Here we are again... so, grab a seat, grab a snack, and settle down for a chat
Here I am again too, and sorry to say, reporting that there have been a few sightings this last week of the pesky twosome Niggle and Twinge... and unfortunately they seem, in one or two instances to have teamed up with a new companion.. Pain ! A very unpleasant character!
So... the first question I have been asking myself, has been... how do we know which of these villains is which!
What I do know is that I, as have a few of us ( if we are honest), have mistaken the identity of the issue on more than one occasion. Not deliberately, I don't think, but I have pushed on, when I should have stopped.
This kind of unwitting, perseverance may happen with our running, our walking or indeed any other type of physical activity.
Remember too, that illness or generally feeling run down may mean the likelihood of niggle and twinge appearing is greater!
Knowing when to stop comes hard to many of us, and as is often the case, we are kinder to other folk and wiser it seems, in our advice to them , than we are to ourselves.
Okay... Pain. A new one... but a well known one...real pain is very different to the odd aches and pains of beginning any new exercise. Recognising that it is pain, means, there is a real problem that needs solving.
Most of us know what a niggle is, although it can feel differently in all of us. It may be a tight-ish sort of feeling, a sensation of something pulling, just something that makes your movement feel wrong.
A twinge can be easier to recognise and usually, locate. A twinge is according to the dictionary, a sharp localized pain... and in my case, I know exactly what that feels like !
Often, ( and this might not always be the case) , that sharp shooting or twanging type feeling may be the sign of a significant injury.. I prefer to call it, a ping!
An injury I had a while ago, started with a ping and I was off running for quite a time
Dealing with a Niggle...
PRICE... we all know the routine... and if we don't, there is a wealth of information on it available.. but in short;
PRICE stands for protection, rest, ice, compression, and elevation.
Now, if you have dome all the right things, then after 48 to 72 hours, if there is no real improvement or things feel a lot worse... then time to get it checked out, by someone, who knows what they are talking about. It may be a GP... it may be, if you are able to access one, a Sports' Physiotherapist !
Dealing with a Twinge!
Sometimes, a twinge is very hard to ignore... and, quite literally, stops us in our tracks. A twinge may mean something is wrong and not fixable by home methods..
So.. if the issue persists, gets worse... more swelling, bruising etc. etc... then get it seen by the experts.
And, if there is this new companion Pain, tagging along with twinge... relentless and recurring, then that really is the time to say, enough is enough. !
Now... here is the tricky twist to the behaviour of those two villains...if they seem to disappear but then keep on re-appearing at intervals... then action is essential, and from health and medical experts...
A spell on the IC until your issues are resolved, is infinitely better than causing further issues and maybe, stopping you from returning to your chosen exercise route, for a very long time.
Okay, enough doom and gloom... I know from experience. the kind of issues I have come up against..
I am wondering how many of us, have encountered Niggle or Twinge and ignored them? Pretend they were not there... and maybe to your cost? I hope that none of us have ever ignored Pain, or taken stuff to keep it quiet!
If you have any tales to tell, maybe you will share your experience with us... it may just help someone to avoid injury !
Looking forward to seeing some of you as and when …not Niggle, Twinge or Pain though!
Oldfloss x
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🍏 Excellent post as ever Floss. Last year while out walking with hubby on the beach I stumbled into a hole in the sand. Fortunately I was holding onto him at the time ( ❤️ ❤️) & thought nothing of it! We continued our walk. The following day was Runday for me & did my usual early morning run without incident. That night I was aware of back pain.. by the next morning I was in agony with pain now down my leg. To cut a long story.. seen by GP & Sports Chiropractor who both concluded an inflammation in my hip as a direct result of the slip on the beach! I was on the injury couch for weeks. Gradually recovered with exercise & highlighted my need for extra S& F in my daily routine!!
Oh my goodness! A perfect example of how sneaky these injuries can be!But you were not aware of anything amiss, until those villains got to work, overnight!
Thank goodness you had a rapid diagnosis and expert advice and support..
Well done you on keeping up your S and F routine too...take note fellow runners or walkers too!
Sadly, I also know the ping or the twinge all too well. That’s what my calf has been doing at least once a year, whilst walking.
But every time it happens, I try to work on making my calf muscles stronger, my ankles more flexible and my glutes well stretched. It all connects. Or, it must do right? So I’m imagining going slowly from strength to strength. And with patience , this last twinge that I’m recovering from, hopefully it was the last one for the next few years.
I also have pondered about the connectivity of things. As we get better in running, various parts of our body don’t gain strength at the same speeds, which must put strains on some parts as they try to catch up with the stronger parts. So slow and steady is always a good call, isn’t it.
Hello... how good to see you and recovering! I think anyone who has had a twinge attack winces when they read the word... I know I do!
But, be careful what you say about avoiding further injuries... I made some comment a few years ago about no injury and pow.... laid low for quite a while
We do strain and stretch different bits, and subconsciously too, we compensate for an inured part by over using other parts... it is a tricky business balancing it all!
Slow and steady? Well you know my answer to that don't you...? Absolutely! x
An update on my ruptured Baker's cyst, apologies to anyone eating as they read this...
So, the synovial fluid travelled down inside my calf causing pain and swelling.
My foot and ankle became puffy, and bruises appeared on the sides of my foot.
The doctor in A and E told me that it would take two to three weeks to settle back down though, so I am not worrying.
I am finding it easier to sleep by having my feet up on a pillow inside the covers, but that first step out of bed in the morning is painful.
My knee is a bit clicky and feels odd, but my foot although bruised and sore is no longer puffy. I am hoping the physio will start me on some exercises next Tuesday to begin recovery.
I didn't know that I had a Baker's cyst, and its quite unusual for one to rupture. The symptoms are the same as those of a DVT, which should always be checked out.
Hoping those with niggles and injuries feel better soon.
Hi, I regularly battle against calf strains. Last year I got through C25K with interruptions from a strain in my left calf. I built up my miles until April this year when my left calf sent me back to rehab. After that I built up my miles through Ju Ju's magic plan. I got up to 9K in July before I ran into problems with my right calf. I had a month off and I thought I was progressing well until today my calf twinges started in my right calf towards the end of my 5K run. So I'm back to rehab. I have just joined a gym, so I hope, eventually, to add strength and flex to my routine.
It sounds as if you are really struggling with that calf muscle.
Have you seen a GP or preferably a Sports Physio... a diagnosis from an expert could be a starting point...then you may be able to pin point why it keeps recurring...
There are exercises on here for your core strength and your stamina and specific ones too for calf muscles.. but the problem is, that until you know what is happening in those calf muscles , you might do an exercise that could make the problem worse...?
For the running you have done.. do you warm up well... are those muscles really ready for the run...? Do you feel that maybe you push yourself a tad too hard sometimes... I am just asking so that we can be as supportive as possible.
The bottom line would seem to be that this problem is recurring... and you need to find out why...?
Hi, Thanks for the reply.I always warm up before a run with lunges, hip flexes, high knees, but kicks and 5 mins of fast walking. I have a wall at the end of my garden so I have added the calf warm ups too.
I have varicose veins which, I think, doesn't let enough oxygenated blood to the calfs and so leads to failure in the muscles. This is just my theory. I will try to find a Sports Physio and see what they diagnose.
I have tried regular calf strength exercises but maybe I should do more strength work and less running? Increasing my recovery time between runs may be something else I could experiment with.
Sounds like there could be a few different things contributing to what's happening. Strength work will help. .but an expert opinion really could be a great starting point..
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