They are aggravating, and I am aggravating them right back.
After several sessions of Graston on two tears in my hamstring, I am pain-free in the muscle. The tendon still hurts like a you-know-what.
The thing is, tendons take forever to heal - and I am aggravating this one on a daily basis.
I am running a little, lightly, again - I had sworn off any running for all of January, but the chiropractor I'm seeing said I actually needed something to get blood flow to the tendon to help it heal. So back out I went, even though it still hurts. But that's not what's aggravating the injury. It doesn't feel much worse after a run. What hurts it is standing all day, specifically standing all day in a low heel.
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| I have these boots in black and brown |
For years now I've been wearing either medical-style clogs to work or, more often, cowboy boots. I've found that cowboy boots with a light-weight rubber heel are the most comfortable shoes to wear if you have to stand up all day - plus, some of them are sort of cute. I actually learned this from a friend of mine who is a model: whenever she is not on the catwalk or at a photo shoot, but has some sort of other event (meet and greet, sponsor parties, etc), she wears cowboy boots to add some height but keep her comfortable. Brilliant.
The problem is that the heel, which is normally comfortable, is causing a very uncomfortable pulling on the tendon. By the end of the day I'm sort of limping! Now that I've figured that out, it's flats for me until this pain goes away.
Next up in my treatment plan? Dry needling. Yes, at this point I'm just trying anything you can sell me!
Any success stories with dry needling? Two runners in my running group tried it and had amazing results, but they did not have tendon involvement. '
Now that it's cold(ish) and I've dug my boots out of the closet, I've noticed the same problem. Flats for me, too. Stinks, but it's silly (in my mind, anyway) to aggravate a wonky tendon for the sake of fashion.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the dry needling! I don't personally know anyone who's done it. I'm interested to hear your take on it.
Weirdly, flats aggravate my foot and Achilles, but heels don't.
ReplyDeleteI don't even know what dry needling is!!!? Looks like it is time for a google search ;)
ReplyDeleteTendon injuries are a bitc*. Even though your chiropractor recommended the running, you know your body best. I would lay off of it if it's aggravating it. Tendons don't have much blood supply whether your running or not, and even if there is a little extra when you run, I don't think it will improve much if you're continuing to aggravate it. Maybe there's some sort of exercise besides running that will increase blood flow to your hamstrings but not aggravate it the same way running does?
ReplyDeleteTrue. I've also done the alternating hot/cold thing also, and the next step would be PRP, but I'm loathe to pay for it. I priced it and it's upwards of $500 and would not be covered on my insurance since it's not an approved procedure.
DeleteDry needling does not sound fun... I'm just going to imagine its "relaxing" like acupuncture. I hope it works!
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