Deep quad pain - any ideas? (Read 759 times)

I have an injury that has been coming on for just under a month. I've been running since 1992 and have never had this issue and have no idea what it might be. The pain is primarily very deep in my quad, but has changed since it first came on. When I first felt it, I was also dealing with patellar tendinitis in the same leg. I started wearing an "Ace" knee strap for the knee and it resolved itself within 3 weeks. However, the pain in the quad has gotten worse. When I first felt it, it seemed to be located right in the middle of my inside thigh and it was so deep that it seemed like the pain was within the bone. However, the pain moved to the top of my femur to the point where it joins the hip. When the pain was at these locations, only the impact of running caused it to hurt. However, the pain has since moved back downward again, and feels like more of a muscular or soft-tissue pain. The pain is physically located on the inside of my upper leg and extends from just below the mid-point to just above the mid-point of my upper leg. It is still not at the surface, but no longer feels as deep as the bone. In addition, I can induce pain by internally rotating my entire leg. The only other time I can induce pain (other than the impact of running or rotatiing the leg) is by sitting on a chair and letting my weight push the chair into an area just above the mid point of my hamstring. Any ideas what I may be dealing with?

Thanks Trent. And you're not supposed to say that. You're supposed to say "train as usual." So there's concern about the hip joint or high femur even if there is absolutely no pain in that area right now? Also, there aren't any openings for sports docs around here until Friday morning. Should I lay off running until I get in to see one, or can I go for a run if I wake up pain-free? Thanks again.

Frak, eh?

Yep, frak. Sportsdoc. Friday. 9am.

Mishka, on which thigh does your kiddo sit when you read her bed-time stories?

Just asking because my 2+ year old, who's a chunker, alway sits on my left leg. If I'm reading to the 2 and 5 y.o.'s together, the 5 is on the right, 2 on the left. But mostly the 5 y.o. is all set with being read to lately. She likes to lurk around the room or hang over my shoulder and listen but not sit with rapt attention. But the 2 y.o. will sit for an hour and listen to 20 books in a row. Anyhoo, I was (still am, sometimes) having this deep quad pain in my left leg only in the beginnings of a lot of my runs. I couldn't quite figure it out and it did seem to move around a bit, but it was upper thigh, deep inside, almost at the bone. It only ever hurt while running, I never noticed it any other time. That is until one night, like a week ago I'm reading to Fatty McFatfat and she shifts on my leg and "ouch!" And I thought, "so that's what's going on there..."

I think it goes away after 2-3 miles but then I'm not sure if it really goes away or I just stop paying attention to it. And it was never that bad, just one of those "uh oh, what is that?" things that I get sometimes. Just a thought.

The pain may have moved because another muscle is being affected by the initial injury. It may be a similar situation to a chest injury I suffered. I pulled a chest muscle, after about a week I started getting a pain in my back. This guy at the tennis club says "I bet I know exactly where the pain is." Surprised the heck out of me, he put his finger exactly on the spot in my back where the pain was coming from. I forget what he called it but apparently it is a junction point where 3 muscles in your back meet. He applied mild pressure on the spot (It felt like hard pressure to me and almost made me yelp but he said it was mild). Anyway he kept the pressure on for 10 to 15 seconds and released. The friggin pain went completely away for a little while. He said I could get someone to do it with up to 3 repeats if needed. This procedure apparently causes the muscle to release it's tightness. Maybe there is some junction or starting point for the quad, if so maybe the same thing applies. Then again maybe not but it may be worth a try.

. (Side note: How funny is it that I haven't looked at those until now...when I'm considering if she's large enough to injure my leg?) I'll try to pay extra attention to where she's sitting for a while.

This is wrong.

That is until one night, like a week ago I'm reading to Fatty McFatfat and she shifts on my leg and "ouch!" "

And THIS is SOOO wrong. I see therapy bills for both of your kids.