strained something from jogging - help?

[QueBert]

Been jogging 3-4x a week for 3 or so months now, outside of the occasional normal soreness everything's been great. Last month I finished the c25k program. And since I've been jogging a bit less than 30 minutes at a time with a slight increase in my pace. 6.5's been my max overall. Monday I noticed some tightness in what felt like my Gluteus, I'm not sure what's normal in that area, but I only seemed to feel it towards what seemed like the sides of my legs. Just a bit down from the hips. I rested a few days and went back Wed thinking it was just normal soreness. I did jog but slower and for only about 10 minutes. And I did notice some tightness that hadn't been there before Monday. Now I always stretch pretty well before I jog and do a 5 minute warm up walk.

Wed night after I left the gym it was tight, and more pronounced than on monday. I took a hot bath and slept it off. I woke up Thursday and it was more of a soreness. I didn't do anything until yesterday. I did my stretches and warm up walk, when I started to jog I felt the soreness, but about 2 minutes in it was a lot less noticeable. I did 5x3minutes with a 1 min walk in between each, wasn't hard to finish at all. By the end it was sore feeling but I was walking normal. When I woke up today they were sore and walking wasn't impossible but it was uncomfortable, I especially notice it last night when getting in and out of my computer chair. Today each step I take I can feel them tightening up.

I guess I strained something down there *duh* a few Google links said if I stretch properly before, continuing to jog shouldn't be a major problem here. Which sort of surprised me, but I'm not an expert so I don't know how serious this type of thing typically is. It is just one of those "uncomfortable, but deal with it and carry on" issues? I know when I messed up up my knee it was a show stopper, for a few months, but I'm not so sure here though.

Any advice here would be appreciated, I don't want to mess things up worse, but I'm on a nice roll so I don't want to lose my rhythm here unless it's absolutely necessary.

 

[HNNstyle]

Don't know what it is but are you building muscles in your legs in addition to the cardio? I find that building muscles in my legs generally reduce any pain that is associated with long distance jogging.

 

[marmasatt]

Hey buddy. That sounds alot like a tight ITB. Your Iliotibial Band is a strap of muscle and tendon that starts deep inside your butt and goes down to the outside of your knee. If that are feels tight, I bet that's what you have. It's quite common as an "overuse" injury. Not that you're overdoing it - just that you are not alone. And if you are on the C25k program, I'm assuming you weren't at least *that* active. Do a google search for some stretches for it. You can also sort of massage it yourself after.

 

[QueBert]

Hey buddy. That sounds alot like a tight ITB. Your Iliotibial Band is a strap of muscle and tendon that starts deep inside your butt and goes down to the outside of your knee. If that are feels tight, I bet that's what you have. It's quite common as an "overuse" injury. Not that you're overdoing it - just that you are not alone. And if you are on the C25k program, I'm assuming you weren't at least *that* active. Do a google search for some stretches for it. You can also sort of massage it yourself after.

PERFECT THANK YOU! I don't know if I would have found this on my own, the soreness is down a lot today but I didn't push it and try to go jogging. I think I'll try the stretches I found for this on runners world and head out tomorrow.

no pain no gain right?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

If that doesn't help, try foam rolling perpendicular to the IT band. If you have proper IT band length, the stretches won't actually help you. However, if it doesn't move correctly back and forth, that can cause increased tension and pain as well. That's what foam rolling should help with, but I'll warn you - it's one of the most painful things I see in ortho physical therapy.

 

[QueBert]

If that doesn't help, try foam rolling perpendicular to the IT band. If you have proper IT band length, the stretches won't actually help you. However, if it doesn't move correctly back and forth, that can cause increased tension and pain as well. That's what foam rolling should help with, but I'll warn you - it's one of the most painful things I see in ortho physical therapy.

Wise one I have a question, I looked up ITB and from the info & pics it effects people just above the knee, my soreness is in a small area that's a bit below my hip, I haven't felt any sort of discomfort anywhere close to my knee. Is there anything else this could possibly be? I don't like your "most painful" thing lol. I guess I'll follow what I read on Google and take a week off running, I would take Ibuprofen but I just started on Metronidazole and I believe the doc said to not take any other sort of medication or even a multi vitamin until I'm finished with it

With my knee being fine I'm wondering if this even is ITB.

 

[marmasatt]

Unless you pulled an actual gluteus muscle, which while possible, I doubt - It's probably your ITB. That's how it presents. It goes from deep inside your backside, down the outside of your leg to just under the outside of your knee cap. Most of the time, it presents outside your knee. Sometimes, it presents in your butt. And if your especially lucky, it literally aches the entire way if you've done it right...

This particular stretch works very well for me. You probably can't do it like she's doing it, lol, but you get the ides of what it is stretching -her right cheek. Just duplicate the actual form. Another way is to lie on your back and pull your knee and also the foot of your affected side up as high as you can. (As if you are trying to like look at the bottom of your sole).

Wise one I have a question, I looked up ITB and from the info & pics it effects people just above the knee, my soreness is in a small area that's a bit below my hip, I haven't felt any sort of discomfort anywhere close to my knee. Is there anything else this could possibly be? I don't like your "most painful" thing lol. I guess I'll follow what I read on Google and take a week off running, I would take Ibuprofen but I just started on Metronidazole and I believe the doc said to not take any other sort of medication or even a multi vitamin until I'm finished with it

With my knee being fine I'm wondering if this even is ITB.

 

[Megatomic]

Is the pain on the side of your hip? If it's on the side it probably is your ITB. The most common place to feel the pain is indeed near the knee, but you can feel it all the way up to your hip. I had ITBS year before last, it started to hurt first near my knee but would eventually hurt all up and down the length of my thigh.

Rolling is your friend and it will hurt but it should help.

 

[QueBert]

Is the pain on the side of your hip? If it's on the side it probably is your ITB. The most common place to feel the pain is indeed near the knee, but you can feel it all the way up to your hip. I had ITBS year before last, it started to hurt first near my knee but would eventually hurt all up and down the length of my thigh.

Rolling is your friend and it will hurt but it should help.

It's kind of like just a bit behind the side, I thought it wasn't ITB maybe because I read a lot on Google about it effecting people around the knee area. If I don't do this rolling it's not going to get any better?

 

[Megatomic]

It'll eventually get better (stop hurting) but it'll heal up better and quicker if you roll it.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Wise one I have a question, I looked up ITB and from the info & pics it effects people just above the knee, my soreness is in a small area that's a bit below my hip, I haven't felt any sort of discomfort anywhere close to my knee. Is there anything else this could possibly be? I don't like your "most painful" thing lol. I guess I'll follow what I read on Google and take a week off running, I would take Ibuprofen but I just started on Metronidazole and I believe the doc said to not take any other sort of medication or even a multi vitamin until I'm finished with it

With my knee being fine I'm wondering if this even is ITB.

Well, it doesn't necessarily have to be your ITB. The iliotibial band is a fascial band, in which the tensor fascia lata (TFL) - a muscle - located. However, that's more on the side to the front. If you think it's to the side and back, I would definitely suspect gluteus medius or minimus or even one (or multiple) of the external hip rotators like piriformis. I don't know why marmasatt thinks hip adbuctor strains aren't common, but they most certainly are, especially in runners. There's an exquisitely high demand on them as they stabilize your leg and pelvis while your leg is on the ground.

I just want to mention that the ITB can be painful anywhere along its path. However, it tends to culminate at the knee. The symptoms you're describing aren't so much ITB though (or even TFL) due to the location of symptoms. It could even be greater trochanter bursitis, as I don't know how far up you're talking about. Icing it should be helpful for pain and inflammation so ice for 10min on with at least 15-20min off before you ice again. If you ice for longer, it can actually PROMOTE inflammation, due to the Hunting response.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

It's kind of like just a bit behind the side, I thought it wasn't ITB maybe because I read a lot on Google about it effecting people around the knee area. If I don't do this rolling it's not going to get any better?

Rolling will help either way. This is likely a sign that you're getting a bit too tight in some of the lateral structures. Foam rolling will help your overall muscular health, as long as you don't work it too hard. If you spend too much time on the foam roller, it can actually flare you up quite a bit so be careful.

 

[marmasatt]

Definitely sounds a little like it could be Piriformins as well. I would obviously defer to you SC, but none of us can really definitively diagnose w/out seeing Que. I'm just offering what I think would be most likely. Although he should probably listen to you first, lol

 

[QueBert]

Definitely sounds a little like it could be Piriformins as well. I would obviously defer to you SC, but none of us can really definitively diagnose w/out seeing Que. I'm just offering what I think would be most likely. Although he should probably listen to you first, lol

I will at worst look into anything anyone else, I definitely don't think it's ITB or anything close. Today I woke up and maybe it was just dumb luck but my ITB area felt fine, but I had a pain in my side/back above my hip area. It was pretty uncomfortable. So a plus is it's probably not my ITB, but a minus is I'm back to square one.

You know something I NEVER had any sort of injury or pain until I decided to start to get into shape, hell getting into shape isn't all it's cracked up to be

 

[QueBert]

I have an update with a new question, I took it easy for a week rolling a few times during it. I felt good on Sat so I waited until Monday and hit the gym again. As soon as I got the speed on the treadmill up I noticed a slight burning in my lower back just towards the side. It wasn't real bad so I did 3 5 minute jogs with a 1 min walk in between with a 5 min cool down. When I got off it, the burning was more pronounced. I went home and while it wasn't comfortable it didn't hurt. When I woke up the next morning it was a bit sore but I was walking normal.

Now I still don't know a whole lot about the original ITB thing, but I know i doesn't extend up into your lower back. I haven't been to the gym since Monday, I'm still feeling just a bit of discomfort. Is this anything I should worry about? I know the best advice is "go see a doctor" but I don't have insurance and it's not painful enough for me to hit the ER or something drastic.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

I have an update with a new question, I took it easy for a week rolling a few times during it. I felt good on Sat so I waited until Monday and hit the gym again. As soon as I got the speed on the treadmill up I noticed a slight burning in my lower back just towards the side. It wasn't real bad so I did 3 5 minute jogs with a 1 min walk in between with a 5 min cool down. When I got off it, the burning was more pronounced. I went home and while it wasn't comfortable it didn't hurt. When I woke up the next morning it was a bit sore but I was walking normal.

Now I still don't know a whole lot about the original ITB thing, but I know i doesn't extend up into your lower back. I haven't been to the gym since Monday, I'm still feeling just a bit of discomfort. Is this anything I should worry about? I know the best advice is "go see a doctor" but I don't have insurance and it's not painful enough for me to hit the ER or something drastic.

Uh, that is definitely something else. Could be your hip flexors, back extensors, or quadratus lumborum. Does it hurt along the spine or out to the side of it? That stretch marmasatt posted is a terrible one. I missed it earlier. If you're doing that one, that could be causing straight back pain due to the amount of lumbar extension.

 

[QueBert]

Uh, that is definitely something else. Could be your hip flexors, back extensors, or quadratus lumborum. Does it hurt along the spine or out to the side of it? That stretch marmasatt posted is a terrible one. I missed it earlier. If you're doing that one, that could be causing straight back pain due to the amount of lumbar extension.

Not along my spine, it's almost like it's in the corner spot between my back and my side. I didn't do the stretch marmasatt poster, I honestly didn't see it untill I just looked at this thread. I got one of the big round foam rollers you mentioned and was laying on my side rolling. Right now I'm not feeling any discomfort, that should be a good sign, I hope

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Not along my spine, it's almost like it's in the corner spot between my back and my side. I didn't do the stretch marmasatt poster, I honestly didn't see it untill I just looked at this thread. I got one of the big round foam rollers you mentioned and was laying on my side rolling. Right now I'm not feeling any discomfort, that should be a good sign, I hope

Ok, well, that could be muscle, ligament, or referral from the spine. Either way, if it gets worse or keeps coming back, let us know.