A party game that doesn’t sound nearly as much fun as ‘Snog, Marry, Avoid’, I’ve been playing this one today. When does a twinge become a niggle, and when does that niggle become an injury? In some cases it’s obvious. Anyone who’s ever limped home from an abandoned run will know exactly what an injury is. After Devizes Half Marathon back in October last year, 13.2 miles in freezing rain ending with a steep, slippery scramble up a hill was enough to leave my backside sore with tight muscles. I laughed it off, because it’s funny to have a sore bottom after running, isn’t it? A month later l had to admit that my right butt cheek was still feeling a little sore after running. I think at this point it became a ‘Twinge’.
It’s now the new year, I’ve run a couple of times, and guess what – I can still feel it. I can feel it even when not running. It’s not desperately painful but I Googled my symptoms, and at this point I believe it officially became a ‘Niggle’. I’ve read up on some exercises I can do, and this made up my Janathon exercise for today. (Doing the exercises, not the reading). If at any point I decide to consult a Doctor or Physio about my bottom, then it will develop into an ‘Injury’.
Last time I had an injury it cost lots of money, I didn’t run for weeks and I ended up creating a stir wearing an enormous float in our local swimming pool (otherwise known as aqua running). Not keen on that happening again, so fingers crossed the exercises help.
Fingers crossed that the niggle can be downgraded soon.
Thank you! I have my fingers crossed also. I did have my legs crossed but that made my hip ache so I uncrossed them again.
I do very much dislike that game! Is it your piriformis d’you think? If so, my pain/niggle went away completely over a month of doing physio stretches and foam rolling – sadly the most effective thing was rolling around on a tennis ball. Everyone has different experiences of course, but that’s mine 🙂
Not sure Lucy – I think my Piriformis might be involved as I’ve had the tingly sciatica-feeling as well but its more than just that. I was doing piriformis stretching last night in case that would help – more stretching coming soon!
It’s definitely snigger-worthy having a sore backside but I’ve had the same sort of thing in the past. As I learnt on my massage course, the glutes are the biggest muscles in the body and have to work the hardest (hauling yourself upright for example). So they can have problems like any other muscle. Lucy’s ‘rolling around on a tennis ball’ isn’t that dissimilar from working on a muscle with your thumbs and easing out any tightness.
One good stretch for that area I was given is as follows (works for right-side pain) – Stand behind a sofa or in front of a table. Take the weight on your left leg, lift right leg, bend ankle inwards and place lower leg on table or back of sofa. Gently (very gently as it is a powerful stretch!) bend forward from the waist supporting yourself with your arms. You should feel a powerful stretch up through your glutes. You can obviously do the same stretch on the left-hand side (as well or instead of).
Mel – I must be being very dense today because I can’t visualise this stretch at all. If I’m facing the back of the sofa / table, is my leg stretched out to the side or in front of me?
Lucy – the leg is in front of you. It can be a bit of a stretch to get the leg onto the top of the back of the sofa or on the table in the first place. But once there then the lower leg should be below your tummy as attempt to bend over. Hope that helps! 🙂
Perfect – I’ll be off to try that later. Thank you!
Oh no 🙁 That doesn’t sound like a fun game! Fingers crossed for your niggle/twinge to go away. Take it easy!
Thanks Steph. So frustrating!