkie doesn’t have a Mom or a Dad and sure as shootin’ wasn’t grown from the ground.

I was back to eating whole grains, fruits, vegetables, fish and chicken. It’s amazing how within the first week of modifying my diet, I lost a few pounds. Losing the initial weight is just what I needed to make my knees stop hurting. I think they were angry because they had additional weight to carry.

Round 3

With my knees no longer angry, I was able to begin an exercise program; nothing too strenuous (at first), just walking a few miles a day. The winter storms did much to create a homemade gym. Between cutting tree branches, raking and cleaning up the debris, I was getting a very productive workout.

Turning Down the Thermostat

By making the above changes, I’ve noticed a drastic decrease in my hot flashes. As a matter of fact, its only 3 weeks into my dietary/exercise changes and the flashes have not only reduced in frequency (maybe one a day), but the intensity has also decreased. No longer do I get those warning tingles before the furnace dials itself to the max.

At this point in the game, the hot flashes are infrequent and mild. I’m sticking with my program until they’re totally gone (and I know they will be gone). After all, I went several years without having to suffer with them, why start now.

Hot flashes, when you stop to think of it, are really my friend. They’re my not so subtle reminder that it’s time to get back into health.