Sprains, Strains, & Automobiles

About 2 weeks ago I noticed a tightness in the front of my R hip & groin.  Not any pain, just so tight with the occasional pull to let me know that I was not totally healthy.  "A hip flexor strain, ughhhh," was my thought.  Let's pause and have a little bit of education regarding strains, sprains & what have you.

my strained hip flexor

Sprains & strains are actually 2 very different injuries with similar treatments.  They are injuries to various types of tissue throughout the body.

Strain:  injury to muscle &/or tendon fiber usually from overuse or overstretch
Sprain:  injury to the ligaments within or surrounding a joint usually from a quick dynamic movement.
A tendon is what connects muscle to bone, think Achilles tendon.  A ligament connects bone to bone, think ACL.

In my opinion the majority of the time strains & sprains are more painful than actual fractures or tears, yuck!


Now, if there's anything I really hate it's being injured!  How did I possibly strain this hip flexor you ask?  Who knows?!? It could've been the 5 mile run I did 2 weeks ago where I literally raced myself because I felt so amazing.  No I'm not competitive at all, wink wink.  Now for once in my life I was my own good patient.  I have been stretching, icing, & most important of all, resting!

REST, so annoying.  That's the thing I hate most about being injured the rest part of it.  Especially with a large muscle group like the hip flexor or adductors, rest is your best friend.  Ms. PracticallyFit, herself, rested this week.  In the past week I have done 1 yoga class to help stretch it out, that's it.  I am definitely going a little stir crazy.  But to prove my own point I do feel better, and feel ready for a nice slow & steady run here in a couple days.  Rest is something I preach to my patients, but it is by far the hardest thing for me to practice myself.

Rest.  by:  Harry

If you are experiencing consistent muscle tightness with occasional pain or discomfort it is possible you have a mild strain to a tendon or muscle group.  Your body is warning you, listen to it!  My best advice is to act now! Rest, stretch, & ice daily.  Don't be fooled by the power of these 3 treatments.  If you aren't smart in the early stages, you could progress to a severe strain or even worse... a tear!  With a mild strain you are only looking at maybe 1-2 weeks of rest, with a severe strain you are looking at like 6-8 weeks!! My worst nightmare.  So act early and save yourself the pain and frustration.  Rest, ice, stretch....then ease yourself back into your work outs!  You will feel better than before & be ready to hit the pavement again!