need advice on gait/mechanics/muscles re: butt and heel pain

[patandchickens]

This is only "self sufficient" in the sense of I am trying to fix it myself and I know some of you out there Know Things about this type subject so I would love to hear any advice.

I am Not An Athlete, to put it mildly (digging postholes, yes; running, no!) and could stand to lose another 15 lbs or so. I've recently taken up dog agility, which especially if you have a fast young Lab requires you to do a lot of short sprints.

Background: I am not a sprinting type of gal. I have been having 1) major plantar-fasciitis/heel-spurs type pain, although it is actually getting a LOT better with changing the way I walk and doing a lot of very painful stretching (heels down, toes extended up) thanks to the recent thread here on that subject. And also 2) pain in my butt as well, just to the side/back of the seatbones especially on R side, but revising my walking mechanics and intentionally relaxing that area whenever I think of it has pretty much cured that in normal daily life.

HOWEVER, I had my first real outdoor hourlong agility class last night and now am just dyin' again this morning. Heels, bottom of R foot, back of R calf, R hamstring and R butt. The specific thing that seems to get me is a race-style standing start to sudden sprint. It doesn't bother me when I'm doing it, but how bad I feel 10 minutes later seems to correlate very well with how much if any of those I was doing. (Not doing that type movement does not, unfortunately, seem to be an option, unless I trade Russell in for a basset hound ).

I must be doing something wrong to cause this (current hypothesis: maybe has to do with contracting extensor muscles too suddenly when joints are considerably flexed? but I really dunno)

I realize this may not be enough information, but as I am desperate I thought I'd see if the above description rings any bells with anyone? Or if not, any suggestions on where to proceed -- my doctor would be useless, but my husband's benefits package does include a *little* coverage of chiropractic and orthotics and stuff like that, but I don't even know what would be the type of (affordable!) person most likely to be able to straighten this out.

Thanks for any ideas at all,

Pat

 

[Javamama]

The best exercise I have found for that kind of stuff is called T-Tapp. short explanation: "T-Tapp is a series of copyrighted, sequential movements designed to put the body in proper functional alignment. Its special sequence of comprehensive, compound muscle movement helps establish better alignment as well as increased strength and flexibility of the spine, better neuro-kinetic flow, lymphatic function, and increased metabolic rate. Its physical therapy approach to fitness makes it safe for those with shoulder, hip, knee, neck, and back concerns"
The website is www.t-tapp.com and there are some free online exercises to try here https://store.t-tapp.com/pages/Try-Before-You-Buy.html
There are plenty of special affordable deals to buy if you like it. I'm thinking the basic workout is 30 bucks or so, but there was a great special going on for a ton of stuff in a package that was less than 50. Sign up for email notices and they send you good coupons.

It is the best thing I have found to keep aligned and muscles balances the way they are meant to be. It works wonders for foot pain. I have been doing it for about 4 years and it helps me deal with pain from my autoimmune disease.

 

[freemotion]

First, I'd send you to a GOOD chiropractor. One who addresses every joint in the body and not just the spine. Look for someone who uses Applied Kinesiology (not so much the "hold this closed vitamin bottle while I test your muscle strength" kind....pshaw. The kind that tests your muscle strength before, to determine treatment, and after each treatment, to see if more work needs to be done before sending you out the door.) Or a Palmer graduate. Someone who will address your body with his HANDS, do muscle work, stretch you, adjust you, and not hook you up to machines, run in and do a couple of quick spinal adjustments, then hook you up to another machine. Ick. Useless.

From this distance, I can offer a couple of things. First, I meant to comment on the plantar fasciitis thread but was busy with goat/kidding stuff and had too much to say so never got to it. Your stretching should not be that painful. Mildly uncomfortable, not painful. PNF stretching techniques can kick up the effectiveness of your stretching without making it painful. Here is how you do it.

Get into the position to stretch your calf. Stand a few feet away from a wall with your hands on the wall, one foot under you and one foot back, foot straight ahead, knee straight, heel on the floor. Lean forward until you feel a good stretch of your calf. Make sure your knee is STRAIGHT and your foot is pointing straight ahead, heel on the floor. Go just to the point of feeling a stretch....PAIN indicates tearing of fibers. Do not do the version where you stand on a stair with your heels off the stair...that is dangerous as far as tearing fibers is concerned. Do one calf at a time so you can focus on what you are feeling properly.

Now without changing your position or coming out of the stretch, press the front of your foot into the floor like you are pressing on a gas pedal, just enough to engage the muscle. Count six slow seconds, then release the press on an exhale, slowly moving further into the stretch. Now hold the new stretch position and repeat, going a bit further in the stretch. Do this one more time. You will get the furthest in the first cycle, a little more in the second, and a teensy bit in the third. This series will take the same amount of time as a 30 second static stretch but is oh, so much more effective and not painful. Stretch the other side.

It is more effective to stretch the NON-painful side first.

You need to do a series of these PNF stretches for all your hip, thigh, lower leg, foot, and each toe, all muscles. For example, for your thigh, you need to stretch hamstrings, quads, adductors, and ITB, which means gluteus maximus and TFL. To make any stretch into a PNF stretch, you need to know what you are stretching and what movement that muscle performs....stretch it, then engage it isometrically, then stretch again.

You need to do a piriformis stretch. Lay on your back with your knees up. Cross one ankle over the other knee....let's say the right ankle is on the left knee. Reach with both hands and grasp your left thigh as close to the knee as you can and pull it forward towards your left shoulder. You will feel this in your right butt.

To make it into a PNF stretch, hold the stretch position, then press your right ankle against your left knee and hold for six seconds, release, and pull your knee a little closer to your shoulder. Repeat, repeat.

 

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Oh, and before getting out of bed each morning, take a minute or so to clench and extend your toes, like you are making a fist with your foot and then spreading your toes out. Doing this for a minute or so BEFORE your feet hit the floor will help a lot in healing plantar fasciitis. PF comes first, then leads to heel spurs. Heel spurs take a LONG time to develop. If you have them, you've had that sensation of tenderness on the bottoms of your feet when they first hit the floor in the morning for a long time.

When the plantar fasciitis gets inflamed (yes, you can have inflammation that doesn't show up, on a micro level. Just because anti-inflammatories aren't working on this doesn't mean there is no inflammation involved) and irritated, it starts to heal when you are finally off your feet and in bed. Scar tissue is laid down. Little micro bits of fiber. When your feet first hit the floor, that plantar fascia is stretched and those new fibers tear, ow! If you warm them up and get them stretchy before your feet hit the floor, few will tear and healing can progress, instead of having to start over every single night.

 

[patandchickens]

I meant to comment on the plantar fasciitis thread but was busy with goat/kidding stuff and had too much to say so never got to it. Your stretching should not be that painful. Mildly uncomfortable, not painful.

I should clarify -- the "very" painful I was referring to was largely that on Friday I was having a long unpleasant discussion with my husband (who as a result is taking a short "leave of absence" from the household but will be back Friday, *hopefully* constructively, sigh :/) and was standing in a doorway with one foot, then the other, propped up about chest-height on the opposite side of the doorframe, which stretches the foot/ankle/calf. Which really really hurt and even as I was doing it I was thinking "man, am I ever going to regret this"... except that a half hour later when the conversation concluded, I felt pretty good, and the next few days (until last night's agility class, really) my heels/feet felt MUCH better than they had for MONTHS. It was amazing. (Until class last night )

PNF stretching techniques can kick up the effectiveness of your stretching without making it painful. Here is how you do it.

Oh cool! I tried what you described, just now. Felt GOOD, except that the "press the front of your foot to the floor like a gas pedal" part makes my R heel hurt. But I can live with that, and it all feels pretty good afterwards, and better than the stretching I had been doing.

You need to do a piriformis stretch.

Ow. That, OTOH, is not enjoyable at all. Not so much in my buttocks specifically as all over many places in the leg. Oh well, I guess that is probably telling me something and means I just need to DO it more, carefully at first

The pre-getting-out-of-bed toe stretching I've been doing for some months now, it definitely helps, to the point that I try to remember to do it ANYtime I'm getting up after sitting for a long while. Just because it feels better to warm up first so to speak. Although it is sad to think that one has to "warm up" for just walking across the room

I will see what we've got in the way of chiropractors around here too, and Javamama thanks for the T-Tapp recommendation, I will look into it

Pat

 

[abifae]

I've been stretching several times a day for years and I have NEVER yet had my calves not ache when I stretch.

And I still can't touch my toes.



I should mention that I also never relax. I can't figure it out. Usually I accidentally further tighten a muscle when I think at that specific muscle to relax.

I realized the other day that, when at work, I get so stressed, I dig my feet in to the ground. Very like trying to slow the car when the driver is drunk and going too fast and you are trapped as a passenger. This might account for the always tense calves. And I toe walk.

*sighs*

Reading this thread with interest in case anyone has new ways to stretch that I haven't tried.

 

[freemotion]

If doing a piriformis stretch hurts all over your legs...well....you need to thoroughly stretch your legs.

This is NOT said in a snotty way.....do you know how to stretch all your leg muscles? Front-back-inside-outside? Thigh and calf? All hip muscles? Including flexors? If so, can you figure out how to turn them into PNF stretches?

 

[abifae]

nope. Do you have videos??

 

[patandchickens]

If doing a piriformis stretch hurts all over your legs...well....you need to thoroughly stretch your legs.

LOL, yes, I completely agree!

This is NOT said in a snotty way.....do you know how to stretch all your leg muscles? Front-back-inside-outside? Thigh and calf? All hip muscles? Including flexors? If so, can you figure out how to turn them into PNF stretches?

Well, I *think* I more or less kinda know -- but if you would like to outline it or point me to a source that does, I would sure appreciate it, because I KNOW I don't know LOTS about it, and for all I know what I DO "know" could be totally wrong

(My general problem is not so much doing wrong stretching in the past, tho, more just doing NONE and having slipped into bad body habits )

Pat

 

[abifae]

Well, I *think* I more or less kinda know -- but if you would like to outline it or point me to a source that does, I would sure appreciate it, because I KNOW I don't know LOTS about it, and for all I know what I DO "know" could be totally wrong

That's where I was coming from too LOL!!!