Sharp pain in leg

Thanatos

I have a sharp pain in my leg. It starts about a third of the way down from my hip to my knee, and shoots down into my knee. It's towards the outside and slightly towards the back of my left leg (i.e., the left side of my left leg). The pain is definitely highest right where it starts; the shooting to my knee seems merely incidental. It started last night after I came home from the gym, went away overnight, then started up again this afternoon while I was moving some stuff around. Extra strength Excedrin seemed to at least take the edge off, and I'm skipping the gym this evening. I'd put it about a 3.5 on a 1-10 scale of pain, but it's pretty much constant; the only thing that seems to help is putting weight on it.

I get this pretty regularly, but usually, if I just stretch my leg, it goes away. That doesn't seem to be working, now. Anyone know what it could be? I don't have any health insurance, and I'm in the U.S., so I'll get buttfucked if I have to go to a doctor.

Glaeal

Heat is your friend. Soak a hand towel in water, then throw it in the microwave until it's as hot as you can bear. Try to keep it wrapped as tightly as possible.

Does it feel like a cramp? Eat a banana or two.

Try not to do anything, and lay down with your leg bent slightly to relieve the tension on it.

If you give it a few days and it doesn't go away, you may need to suck it up and go see a doctor.

TexiKen

Sounds like a pulled hamstring. I get them sometimes playing tennis. They do just kind of "happen," with no harsh pressure being put on the leg to have them occur.

RICE it out (Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate) where it hurts and just rest it for a few days (2-3). Compress it to keep the pain in check. You can still walk on it but don't get jerky in your motion.

If the pain is still there, it might have been torn, which means you might need to get it checked via MRI. I doubt it's torn, as you can barely walk when that happens.

Thanatos

This definitely does not feel like a cramp, and I have no problem walking; in fact, it feels better when I walk.

Feral

You may want to try something with more of an anti-inflammatory action than Excedrin, like, say, Ibuprofen.

Thanatos

What, exactly, is "compressing" it? Is that just putting pressure on it?

Feral, I was gonna try Aleve tonight.

Glaeal

Thanatos wrote: »

What, exactly, is "compressing" it? Is that just putting pressure on it?

Yep. Use an ace bandage, or just wrap whatever you're using to treat (Heat or Cold, YMMV) as tightly as possible around it with a towel.

TexiKen wrote: »

RICE it out (Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate) where it hurts and just rest it for a few days (2-3).

I always thought RICE was for joint injuries, but the principles still apply.

Ain't No Sunshine

This is not medical advice, I cannot diagnose you, etc.

Most of the advice in this thread seems good, your presentation is very consistent with a muscle pull of the posterior thigh...I'm not ruling other things out, but really, it's pretty classical. Other things could include a blood clot (unlikely), nerve injury (unlikely) or a stress fracture (more likely, but still unlikely).

These muscles are generally responsible for hip extension against weight and for adduction/abduction of the thigh. To test extension, lay down flat on your stomach and try to lift your left thigh backwards and up into the air as high as possible. If you feel a twinge of pain in the back of your leg, that's a positive sign of the pull. To test [edit: adduction/abduction], lay flat on your back with legs slightly spread and try to turn your knee inwards as far as you can, then outwards as far as you can while keeping your leg totally straight. If you feel the twinge, then again, that's a positive sign.

If you don't find it, it doesn't rule out its being a muscle pull. If you do find it...it's pretty likely.

I'm surprised you don't feel the pain when you walk, but hip extension is also well-distributed to the gluteus maximus/minimus and so you may be slightly altering your gait to avoid using the injured muscle.

stixs4321

I used to have that problem and still do sometimes. Bird dogs helped fix me up. Perform 3 sets of 12 reps per side, really focus on using the glutes and keeping the abs tight. Fire hydrants couldn't hurt in sets of 3 with 12 reps per side. Perform 1 set of reps on one side before going to the next.

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=495189 Bird dogs, fire hydrants(Quadruped Hip Mobility) and floor bridges(gluteal bridge)
http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle.do?article=04-057-training

Work on incorporating lunges(step-ups or some single leg varations) twice a week into your training program and staticly stretch your hip flexors and quads. Another exercise to incorporate is floor bridges. I've found statically stretching my hamstrings can be iffy with this issue so keep it dynamic with leg swings and toy soldiers. Dynamic stretches have also really brought my hamstring flexiblity up to par over static stretches which got me no where.

Another possible problem could be your lower abs/obliques are weak on one side(making the spine rotate and fucking it all up) versus the other. Your hip could also be tilting anteriorly on one side. Work on simple dead bug variations, side bridges and planks.

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=990092&pageNo=0 Dead bug variations

Work on this stuff nightly and the problem should improve quickly, mines did and I had it for 4months before I found out about bird dogs. The first two exercises and stretches could suffice for the mean time. Once you go back to training regulary warm up with a set of bird dogs, fire hydrants and gluteal bridges before hitting the weights or cardio.

Example:
Stretch hip flexor 2 times each side
Stretch quad 2 times each side
Bird dogs 12*3
Fire Hydrants 12*3
Dead bug 10*3
Side bridge 1min*3
Stretch quad and hip flexor again

Focus on contracting the stretched sides glute and lower abs when performing the hip flexor stretch for a more effective and proper stretch.

Thanatos

This actually went away by morning, and I had no problem at the gym on Thursday or Friday, and I've been digging a ditch most of today without a problem.

I think it was probably just a minor pull. Thanks for the help.