Pain in the ....
I have this weird leg pain that I have a difficult time describing.
Where?
It is kind of on my shin, but not really, more to the inside of my leg than smack down the middle on my shin. Not the back of my leg on the calf muscle. More like the inside calf muscle, but only half-way up, not at the heal or ankle.
What?
What kind of pain? Random shooting pain, and almost every step I take, and often when I am just sitting down. Kind of all the time but in different ways.
When?
Lets go with about 2 weeks.
How?
No clue. My best guess is that this is some running injury issue. Or maybe I turned 36 and my leg decided it was too old to be running but it didn't reveal itself as an injury until I started running again.
I've been diagnosed (by random non-professionals) as having shin splints, a pulled achilles, hairline fracture, and tight muscle.
It hasn't stopped me from running yet. It still hurts when I run, but by mile 5 or 6 I can't really feel my legs anymore anyway so no worries.
The real problem is after I run. Holy moly cow. That is when this bone/muscle/tendon/psychosomatic issue really starts to kick in. In addition to a lot of stretching before and after runs, long hot showers, drugs, and paying my children unfair wages to rub my legs, I decided to take my pain relief to the next level: topical rub.
HUGE MISTAKE.
Aspercreme. That was my topical medicine of choice. Why? It was on sale.
I stopped by Safeway and picked up the tube of doom around 8pm on Saturday. 2 hours after I completed my 8 mile run at a 9:20 pace (its like a Kenyan's mall walking pace, but super speedy for me). I decided the throbbing discomfort was not something I was enjoying and since I was out anyway, I stopped by for some magic ointment. I carefully applied a THIN layer of aspercreme gel to my legs and then sat back and waited for my legs to escape the earthly pain and find a happy place.
Over the next hour or so my leg muscles were magically healed....or maybe not. Maybe the fact that my flesh was on FIRE just masked the leg pain. My skin was getting so hot, I had to open a window.
I went to bed and I am not kidding you I couldn't let my legs touch each other without flames shooting out of the sheets. It was like flint and stone or whatever boy scouts use to make fire. One leg touching the other was igniting the most painful burning sensation ever. My skin was burning so bad I was almost in tears.
I tried to go to sleep but between the throbbing muscle pain and the volcanic flesh, sleep escaped me.
Matt asked me the next morning why I didn't just wash it off? That is a good question. My only answer is that I was completely afraid to. When you add water to hot oil it splatters all over and all hell breaks loose. This was my, perhaps irrational, fear with the aspercreme. What if, adding water to the toxic mix of aspercreme and my flesh made it all even angrier?
So, my leg still hurts. I think I'll make an appointment to see the doctor. Perhaps he'll prescribe some non-fire inducing topical ointment or maybe massage therapy?
Where?
It is kind of on my shin, but not really, more to the inside of my leg than smack down the middle on my shin. Not the back of my leg on the calf muscle. More like the inside calf muscle, but only half-way up, not at the heal or ankle.
What?
What kind of pain? Random shooting pain, and almost every step I take, and often when I am just sitting down. Kind of all the time but in different ways.
When?
Lets go with about 2 weeks.
How?
No clue. My best guess is that this is some running injury issue. Or maybe I turned 36 and my leg decided it was too old to be running but it didn't reveal itself as an injury until I started running again.
I've been diagnosed (by random non-professionals) as having shin splints, a pulled achilles, hairline fracture, and tight muscle.
It hasn't stopped me from running yet. It still hurts when I run, but by mile 5 or 6 I can't really feel my legs anymore anyway so no worries.
The real problem is after I run. Holy moly cow. That is when this bone/muscle/tendon/psychosomatic issue really starts to kick in. In addition to a lot of stretching before and after runs, long hot showers, drugs, and paying my children unfair wages to rub my legs, I decided to take my pain relief to the next level: topical rub.
HUGE MISTAKE.
Aspercreme. That was my topical medicine of choice. Why? It was on sale.
I stopped by Safeway and picked up the tube of doom around 8pm on Saturday. 2 hours after I completed my 8 mile run at a 9:20 pace (its like a Kenyan's mall walking pace, but super speedy for me). I decided the throbbing discomfort was not something I was enjoying and since I was out anyway, I stopped by for some magic ointment. I carefully applied a THIN layer of aspercreme gel to my legs and then sat back and waited for my legs to escape the earthly pain and find a happy place.
Over the next hour or so my leg muscles were magically healed....or maybe not. Maybe the fact that my flesh was on FIRE just masked the leg pain. My skin was getting so hot, I had to open a window.
I went to bed and I am not kidding you I couldn't let my legs touch each other without flames shooting out of the sheets. It was like flint and stone or whatever boy scouts use to make fire. One leg touching the other was igniting the most painful burning sensation ever. My skin was burning so bad I was almost in tears.
I tried to go to sleep but between the throbbing muscle pain and the volcanic flesh, sleep escaped me.
Matt asked me the next morning why I didn't just wash it off? That is a good question. My only answer is that I was completely afraid to. When you add water to hot oil it splatters all over and all hell breaks loose. This was my, perhaps irrational, fear with the aspercreme. What if, adding water to the toxic mix of aspercreme and my flesh made it all even angrier?
So, my leg still hurts. I think I'll make an appointment to see the doctor. Perhaps he'll prescribe some non-fire inducing topical ointment or maybe massage therapy?
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