I is for Iliacus and Injury

My hip flexors have been causing me pain almost all summer. It started early in the summer when I started walking more than I had during the school year and flared up any time I sat for extended period of time (frequent car and airplane trips). Almost immediately I started physical therapy. Because my core (ab and butt muscles) is weak, my hip flexors are doing too much work. Physical therapy consists of several exercises to do at home. During my trip to Guatemala, I failed daily exercises. Instead of getting worse, my hip flexor pain actually was diminished.

Of course this was a reason for me to quit my exercises making the pain come back with more intensity. Around the same time, I also started C25K meaning more struggle. Since I started C25K, I didn't want to feel like a loser after one week and quit and explained this to my PT. "The pain is back due to more activity and lack of exercises," I started. "If I put on Biofreeze before and after plus take four Advil, I can accomplish the C25K every other day without pain while I'm running/walking. The pain comes later in the afternoon," I continued. I appreciated her listening without calling me an idiot. She asked if I was still doing BodyPump and BodyFlow throughout the week. Hesitantly I said that I was and following the same Biofreeze/Advil routine. Her advice was to be careful with my Advil use and to continue my exercises for ab/gluts.

Yesterday I followed my C25K in the morning by playing golf in the afternoon. It's amazing how much the hips are used in a golf game. After golf we had dinner. By the end of dinner, I couldn hardly walk. Instead of playing golf again today, I'm staying home. Maybe a day off will prepare me for C25K and Bodypump tomorrow. I, however, am infuriated about this injury. I hope that following the given exercises will eventually make the pain stop. If not I guess I can give the Iliacus (the red) some rest when it gets cold outside.

I don't want to sound like too much of a whiner. By following advice of fellow bloggers, I have cut the toe nail as much as I can and added a bandage while doing any physical activity requiring shoes. It has not caused any added pain and/or frustration.