Hip injury?

[gramboh]

Hi guys,

I haven't been posting much here (been too busy lately, trying to avoid forums at work) but am hoping some of the people here with hip injury experience (SociallyChallenged etc) can maybe help me out.

For background, I did Stronglifts/Starting Strength from April 08-Dec 08 with success and no real injuries, so I have experience in squatting and never had any hip issues with both low and high back squats.

I switched to CrossFit at the start of January and have been enjoying the program. I was attending classes at an affiliate while out of town for 2 weeks, doing 3 days on 1 day off for 14 days. This was more intense/volume than I had been used to, but I wasn't experiencing any issues. Around day 10 was 5x3 back squats, I worked up 275/285/295/305/315 which was moderate but not a 3 rep max for me. On either the 275 or 285 set I tweaked my left hip a bit, but it wasn't a sharp pain or anything so I kept squatting, and didn't have any real pain or muscle failure.

The next day I noticed my left hip flexor group (psoas I think) was sore, it felt kind of like DOMS except that it didn't go away quickly. Here we are about 3 weeks later and it is still not better. It has improved, but any type of squatting motion I am aware of the soreness. It's not sharp or overly painful, e.g. I can do bodyweight squats, push press etc. that involve the hip flexor group without major pain.

Anyone know what this might be? I'm trying to get an appointment with a doctor so I can get a physio referral. I'm just paranoid it could be tendonitis or something serious. I've been trying to train around the injury with decent success so far.

Thanks

 

[Redfraggle]

Hip injury FTL. :/ I strained my sartorius and it's taking forever to heal. I did wrap it and do the ice/heat thing initially. It helped a lot. You might try that while waiting to get an appt. Good luck.

 

[brikis98]

Man, the hip and rotator cuff are way too fragile. Almost everyone ends up injury one or the other at some point

A little while ago, I had a similar hip injury to yours: I caught a squat clean a little off center and felt a twinge of pain in my right hip, but nothing major. Next day it felt sore, so I gave it a couple days off. It actually got a little worse during this time and for a while, I had to avoid heavy squatting. It sucked, and I lost a lot of progress, but it seemed to heal up on its own after about a month. However, the hip is a complicated joint, and it's possible your injury is different, anything from a bruised socket to a muscle strain to a labral tear. If it doesn't go away on its own in another week, I'd definitely suggest getting it checked out by a doctor. In the meantime, ibuprofen and stretching can help make it feel a little better.

 

[StageLeft]

I seem to get a psoas problem sometimes and it feels like you've described. Very slow to heal. I am hella tight on that side of my body and constantly stretching it out, though. Hips suck. Less than knees, though.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

It sounds almost exactly like what I had, which did end up being tendinitis. You gotta do the R.I.C.E. thing - rest, ice, compression, elevation (rest can be "active," elevation is hard with the hip) - plus ibuprofen to help keep any type of inflammation down. Mine was pretty severe at the beginning and it effected even my walking. Like brikis' hip injury, I had trouble with weights, but not body weight stuff after about a week. You should go see a doctor and make sure he/she knows you're active and want to work through it. Most doctors say "Too bad, rest for 6 weeks," which is complete BS. Do some stationary lunge stretches at a very light intensity - probably 2-4 on a 1-10 scale. Try some body weight stuff and be easy with it. If you feel that it's being cranky one day, work with it - find something else to do or even take the day off. You have to know when to call it in this situation. I can't think of anything else off the top of my head, but mine took forever to heal because I didn't know how to fix it. Squatting with any sort of weight isn't an option the first week, which is what I learned real quick. Patience is key here. Be active, stretch, ice, ibuprofen.

 

[gramboh]

Thanks everyone.

brikis: that is what scares me (complicated joint, could be anything). I'm going to avoid heavy squatting (even though I have 5x5 squats coming up, tempting but I will defer it).

SC: What was your eventual outcome? I remember reading about it but forget, did you have any formal care or just take it easy and eventually it got better?

I'll definitely continue with the icing and be more diligent with stretching and try ibuprofen. What surprises me is that while it is taking a long time to heal, the pain is relatively minor and doesn't really inhibit movement that much (e.g. I can still squat I am just aware of the soreness). I will have to watch myself to make sure I don't push it and make the injury worse.

I'm looking for a family doctor now to get an appointment and referral to physio. It's hard to find a doctor here it seems, probably doesn't help that I haven't had a family doctor for like 15 years.