The hip issue marches on, as it were. After a few days of experimenting with various self-treatments and observing their effects, here are some conclusions I’ve reached:
My hip does not like leg pulls. A leg pull is when I lie on a bed and Jonathan grips my foot and leans backward as though attempting to pull my leg off of my body. It feels great while he’s doing it, but it seems to exacerbate the problem in the hours following the leg pulling. So no more of that.
My hip likes Nabumetone, an anti-inflammatory. My hip gives me a piece of its mind when I forget to take one every 12 hours. It would probably also respond well to Naproxen, which is a little stronger than Nabumetone, but which wreaks havoc on my innards.
My hip’s enjoyment of a nice, long ice bath verges on sexual. The colder the better. Later in the evening, it likes relaxing in the recliner with a chilly bag of ice wrapped around it. Yes, my straight-laced hip has a secret ice fetish.
My hip’s appreciation for Hydrocodone continues unabated. I take half 1-2x a day. Oddly, sometimes the hip pain goes away completely but the hamstring pain becomes more pronounced after taking one. Or maybe I just notice it more. But one would think a painkiller would kill all pain sources in equal measure. This does not seem to be so.
My hip likes Voltaren, a topical anti-inflammatory. It likes it very, very much. I might have to use the term “love” in this case.
My hip has gotten hip to stretching. It especially likes this stretch a whole lot. Runner up favorite is this one. Despite its complaints, it also seems to like being rolled around on a tennis ball for long periods of time.
Sometimes my hip makes a popping noise, but this happens when it’s at its most obstreperous, such as after leg pulls or an hour of lurching around in the outside world. So my theory is that some very slight imbalance came into full bloom on Saturday when there was a lot of compensatory action going on during my lopsided racing. The result? Lots of angry muscles, connective tissues and perhaps even inflamed bursas. The major bone/joint areas are caught in the middle of all of this, being thrown this way and that, and are making their popping protests during the worst of the arguments amongst the other battling body parts.
For now, I’m giving it a few more days to see if it sorts itself out. I’m convinced the issue is inflammation and not actual damage, such as a stress fracture. If it’s inflammation, I’m just going to be prescribed all the stuff I’m taking already. If it’s something else, I’ll know when it hasn’t resolved itself after a week.
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Races Like a Girl 