Thursday, December 28, 2006

I HATE YOU, INTERNETS

Stress fractures of the hip once most commonly affected military personnel who marched and ran day after day. Today, stress fractures of the hip are more common in athletes, especially distance runners.

Oh god.

Research suggests that most athletes who develop stress fractures have been training for at least two years, six or more times a week. A stress fracture is more likely to occur after an increase in how far, how often, and how hard a person goes.

Um...

Most patients with stress fractures of the hip feel pain in the front of the groin while standing and moving. Rest usually makes the pain go away. Patients may limp. Strenuous activities, such as running and climbing stairs, may be so painful that the patient must stop doing them.

No!

 Your doctor will probably suggest taking an X-ray of your hip. The X-ray may help rule out other problems, but it probably will not show the stress fracture.

This is what today's doc did--sure enough, nothing showed. Accordingly, he referred me to an imaging center for an MRI. Great news.

Pain can be treated with hot and cold treatments and medication. With care, the fractures tend to heal by themselves.

Really?

Treating a stress fracture without surgery requires patients to strictly avoid putting weight down on the foot of the injured leg when they are standing or walking. Some surgeons allow their patients to use crutches and touch only their toes down on the injured side. Others prefer that their patients rely on crutches to completely avoid putting any weight down.

Wait. Dude, if I have to use crutches in New York City (the subway? yikes!), I'll surely get trampled. Too bad the East Village isn't still home; I don't imagine the Park Slope-Midtown-Park Slope bus ride is all too efficient. Hmm, maybe I'll take up driving again [evil grin].

BUT, I need to shutup already. After all, today's sports med doc, a kindly and knowledgeable old chap, didn't hand me a diagnosis. He simply passed the baton to the next guy, who's set to grab hold of it tomorrow. Still, I can't help but play the pessimist card; everything I've read, as well as the doc's parting words (me: "do you think it could be a $#&^@*!^&@#?" he: "well, that's what I'm afraid of"), taunts *fracture.* Blech. I hope-hope-hope-hope-hope-hope-hope not.


Posted by princess kanomanom @ 1:34 PM