Hip, hip, hooray!

[Packard]

hip has been bothering me a good bit lately. I have arthritis in the hip but it does not feel like that.

sciatica feels like a tingling in the front of the thigh. It does not feel like that either.

I finally went to the doctor and had the hip X-rayed. There is indication of arthritis but not sufficient to cause the pain I am feeling.

The doctor said that the pain (down the back of the thigh) traces the path of the sciatic nerve and she said I should go for physical therapy. I made a face when she said that.

She asked, “Is it the co-pay that bothers you or is it the time it takes that bothers you?â€

[fitoverforty]

The doctor said that the pain (down the back of the thigh) traces the path of the sciatic nerve...
Knowing now that the sciatic nerve runs down the back of the butt and down the leg I tried to figure out if I was doing anything to bruise the nerve.

That is EXACTLY where pain is! Sometimes it grips me so bad I am paralyzed for a moment or two and the pain is intense.

I don't think I have bruised the nerve, haven't been doing anything like what you have described. But I noticed it began to get worse when I started the HIIT runs on the treadmill. The faster pace I ran for a sustained length of time, the more I felt the pain, even while running (of course I didn't stop running which is a whole nother problem in itself!). So I am wondering if the increase in speed is causing inflammation of the area which puts pressure on the nerve?

[Boss Man]

Good news, and pretty sage wisdom too.

[Packard]

The doctor said that the pain (down the back of the thigh) traces the path of the sciatic nerve...
Knowing now that the sciatic nerve runs down the back of the butt and down the leg I tried to figure out if I was doing anything to bruise the nerve.

That is EXACTLY where pain is! Sometimes it grips me so bad I am paralyzed for a moment or two and the pain is intense.

I don't think I have bruised the nerve, haven't been doing anything like what you have described. But I noticed it began to get worse when I started the HIIT runs on the treadmill. The faster pace I ran for a sustained length of time, the more I felt the pain, even while running (of course I didn't stop running which is a whole nother problem in itself!). So I am wondering if the increase in speed is causing inflammation of the area which puts pressure on the nerve?

Sciatic pain (from what I understand of it) occurs when there is some impingement of the nerve. The pain I feel at the front of the thigh is from the spinal area. It is much less than it had been when I was bigger and heavier. I am going to go down to lowest best weight to keep that at bay.

The pain I had in the back of thigh was from the pressure on the nerve itself (the contact area of the Concept II seat and the butt).

It could be that the pounding of the feet on the pavement is causing the problem. The impact could be travelling up the leg to the spine.

Are you running on the road? Can you find a beach or a grassy area to run on? Check with the local high school and see where their cross country runners train. When I was growing up they had an area around the municipal golf course that they ran on. It was all grass and that is far less abusive than running on pavement.

Of course the beach is best. It really pumps up the calves (great for the legs) and it totally cushions the knees and spine. (You can run barefoot and save on shoes too.)

A few days rest from running (try riding a bike) might tell you if it is the culprit or not.

I re-read your post and I see you are on the treadmill. Try the eliptical trainer for a few days. It is very low impact.

[Boss Man]

Inflammation is symptomatic of something, not causal. Think of it as a distress flair telling your Brain something isn't right, and telling it where that something isn't right.

The Nerve impingement, could be something to do with compression from surrounding tissues, possibly relating to either long periods of sustained movment, pushing the tissues onto the Nerve, or maybe it's your style or action doing it, I.E. one Leg moving in a slightly different manner to the other, or perhaps there's a slight issue with something like flexibility, perhaps if you've been stretching at any point, you might have been using a slightly different positioning of the Leg, reducing stretch effectiveness.

[fitoverforty]

Thanks guys and congrats Packard on the improvement!

I have been running almost exclusively on the treadmill for the last 3 months mainly because of the insufferable heat & humidity here in southeast Texas. I prefer road running and will just have to suck it up and get out the door early enough in the a.m. to beat the worst heat.

Running on the treadmill is alot different than the road, must have something to do with the way you are forced to balance yourself while the belt is constantly moving, it feels unnatural at times.

Thanks Packard for reminding me about grass running. I used to run several times a week at an area on the outskirts of our local golf course. All grassy hilly running, I really enjoyed it!

And Bossman you raised an issue I think alot of people do not pay enough attention to and that is the stretching element to injury prevention. I am terribly guilty about not stretching properly after a run, usually do not leave myself enough time to really get a good stretch (not the "bouncy" 30 second stretches) and it is SO important. Thanks for bringing that up.

Think I'll head out in the a.m. for an outdoor run, see how things go

[Bonnie]

I am oh so guilty of not stretching either As for that sciatic nerve pain, I lost 2 complete yrs of life on morphine, trying to block that out, took a year after stopping those meds to re enter the gym, in an attempt to strenghen back & core, even now, every now & then being careless about how I turn to reach in fridge etc, I' ll feel that twinge & think OH GOD no...but thus far it has not returned to haunt me. Guess newest reading will be on stretching. Best of luck to all

[Packard]

Update: Last week I could not complete modified-stiff legged dead lifts at 135 pounds.

Last night I had no problem doing sets with 185 pounds.

I'll try to get back over 200 pounds next week.

Definite improvements.

[fitoverforty]

That's great news Packard! Congrats on the improvement