Pain on outside of upper left leg.
(3 discussions)
Since competing in hilly 1/2 marathon 3 weeks ago I have had a pain deep within left upper leg approx midway between hip and knee running down the outside. Have been able to continue training although slightly down on intensity. Average mileage 50 per week, been running competitivley for more than 20 years, age now 40. Have tried taking some time off – no real change. What is the injury? How can it be cured? Aim to run Bristol 1/2 marathon UK 12 Sep. Please help!!
3 comments
SBGrunner
Thanks for the reply Tony. I barely felt it today when I ran. I am very used to “overuse injuries” I have had Achilles Tendonitis 3 times. I also had an IT band problem but that pain was alot closer to my knee. It came up halfway thru the Tahoe marathon, now that was fun! This is a real bizarre pain. It was only real bad when I first felt it, as I about fell. I also have a great “deep tissue massage” massuese. I know I could use a massage. If it doesn’t go away I will check with my PT. I do appreciate your post……Carole
gripperdunn
Hi Carole,
The injury that I mentioned in my post turned out to be an overuse injury. Running down the outside of the quad is something called the IT band (shortened name)which is not a muscle. Coupled with that my physio said that I had scar tissue on my lower outer quad. Basically after many years of running with very little stretching (typical for a long distance runner) my IT band was working too hard and that is what caused the pain. The treatment I had was 2 sessions of acupuncture and 4 session of hard massage on the IT band and quad. Depending on how deep/hard the massage is depends on how painful it is (mine was prety painful I can tell you). I was given plenty of stretching exercises to do 3 times a day and am now able to run easy for 20/30 mins every other day. So far it has been fine and I aim to increase my running slowly with the possibility of building to a race in around 4 weeks (my own restriction). It worked for me and from now on I will be doing plenty of stretching. Good luck with yours and let me know how you get on. Running regards Tony
SBGrunner
I am curious if you ever found out what this was? I just got the exact same pain but on my right outer quad. It came on at the end of a 5 mile run yesterday, kinda felt like a charly horse or a cramp. I ran a half marathon last sunday. I am 47 and have run for about 27 years. I crosstrain and strength train also. The pain isn’t bad but I am wanting to increase my mileage for my 12th marathon…thanks for any response…Carole