the shizzle > diet, training and injuries
Strained gracilis adductor at knee.
Fiend:
--- Quote ---"Go see a physio"
--- End quote ---
- booked for next Monday, ta ::)
I think I have strained my gracilis adductor muscle, likely at the muscle-tendon join, on the inside of my left knee. I was in a heel-hook, hauling a fair amount of weight around a roof, and heard a "clunk" which was worrying, but it didn't feel immediately terrible and I completed the move and the route, but soon realised something was a bit injured. After a bit of mild "after nearly 3 years of continuous injury, aging, weight gain, depression and my climbing going dogshit, I cannot cope with recovering from another knee injury and that's it, it's all fucking over" panic, I realised that although tender in the rear-inside of the knee (specifically just over/inside the hamstring tendon), it was mostly functional.
Further tentative climbing with supporting taping (restricting the ability to fully extend the leg - see below) confirmed this functionality (thankfully, definitely including rockovers without any pain at all, as well as most walking), and process of elimination (with help from a very geeky and injury-aware friend) suggests it's the gracilis. As far as I can tell it's not: the MCL (not the right place, plus little inwards instability), the calf (no issues with calf raises / stretches), the hamstring (no direct issues with pulling back the leg in a hamstring curl), the popletus (initially suspected but just doesn't seem right), anything inside the knee / meniscus (it's just not there).
What I suspect happened was the gracilis "twanged" over the taut hamstring as I moved through the heelhook, and this strained / stretched / abraded / partially tore it (the "clunk" didn't sound like a "pop", "snap" or "crunch" - obviously this is guesswork but I suspect a serious / full tear would be a lot more painful / debilitating). This fits with both the causal movement, but also the restrictions I have: Firstly, trying to touch my toes is definitely not feasible / too painful - I suspect this is the gracilis injury site being pulled taut over an equally taut hamstring tendon. Secondly bridging or scumming my foot out left without fully weighting it - I suspect this is the gracilis trying to do it's job of adducting the lower leg in and getting aggravated. Also a combination of both i.e. moving off the leg when fully extended.
My current plan is to wear a useless bollox knee support in general to remind me it's injured, tape up if needed for climbing (but avoid doing so in general as the taping is pretty uncomfortable), keep moving and keep using it but avoid the specific motions / stretches that aggravate it, and pretty soon start doing gentle adduction movements with my foot (just liked I'd do for the MCL tear). In time I will be looking into strengthening the knee / area around the knee in general as this is the 3rd injury to the same knee and that's quite e-fucking-nough.
Any other thoughts welcome especially "go see a physio" after I wrote that I've booked a physio for next Monday in the first damn line of this waffling post ;D
petejh:
Sorry about your knee. Currently 8 weeks post meniscus tear and strain of tendon insertion after twisting my foot a bit too much in a crack at Pembroke, so can relate. Same meniscus I tore in Rodellar about 13 years ago so maybe some susceptibility to re-injury in there.
‘See physio’ and ‘follow physio’s plan for rest, then mobilisation, then progressively strengthening tissues surrounding knee’. That’s about it isn’t it?
Going in cold water made mine feel much better long after the initial ‘rest/ice’ stage. But I live next to a lake and can go in whenever, dunno if I’d have bothered otherwise. Cold bath?
slab_happy:
My one tip is to grab some comfrey oil to massage in -- in my experience, it actually seems to speed up healing of strains, sprains and miscellaneous tweaks, as long as they're near the surface.
May sound like woo-woo but it performs on a par with diclofenac gel in studies on ankle sprains: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16323288/
mrjonathanr:
Have you considered buying a Performance Lettuce Plan and confining yourself to board climbing ?
Given you can climb front on now, I expect with some assiduous rehab and patience (the tricky bit, admittedly) it’ll settle in a while.
Nike Air:
--- Quote from: slab_happy on October 25, 2023, 08:48:00 am ---My one tip is to grab some comfrey oil to massage in -- in my experience, it actually seems to speed up healing of strains, sprains and miscellaneous tweaks, as long as they're near the surface.
May sound like woo-woo but it performs on a par with diclofenac gel in studies on ankle sprains: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16323288/
--- End quote ---
Totally agree with this. Worked a treat over the years for me
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