Last night saw me undertake the next step on my journey towards injury diagnosis and recovery with an MRI scan of my lower back.
MRI scans get bad press for being noisy and claustrophobic – I actually quite enjoyed having 20 minutes alone with my thoughts and a loud, repetitive drumming sound. It took me back to my partying and dj’ing days, although if I’d been in the scanner any longer I would definitely have fallen asleep.
It seems strange to be having a scan of an area of my body with no symptoms, but I guess that’s the nature of potential injuries with implications for nerve pinching or intrusion – they all start in the spine, so if it is along those lines then it should show up.
However, while it’s not my place to question my GP’s assessment, I would be very surprised if it does turn out to be spinal or nerve related. It feels like a deep-lying, bone or joint issue, with a side order of stiff muscles in the groin and hip.
The danger of living in a modern world with internet on tap and an inquisitive mind is the risk of over-researching and looking for a solution, which could actually be a million miles from the truth. This becomes especially significant when dealing with a complex junction of multiple soft tissues and bony structures like the hip – it could be any of about 10 conditions, all of which match some of the symptoms I have been encountering in the last eight months.
Even though I would always advise anyone to avoid a consultation with Dr Google, I still frequently find myself pouring through forums reading other people’s experiences of hip conditions, treatments and suggestions, often leading to darkness and despair among tales of torn labral cartilage (look it up), failed arthroscopies and retired runners.
They say that misery loves company – well, I believe that misery really loves posting about it on the internet.
Onwards and upwards. It’s currently four-and-a-bit weeks since I last went for a run, which is still a couple of weeks short of my longest spell on the sidelines since shedding my chub. In addition, I’ve continued to cycle and swim during that time and with a diagnosis still some way away (at least 10-14 days until I get the MRI results back – and that’s if they actually pinpoint the issue), I have no idea if either of those activities will help or hinder my recovery.
One thing that definitely doesn’t help is my seeming inability to control my diet. I eat because I get bored and unhappy at not exercising. This in turn makes me feel more unhappy so I pressure myself to exercise and round and round we go…
I’ve gained at least half a stone on where I was 12 months ago and I dread to think what my actual body composition might be in terms of lean mass vs fat. I’ve given up weighing myself too as I know it will only make me feel worse and powerless to do anything about it because of my inability to exercise consistently.
Simple solution – put the fork down, fatty. If only it was actually that easy.