Thursday, February 25, 2010

A Recurring Annoyance

I'm starting this blog for manifold reasons, but mostly to share my experiences with a recurring injury I've been unable to successfully mend for over a year now. I strained my quadricep over a year ago in the middle of a long volleyball season and never dealt with the injury until the season was over. It was, as far as I could tell, a superficial or stage 1 or 2 quadricep muscle tear. I rehabed the leg by riding a bicycle, as well as using the eliptical and running machine for 3 weeks before returning, not to indoor volleyball, but to sand volleyball, a much more forgiving surface. It seemed to work...HAHAHA I'm cured!

WRONG! I'm not cured. I just couldn't tell I was still hurt. My leg was still affecting me at times, even in the sand, but it definitely wasn't as noticable. The problem was that I wasn't maintaining my fitness level, playing consistently, improving my flexibility and strength. My rehab was random and amature...I basically was relying on intuition and it wasn't quite working.

I'm in the same situation I was in last year at this very moment, in the middle of a volleyball season, injured, and continuing to play and jump, while trying to do what I can to rehab at the same time. I'm currently stretching frequently throughout the day, riding the bike at least 3 times a week, using deep massage, and icing after workouts. I'm also avoiding max jumping during the week, saving my leg for games. This isn't quite working either, because the jump in intensity from rest and rehab during the week to games on the weekend is always too severe and always leaves me hurting afterward.

I'm starting the blog now in anticipation of the season's end, and in the hopes that I can start to properly rehab my leg to get it back to full function.

I'll keep this site updated as events unfold.