After struggling along with this wretched hip flexor injury for almost 9 weeks, I decided to take the plunge and go to see a sports physio.
I didnt have one recommended to me, I just did a google search and went for the first local one that came up. The lady,Jane Watts,company name optimum, was home based and only a couple of miles away so thought I'd go for it. Her price list said it would be £35 for an hour or £20 for half, (good value if it works I thought).
I was slightly nervous having never been to one before but I needn't have been. Jane was very friendly and easy to talk to. She chatted to me first about my injury and the associated pain. I then got onto the massage bed (set up in the front room) and she went straight to the hip. Within a minute she had located the exact point of pain. I nearly went through the roof it was so sore but she worked it and worked it, it felt good even though it hurt ! She explained that the strained ligament had scar tissue in it, it felt like grittiness to her. She had to manipulate it to encourage it to disperse. My doctors advice was to rest and stretch but Jane explained that if I had continued to rest it, the scar tissue would have calcified and may have lead to tendonitis. Therapy at this point would have been harder as it would have been more difficult to manipulate.I had been good with the stretching though thank goodness.Jane also gave me a few more stretching exercises to do and recommended I do them daily. She also recommended I use a heat pad as often as possible.
I can honestly say that after only one 1 hour visit I have been pain free at the point where the injury was. I was generally sore in that area as a result of the massage but after 2 days of rest and some good stretching I had a go at a run. I decided to do a 2 miler on my treadmill. I felt that it would give me a bit of support not being as hard as trail or road. It went well, no pain during and more importantly no pain or soreness afterwards. I am hoping I may now be on the road to recovery !!
Next steps: I am going to try to get back into my 3 runs a week pattern increasing mileage very slowly and see how I go. I will probably mix treadmill in too but i get so bored on them I cant see it lasting for long.I have also ordered a foam roller and intend to incorporate that into my stretching exercises. Jane said I may not need a second visit but I will definitely go back and see her if I do !!
I can reccommend Optimum, Jane was superb !
