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At long last, I may finally be getting somewhere.
Within hours of my last post going live (I wonder who reads my blog sometimes), I received a phone call to book me in for an MRI scan on Tuesday 4th August in relation to my ongoing hip and back problems. It seems odd to me that it takes over six weeks to make just the appointment, but I guess I can’t complain – it wouldn’t do any good if I did.
Ironically, I feel as though my symptoms have changed somewhat since I originally saw my GP – back then it felt a lot like what I imagine sciatica to be like, but in the meantime it’s shifted to being far more localised to the hip area.
In particular, it feels like constant tightness of the hip flexor muscles and a consistent soreness or burning in the hip joint itself. Particularly distressing is that it’s uncomfortable to lie on my left side at night, making sleep broken and painful.
I know that you shouldn’t consult Dr Google and try to self-diagnose – especially with a joint as complicated as the hip where multiple muscles work in harmony to create various movement planes – but after reading around the subject I’m currently thinking that it could be a stress fracture of the thigh bone at the joint with the hip.
If that’s the case, then I’ll need to take some proper rest – probably for six to eight weeks – from anything that puts stress on the joint.
I would guess that would almost certainly rule out cycling and swimming, even though neither actually cuase further pain, emphasising the mixed requirements of the hip joint. That would clearly be a bit of a disappointment as it’s been those two activities that have filled the void left by ceasing my running, but I guess that’s the way life goes sometimes.
And after all, at least I have my health – there are people who would love to have done the things I’ve done in the last couple of years and cannot, so we should never take for granted what we have or had.
What is most frustrating about the whole experience is the uncertainty. I think I could deal with it much better if I knew for certain how long I need to rest for in order to regain full mobility – knowing that even six months of inactivity would resolve the problem would be ok, but after eight months of varied symptoms, false starts and further breakdowns, it’s no surprise that my spirit is now crumbling faster than my hip.
Fingers crossed for a positive – and speedy – diagnosis after Tuesday’s scan.
Although knowing my recent luck, crossing my fingers would probably strain a tendon or stretch a ligament.