Pain in the butt. Literally.

[DrMomof3]

Not to get too personal but I've started getting a pain in my butt when I run. It only happens on the left. I do run/walk and the pain goes away almost entirely during walk breaks. 12 hours after my run today I can still tell where it's bothering me but it doesn't really hurt.
I had this a little bit during the high mileage runs when I trained for my last half-marathon but then it went away. I'm wondering if it's partly speed related - I did a Magic Mike last weekend and then some speed stuff on Tuesday. I tried to slow down my run today but it was still hurting. My fastest half marathon time was about 12 min/mile and I've been pacing my long runs between 13:30 and 14:00 min/mile. Today's long run was 4 miles.
Thoughts? Advice?

Thanks!
Amanda

 

[cewait]

Ouch.

Since it is recurring from race season to race season, why not get to a doc and get a hands on evaluation. You can get any number of guesses from the boards but as complex as a the hip girdle is, best to have a real doc look at it. It can be any number of issues most of which will take a little time to heal up. The range from a simple muscle pull, to a tendon issue, nerve issue to a stress fracture. It can even be in the lower back or hamstring and manifest itself in the hip.

Sorry but cannot be of real help.

What to expect from the doc...
moving the joint through its range of motion to assess the joint
X-Ray to determine if a hard tissue issue is present
Possibly a bone scan looking for micro fractures (stress fractures)

 

[DrMomof3]

Thanks Coach!
I was hoping this was something simple. I should see the Chairman of Orthodopedics in the OR on Tuesday so I will ask him who I should see.

Amanda

 

[rubato]

As always, great advice from Coach. I have, what I think is piriformis syndrome, but am going to go get myself diagnosed here in the next few weeks. I injured myself running in November, and it's just hurting more and more. And, mostly because I'm now going back to college and sitting all day. I recommend seeing a sports medicine doctor and finding out if it's muscular or tendon/ligament related, or worse. Good luck and I hope you get some answers.

 

[cewait]

Having suffered through a torn piriformis from a bike wreck a couple years back I am here to say that for such a small muscle, it is active is so much of your life. I thought I had a fracture before radiographic exams. On a side note, I did learn that the piriformis is known as the fillet mignon of the human.

 

[DrMomof3]

As always, great advice from Coach. I have, what I think is piriformis syndrome, but am going to go get myself diagnosed here in the next few weeks. I injured myself running in November, and it's just hurting more and more. And, mostly because I'm now going back to college and sitting all day. I recommend seeing a sports medicine doctor and finding out if it's muscular or tendon/ligament related, or worse. Good luck and I hope you get some answers.

I hope you feel better, too!

Having suffered through a torn piriformis from a bike wreck a couple years back I am here to say that for such a small muscle, it is active is so much of your life. I thought I had a fracture before radiographic exams. On a side note, I did learn that the piriformis is known as the fillet mignon of the human.

It's always the little things that get you, right?

Thanks again for taking the time to answer my question. I'm not in a lot of pain but I'm going to talk to the ortho guys before I make things worse!

Amanda

 

[bunnyfoo]

I had something happen to my piriformis the first year I started running. I think it ended up irritating my sciatic - not fun. It hurt to sit, it hurt to walk and running was out of the question. I had to rehab it for about 6 weeks before I was allowed to run again. I hope your's isn't that serious.

 

[DrMomof3]

I had something happen to my piriformis the first year I started running. I think it ended up irritating my sciatic - not fun. It hurt to sit, it hurt to walk and running was out of the question. I had to rehab it for about 6 weeks before I was allowed to run again. I hope your's isn't that serious.

Oh my goodness! That doesn't sound encouraging at all!
Luckily I'm not in pain except when running so hopefully this will heal quickly!

Amanda

 

[bunnyfoo]

Oh my goodness! That doesn't sound encouraging at all!
Luckily I'm not in pain except when running so hopefully this will heal quickly!

Amanda

I had a lot less experience when I first started running. So I probably pushed and ran even though I should have been taking it easy. Sorry, it wasn't meant to scare you. I hope the pain isn't anything serious. Keep us posted

 

[DrMomof3]

I had a lot less experience when I first started running. So I probably pushed and ran even though I should have been taking it easy. Sorry, it wasn't meant to scare you. I hope the pain isn't anything serious. Keep us posted

You're so nice! I didn't think you were trying to scare me. I appreciated you sharing your story! I'm just nervous because I'm trying to run my first marathon in January. Since I don't get pain with walking, I would consider walking the marathon if that's what I need to do to finish. I know it's early and I still have a lot of time to train. I also think I got pain because I was trying to push my speed faster than where I usually train.

Amanda

 

[hotblooded]

I experienced something similar in March and April of this year, but for a simple reason: I took a hard fall on the ice.

 

[OregonGirl]

HotBlooded - LOL, I had a similar experience. I have this cute little bridge that crosses over a dry creek bed on my property which allows me to access my veggie garden, and in a spaz moment I slipped on the slightly-slippery-after-a-rain-shower bridge and landed square in my right butt check. It REALLY hurt, and I sported what was probably the biggest, black and bluest rectangle for a few weeks after. Hilarious now but of course I shed a few tears back when it happened.

But in all seriousness, DrMom, I hope it's nothing too serious. Sometimes I notice that when I have a pain in my knee (from an old injury) I run differently without even realizing it and then my foot or my hip starts to hurt. So maybe pay close attention to if a pain #1 is inadvertently causing a pain #2?

Couch Charles offers some good food for thought, though - as always.

- Carey (training for my first W&D 1/2 Marathon in Oct.)

 

[DrMomof3]

I experienced something similar in March and April of this year, but for a simple reason: I took a hard fall on the ice.

Somehow in this weather I can't blame ice!

HotBlooded - LOL, I had a similar experience. I have this cute little bridge that crosses over a dry creek bed on my property which allows me to access my veggie garden, and in a spaz moment I slipped on the slightly-slippery-after-a-rain-shower bridge and landed square in my right butt check. It REALLY hurt, and I sported what was probably the biggest, black and bluest rectangle for a few weeks after. Hilarious now but of course I shed a few tears back when it happened.

But in all seriousness, DrMom, I hope it's nothing too serious. Sometimes I notice that when I have a pain in my knee (from an old injury) I run differently without even realizing it and then my foot or my hip starts to hurt. So maybe pay close attention to if a pain #1 is inadvertently causing a pain #2?

Couch Charles offers some good food for thought, though - as always.

- Carey (training for my first W&D 1/2 Marathon in Oct.)

Thanks for your thoughts! I have my women's running group tonight so I'll give it a go. I didn't have any pain today but I haven't tried running yet. I think tonight's run will be short and slow because it is SO hot out!!! Tomorrow I should be able to talk to some of the orthopedic surgeons and get a game plan.

Amanda