On knees
By gaining aches and pains, I have begun to learn about how the human body works. For example, I made a recent trip to my favorite physical therapist (again, let me say, if you *EVER* need a physical therapist, let me know and I will give you a recommendation), and I found that several apparently unrelated problems were related to one particular problem.
I had a pretty severely pulled groin, and when I went to the doctor and let him put me through the motions, I discovered that I had some hip pain, too. The night before I was supposed to visit the physical therapist, I tweaked my back and it was *so* sore that I had to stand in the shower with the hot water pounding on it just to loosen it up enough to walk without too much discomfort.
The therapist that I work with (and who did wonders for my shoulder tendonitis) uses a combination of stretching, strengthening exercises, and massage to treat an injury. I was amazed when he worked on my shoulder -- I would come in with something like 50% of the range of motion in my right shoulder compared to my left, and he would press on the muscles with a continuous pressure, and I could feel it loosen. Before I left, I would usually make significant gains in my range of motion.
He did the same for my hip and groin. He showed me some exercises, but when he started working on my left leg with some massage, I felt something that felt like a bungie cord running down the outside of my leg get pushed from the left to the right. He pointed out that the reason I could feel it like that was because of how tight it was. The part in question was my iliotibial band. He did the same massage on my right leg, and I didn't feel that same motion of my ITB at all. He convinced me to buy one of those foam rollers that get used in yoga / pilates classes, and I could do a good approximation of the massage myself.
My hip and groin pain are completely gone. Also, that tweaking of my back was also affected by the left ITB. My back hasn't hurt even a tiny bit since then.
Still, though, my knees are the source of most of my pain. In this case, though, I don't think that I have any particular condition that can be treated, instead, the cause is just overuse (in my completely untrained medical opinion). Volleyball is rough on the knees. Icing, NSAIDs, and glucosamine and chondroitin all help. However, I think I have learned something about my knees that has helped me avoid some of the pain. I always thought that all of the pain came from jumping and landing. However, I started to notice when I was on the ground that when I moved laterally and stopped short, my knees would hurt. Try the following experiment -- run to your left or right, stop short, and reverse directions. You should notice a lot of stress on your knees when you stop. I found that when I wore neoprene ankle wraps, that when I move laterally and stop, I'm able to change directions with less stress on my knees -- I assume that the wraps are absorbing some of the impact. I stopped wearing them when I bought new shoes, because the new shoes weren't broken in and my ankle wraps didn't fit well. I noticed my knees have been hurting more, and I thought I would give the ankle wraps another try. I wore them tonight, and my knees are doing pretty well. My feet are a bit sore from the tight wraps, but my knees are a lot better.
So -- all you folks with knee soreness from volleyball -- wrap your ankles!
I had a pretty severely pulled groin, and when I went to the doctor and let him put me through the motions, I discovered that I had some hip pain, too. The night before I was supposed to visit the physical therapist, I tweaked my back and it was *so* sore that I had to stand in the shower with the hot water pounding on it just to loosen it up enough to walk without too much discomfort.
The therapist that I work with (and who did wonders for my shoulder tendonitis) uses a combination of stretching, strengthening exercises, and massage to treat an injury. I was amazed when he worked on my shoulder -- I would come in with something like 50% of the range of motion in my right shoulder compared to my left, and he would press on the muscles with a continuous pressure, and I could feel it loosen. Before I left, I would usually make significant gains in my range of motion.
He did the same for my hip and groin. He showed me some exercises, but when he started working on my left leg with some massage, I felt something that felt like a bungie cord running down the outside of my leg get pushed from the left to the right. He pointed out that the reason I could feel it like that was because of how tight it was. The part in question was my iliotibial band. He did the same massage on my right leg, and I didn't feel that same motion of my ITB at all. He convinced me to buy one of those foam rollers that get used in yoga / pilates classes, and I could do a good approximation of the massage myself.
My hip and groin pain are completely gone. Also, that tweaking of my back was also affected by the left ITB. My back hasn't hurt even a tiny bit since then.
Still, though, my knees are the source of most of my pain. In this case, though, I don't think that I have any particular condition that can be treated, instead, the cause is just overuse (in my completely untrained medical opinion). Volleyball is rough on the knees. Icing, NSAIDs, and glucosamine and chondroitin all help. However, I think I have learned something about my knees that has helped me avoid some of the pain. I always thought that all of the pain came from jumping and landing. However, I started to notice when I was on the ground that when I moved laterally and stopped short, my knees would hurt. Try the following experiment -- run to your left or right, stop short, and reverse directions. You should notice a lot of stress on your knees when you stop. I found that when I wore neoprene ankle wraps, that when I move laterally and stop, I'm able to change directions with less stress on my knees -- I assume that the wraps are absorbing some of the impact. I stopped wearing them when I bought new shoes, because the new shoes weren't broken in and my ankle wraps didn't fit well. I noticed my knees have been hurting more, and I thought I would give the ankle wraps another try. I wore them tonight, and my knees are doing pretty well. My feet are a bit sore from the tight wraps, but my knees are a lot better.
So -- all you folks with knee soreness from volleyball -- wrap your ankles!
posted by Chris at 11:53 PM
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