Ok, I've had so many injuries related to this sport the past few years I thought I'd post a thread detailing them. I was looking to hear what aches and pains other members here have suffered through and how they got through them?
Going way back in my history I was training for a powerlifting meet (Mountaineer Open) and was about a week out from it. We were doing opening attempts with squats. A buddy of mine (275 lb'er who won Nationals) wrapped my knees for me as usual. Did my opening attempt with ease. He would wrap you so tight you had to have a massive amount of weight to even bend your knees. Did my opener and within a few minutes after that my lower leg / calf area felt odd and soon I couldn't bend my leg at the knee.
I made it home and went to the ortho the next day. He ended up pulling out a huge horse syringe and began sticking it in multiple area's of my calf and pulling out blood that was around the muscle. My buddy wrapped me so tight it broke veins in my gastroc and it bleed internally filling up all available pockets around the muscle and thus stopping movement. He then admitted me to the hospital where I stayed for three days on blood thinners and a hot water pump thing moving warm water around my lower let. They were afraid it could clot and cause a much more serious problem. Ended up being on crutches and off of work for about 6 weeks. I haven't wrapped legs since. Only use neoprene now.
Fast forward decades through some minor stuff like tendinitis, which the ortho and PT at that time could not cure. Ended up going to a chiropractor that moved next to me. He kept saying he could fix it and I naturally didn't believe him. I finally went to him and within about two weeks I was 100% cured. He found an imbalance of the quadricep muscle at the knee. Somehow adjusted it and I was 100% in couple weeks. Been a believer ever since and see him to this day.
Now to more recent history. Two years ago in July of 17 I was moving one of those tall/heavy floor gun safe's and tried to squeeze one hand underneath to start picking it up. Felt like a bee sting in my bicep. I swear I heard it to. Looked down but it was not curled up but figured I tore it at least partially.
Wend to an Ortho, two of them actually as I wanted to make sure I did not need surgery. Basically just had to rest it and restart back to training very, very lightly. All ended up fine with no on-going issues.
Fast forward two months to September 2017 or so. I was moving rubber floor mats into the back of my truck for a new Icarian Hamstring Single Leg Curl Machine that a buddy gave me a couple days prior. I had to lean in and yank them into the rear of my Durango. Suddenly it felt like I got hit with a bat in the back of my left ham. I knew immediately I tore something. Could not really walk on it. Ortho confirmed a partial tendon tear and set me up with a PT who was great and is now a friend. Went through about 8 weeks of therapy which included Dry Needling. Quite a strange procedure. Google it.
Here's a pic of the ham. Within a couple more days the small blood pocket you see starting to form at the back of the knee was much, much larger:
So, after all this therapy I was able to get back to training. I was pumped to be able to use the new machine shown here:
After a week or so, can't really remember specific amounts of time, I was using the single leg curl as my second ham movement and tore the other ham. Apparently I screamed but I have no recollection of that. My son came down from the second floor into the basement as he heard me. This one felt worse than the first. I stopped and drove to the PT right away and he looked at it and said I tore the muscle. Great. Back to the ortho. Assessment was about 50% of the bicep femoris (ham) was torn. Here's a pic of that and you can see how the ham cuts off a little higher than it should when relaxed. When flexed it's fine.
So, 8 more weeks of PT but every movement I did for the bad leg I did for the good one as well. Might as well, right? PT is big on eccentric curls and had me doing tons of them. Still like them. Basically two legs down on a seated machine and one leg up. Doesn't take much weight and you can get a good workout. To this day I don't train my hams near as heavy as in the past out of plain fear and the desire for longevity. I take it slower and much more controlled. Think of it this way, most ham work starts out with a pretty violent pull. This is what I avoid now.
Fast forward to I think November or so of last year. Left knee was hurting a bit so went back to my now favorite ortho. He suggested knee gel injections (Hyaluronic Acid) which I agreed to. It's a series of 3 shots into the knee joint. Each a week apart. Basically an oil change for the knee according to my doc. He said I can get them every 6 months if needed. I'll be heading back shortly for both knees this time. Hard to believe a needle into the side of your knee doesn't hurt, but it does not.
Now around the same time my right shoulder was slowly bothering me more and more. Back to the Ortho. Ultrasound revealed some damage and he gave me a cortisone shot which helped. A few months go by and ultimately I had to stop any lateral work, pressing did not hurt though.
Ended up getting an MRI which revealed about a quarter inch in length tear in my Infraspinatus Tendon. The width of the tear is abour 40%. If it were 50% he's recommend surgery.
I've been back to him several times since the beginning of the year for checkups on it. Finally settled on a Platelet Rich Plasma Injection. It's where they remove some blood (about 60 cc's I believe), spin it in a centrifuge and remove the platelets. Doc said normally he gets 2-4 cc's of platelets but it depends on the patients volume of them. Mine were mid-level.
So, there I am getting ready for this procedure. Doc comes in with his nurse and a doc in training. Then two people from the centrifuge company come in. Seems admission was not being charged. Laid me down on the table next to an Ultrasound Machine and got ready to go. He was able to pull 5 cc's of platelet rich plasma from the centrifuge. A large amount. Now that I'm on the table he says some of this is really going to hurt. Great news! He begins and inserts the needle (don't know the size) and I'm looking back at the Untrasound Machine as he's using this as his guide to move the needle in and out to redirect the platelets to all pockets of injury. He'd warn me when a part was going to really hurt. He wasn't lying. Damn did it hurt and obviously I'm used to injections. I am on TRT, ahem.....The needle was in me for about 4 minutes and he ended up injecting 4 cc's. Not fun even a little bit. Amazing how losing the use of an appendage changes things.
Got done and he said it's going to be very sore for several days. Day 2-4 was the worst. I could not lift my arm and had to left it with my other arm to set it on my desk! Swear. The platelets cause a ton of internal inflammation which is part of the process of expedited healing. As of today I can raise it to horizontal but no further. The discomfort is still there a lot though. Like a toothache. I really couldn't sleep in bed. Had to use the Layzee Boy and I've been living on Tylenol. Other NSAID's are not allowed as they'll impede healing. They fight inflammation and the PRP causes localized inflammation to heal. I see the ortho next week for a check up.
Anyway, there ya have it. It's what has been going on with me for the last couple years. I hope to hear some stories from other guys (and girls) here as well as I know some of you have had it quite tough.
kel
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Originally Posted by almostgone
My new father in-law had a stroke October 1st and passed away October 15th. I spent the next 3 weeks trying to get a emergency travel visa for my wife so we could return to the Philippines for the funeral (she had only been in the USA 2 months) and it was a total cluster fvck because no one knew what they were doing. 