CanuckRunner says:

I'm currently training for my first 1/2 marathon... Everything had been going great so far, up until last week!!

I did 14km during my long run last week, and towards the very end of it (1km left or so...), my right hip started to hurt. I didn't think much of it, so after my rest day, I decided to go back and do my 6km run. Well, barely 5 minutes into it and my hip starting killing me!! I tried to keep going a bit longer, but ended up doing about 3km of mostly walking and limping.

It's been over a week now - I took the whole week off to see if that would help. I tried again today, and STILL!!! It hurts to run, and it's there all the time when I walk or climb stairs.

I tried looking for information online, but I'm at a complete loss. Everything is so technical sounding, and I'm not able to find any symptoms that really resonate with what I'm feeling. It's just "there" and there's sort of a dull but stabbing pain which each right step.

Any ideas here???? What am I supposed to do now, give up on my 1/2 marathon??? It's only 2 months away and I'm so disappointed that I may not be able to run!!!

-- Canuck in pain...

 MadeUpName says:

Are you sure it's your hip? or where you think your hip is? - Most people (including me) confuse hip joint ache with the trechantor, the bone that juts out from where the hip joint is.

The distinction is important from the point of view of required treatment.

I have just spent the thick end of February to June recovering from an injury that sounds remarkably similar to yours. Recovery took so long because I didn't rest it enough and kept running when I shouldn't have.

If you can..... go see a physio and get the right treatment..... I had ultrasound for 3 weeks, 4 times a week....

Don;t make the same mistake I did and keep running!!!!! - You may find that you can cycle without any issues at all..... that will help with keeping cardio fitness... good luck.

MUN

 RhinoRunner says:

Generally, when people complain about "hip" pain, they are identifying the area of the Greater Trochanter. That's the bony protuberance on the outside of the upper leg below the pelvic crest. Hip joint dysfunction, primarily variations of arthritis and degeneration, are described as "groin pain". So, I'm going to assume you are having your symptoms at the outside of the upper leg.

Often what happens to people who have been running for awhile and develop this type of injury is that something in the running mechanics break down. The support in your shoe can break down, bad habits develop like turning a foot in as you run, compensation from other aches/pains/injuries occur, fatigue with increases in training volume and/or frequency.

I recommend:
1) Stretch the hips in all planes
2) Strengthen the hips in all planes (resistive bands or ankle weights)
3) Work the tissue. See a massage therapist for sport or deep tissue work, or use a foam roller. It's going to hurt, but go really slow and work small areas at a time. Go as deeply into the tissue as you can tolerate. Even getting someone to work a rolling pin over the area can help.
4) Ease back into running while paying attention to your mechanics.

If you don't know where to begin on exercises and stretches, see a physio/physical therapist. Don't let this go and wait for it to go away by itself. Get it taken care of and get back to your life.

Good Luck!

 PotatoHead says:

Definitely see a professional. I had identical symptoms under very similar circumstances (increase in running distance while trying to train for a marathon). I read a lot on the web and talked to a lot of people on forums and self-diagnosed ITB syndrome or possibly a couple other things. Messed around for a few weeks, got worse, had to shut down running completely, and finally went to see my family doctor. To his everlasting credit, he said he had a few ideas but wasn't sure, and he wanted me to see a sports medicine specialist who would be supportive about my distance running goals if at all possible.

And in my case, the diagnosis was trochanteric bursitis -- a couple words which should be familiar to you from reading the prior replies. The doc didn't even make me rest an arbitrary amount of time -- he said as soon as I felt up to running again, go for it -- but he wanted me to do a few simple stretches before and after the run. Basically, the stretches were designed to make the muscles covering the trochanter and bursa less taut, so that there would be less pressure on the bursa, which in turn presses against that pointy structure called the trochanter. (I think I've got that all right.) Worked great, and I never had another problem in that area. And of course I felt stupid afterwards for messing around with stubbornness and incorrect self-diagnoses and pain for weeks, when it took a competent professional less than 5 minutes to figure out the real problem and help me fix it.

I want to stress that your problem could be something completely different, and while doing the stretches prescribed for my condition probably wouldn't hurt anything, they might not help your condition either. Go get some help, and good luck!

 CanuckRunner says:

Hi everyone!

Thanks so much for the great advice - I haven't run at all in over 2 weeks now, and since being back from a short vacation, I now had more time to research the problem. After doing a lot of reading and from what folks here have mentioned, I think it's Hip Bursitis. All the symptoms match up with what I'm experiencing, as well as the causes for it (I run almost always hills where I live, and they're kind of uneven. Plus, I *do* have one leg slightly shorter than the other...).

I've been icing it for the past 2-3 days, and taking NSAIDs, and if I don't do too much around the house, as far as going up and down stairs all the time, it actually is feeling better. I still haven't run though, I'm waiting for it to heal 100% before I do!!

Thanks again to everyone - I love this place! :D