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In article <[email hidden]>, Eric Kratz
Quoted message said:I am desparate for some help. I have had patellar tendonitis now for 2.5 -
3 months.. I am an avid triathlete. I just had major surgury on my right
knee. Now I am having the tendonitis on my left knee. I assume that is
from over compensation.
I have done the rest, ice, massage, etc.. My medical doctor sent me for
ultrasound and that made it worse from the wand going over the bone. He
then gave me a coritzone shot near the tendon. At first it seemed to work.
I went for a 10 mile bike ride and then ran about 1 mile the next day. Now
I have the pain again.
Can anyone help or point me in the direction that someone could help me. My
summer is pretty much lost and I don't really see any light at the end of
the tunnel.
A post from Sept/2003:
In article <[email hidden]>, Alex
Quoted message said:I have been battling with this for several months now and was
wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a remedy?. Im not sure
about other people who have this affliction but I find that it not
only affects the quad tendon but causes crepitus, cracking on leg
extension and sometimes pain radiating down the shin - can anyone
concur?. Would aggressive icing every hour be an idea?.
Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.
cheers,
Alex
check out: http://www.mindfulness.com/of5.asp
Compiled from two responses of mine to someone asking about what you
asked about regarding the knee.
Oz
My folklore holds that if the fascia around a portion of one's muscle
is contracted, the muscle under that constricted sausage skin around
the muscle can't go through its range of motion. So that when you
stretch you can stretch and overstretch the good muscle fibers not
under the contracted fascia. If you overstretch that area, then the
overstretched good muscle fibers join the muscle that is under the
constricted fascia.
Fascia letting go is similar to the feeling of when someone Indian
burned your wrist by twisting it with their hands in opposite
directions, like wringing out a washcloth.
I use as my roller, a piece of inch PVC that's about 16 inches long. I
can lay on it and gradually let the muscles of the quad sink into it.
Take three fingers and push hard on the shin bone and let those
fingers slide down the shin bone hard enough that you can feel the
friction. You can actually work off some of the fascia that's holding
unnecessarily.
To experience the tightness of fascia, stand and rest the back of one
of your hands on a table or desk. Leave the hand open. Push down
hard on the back of the hand so that when you push your hand forward,
it doesn't slip because the skin is stuck between your table/desk and
you pushing down on the back of the hand. With that pressure now,
close your fingers slowly. You now get a sense of how fascia can
hold. I have older people do this to their hands to loosen the fascia
of the hand so the hand moves much more flexibly and easily.
Regarding the rolling on the PVC, edge of a bench or just the hard
floor, the idea is to get the muscle to let go and the fascia to
release.
Worked my my quads and IT Band last night as my back had that feeling
that it was close to going into spasm. Our bed has a wooden bench at
the foot of the bed, so I can lay on the bed with my quads on the edge
of the bench and feet on the ground. I can go from side to side or
slide down the entire way on one quad and then the other.
Since I know the pain, I know the intensity that it will take to let
that knotted area go.
If you play with the rolling on the PVC,, or just use a hardback book
under the quad as you roll the quad on the floor, as it first
picture, the weight is on one quad, and the weight can be increased
depending on the weight being carried on the two forearms and the front
of the foot of the leg on top.
To help, if you push the toe of the leg/quad on the
book./PVC/hardfloor into the floor for 3 or 4 seconds, you'll feel the
quad contract. Hold it and then let it relax, often you can get it to
relax even more. I'll do that 4 or 5 times.
Also at times I'll jiggle the foot, more like a slight tremor than
jiggle, of the quad on the ground to help get the muscle to let go.
Rolling on a weight bar, with or without weights would work just as
well. I also realize that in a gym, there are somethings like rolling
on a bar with one's butt up in the air that might be seen as
suggestive, e.g. the second picture. One good place to roll the quads
are on the edge of the concrete bench that is part of the concrete
picnic tables found in many parks. Forearms resting on the table,
quads on the bench just above the knees so I can slide the quad/quads
down the edge to loosen the quad.
When rolling in the gutter, I've had people stop numerous times to see
if I was alright. That's when I realized that you often don't see a
runner down and lying on the edge of a gutter and from the observer's
point of view, writhing in pain.
One can buy the various size hard foam cylinders. I am just too cheap
or may be more creative to use whatever is around.
In health and on the run,
Ozzie Gontang
Maintainer - rec.running FAQ
Director, San Diego Marathon Clinic, est. 1975
Mindful Running: http://www.mindfulness.com/mr.asp
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/running-faq/
