A Dose of Health

Now that my tensor fascia latae muscle is on the mend, it’s time for me to get serious about developing a running routine.  In accordance with my chiropractor’s instructions, I decided to speed up my running pace.  He believes the problem I had with my tensor fascia muscle as a result of running too slow.

After one day of quickening my pace I noticed that I started to suffer with mild shin splints.  Nothing too painful.  Just enough to catch my attention.  Since I’m just starting out with a new training schedule, I figured I shouldto take it slow, perform a few ankle/calf strengthening/stretching exercises and get a proper fitting pair of running sneakers.

Finding the Right Running Sneakers

Years ago when I used to run, I’d buy a pair of Nikes put them on and start running.  I’d use them until they wore out and got another pair.  I was never a consistent runner so I was never really afflicted with major injuries.  However, after aging a few decades, I think I need to do the right thing and find the right running sneakers.

After completing my run I got on the computer and Googled running sneakers.  I ended up on the Runner’s World website and realized there is a lot more to selecting the right sneaker than knowing your shoe size.  If you go to their website you’ll need to be equipped with the following information before purchasing a pair of sneakers:

• Shoe size – that’s a no brainer

• Type of shoe needed – motion control, stability, cushioned, performance, trail, etc. (???)

• Body size – Are you a small petite runner or a larger over 165 pound runner

• Foot arch  –  Flat, normal or high arch. If you don’t know you should do the wet foot test to find your arch type.

• Pronation – What the heck is that???

Here are a couple of videos that I used to help me find my pronation tendencies:

After I learned the lingo and determined my pronation, arch, etc. I found that the best sneakers to fit my running habits, foot type and body size would costs about $130.  Oh well, I might as well spend the money to do things right…right?  Well, maybe not…

I found some pretty compelling information that has me thinking twice about spending $130 on running sneakers…

This post is getting too long so I’ll share what I found in the next post.

My last post I wrote about my painful tensor fasciae latae muscle (my daughter calls it my mocha latte muscle). Anyway, I won’t reinvent the wheel here, if you want to hear my tale of woe you could read it here.

Painful Progress

It’s been a 10 days since writing about the painful muscle. Since then I stopped running, began stretching, visited my chiropractor twice a week, worked on strengthening my core muscles (leg lifts, crunches, etc) and reduced my outdoor exercising to walking.

The pain remained and would intensify every time I came home from walking. I just couldn’t understand it. What was I doing wrong? My hubby told me that I moaned from pain in my sleep.

A few days ago I walked to the mailbox to get the mail and instead decided to go for a mile’s walk. I had on my knock about sneakers instead of my running sneakers. After coming home from the walk, I noticed that I didn’t get the usual intensifying pain in my tensor fasciae latae muscle. Hmmm, I might be on to something. So, for grins, 2 days later I decided to walk a little further in my knock about sneakers. I went for a 4 mile walk.

Pain B Gone

Not only did I not suffer from intensifying pain, I woke up pain free this morning. I poked around my hip in search of my sore tensor fasciae latae muscle. After a few minutes with enough digging and poking I found remnants of the pain, but it was nowhere as painful as it was a week or so ago.

Could it be the Sneakers?

I’ve heard that running sneakers have a mileage shelf life. I’m well aware of this but since I’m not much of a runner (in a good week I might log 10 miles on my sneakers) I didn’t think I had anything to worry about. Although I’ve had the sneakers for a while, they didn’t get much use. I only used them for the occasional bouts of running.

My knock about sneakers, although much newer than my running sneakers, are an inexpensive pair of running sneakers that I use daily. I never run in them. They’re comfortable and clean (well, they were clean until I forgot to change them one day while gardening).

Pain Free Tensor Fasciae Latae Muscle

I cannot say for sure that the sneakers were the main culprit (although I have a sneaking suspicion they were), but if you do happen to fall prey to an aching tensor fasciae latae muscle, my recommendation is that you address the acute pain with rest and ice. If the pain is really unbearable add in over the counter anti-inflammatory pain medication (that’s only if the pain is real bad). Then, go out and buy a new pair of running sneakers.

Chiropractic adjustments, muscle stretching and muscle strengthening doesn’t hurt, but in my case, I think the sneakers were the final punch I needed to knock out the painful condition….or maybe not…

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.