Some people know that I do yoga as a benifit to keeping some of my flexibility. It is relaxing, enegizing and helps you build strength as well as improve your balance too. Many health benifits to be found in yoga. But what happens when a little is actually too much?
Not this just passed Sunday, but the one before (the 20th) - I tore my piriformis muscle. Only doctors don't like to say torn as much as they would rather call it a strain. Either way? It hurts! When it is at the height of hurting, it feels as if someone is stabbing a knife into the hip joint itself. Not fun! And when it popped- it really
POPPED! I didn't know muscles did that, but you learn something new every day.
Here is a pic of the piriformis muscle. Basically it affects movement in your hip and leg. Every step hurts a little and sitting down is misery. It feels like I have my cell phone in my pocket all the time or sometimes I just cannot get comfortable.
Reading everything online, there should have likely been swelling, could be bruising, etc. No sign of either one until that Wednesday night when I decided a good long, hot soak in the tub would surely help. Boy was I wrong there! As soon as the hot water came in contact- it felt like my rear end and the back of my leg were on fire. Stubborn me figured I was in, so I was staying in. When I did get out, it still hurt and now it had swollen some.
Friday night found me at the Urgent Care on the corner. An exam and 3 x-rays later, nothing was severly damaged, broken or needing surgery, but sheesh, now I was hurting all over again like I had just done it. When positioning my leg for the 3rd x-ray, my hip popped. The tech had his hands on it and felt it as well as hearing it. He paused for a minute as if contemplating what to do. I'm wondering if he thought he broke something? I assured him it was all right and he seemed to relax a little. Aging sucks! I was given pain meds, muscle relaxers and told to also take over the counter NSAIDS to manage things.
Physical therapy told me this is not a common injury they see. It is treatable, but not common. Figures it would be me though, right? Usually people tear the hamstring, which is what I originally thought I had done. It hurt down the back of my leg as well so it sounded reasonable.
So far things are going all right. The meds are warding off enough of the pain to keep it bearable, but not enough to make me feel awesome and go blasting along doing more damage in the process. I obviously won't be riding for a while.... I am still planning to compete this weekend though and get pics of the surprise for everyone. I can't let a little pain in the butt stop me.
How did I do it? I was doing a series of long, deep stretches. If you have never tried it, it can be very relaxing. As you cool down, you stretch. Hold the stretch for a little while before sinking down deeper into it. As I sank deeper into this stretch I heard and felt a strong, loud POP! This was strange since it felt really easy to sink deeper into the pose, going further than ever. I sat up, laid on my back and thought- That was Not good! So there it is. I don't even have a 'Cool' story to tell. Like doing something wild, thrill seeking or scary dangerous. Not that I would try some of those, but who knows. When things go wrong, it can get scary dangerous in the blink of an eye.
