BLOG #6 ROAD TO RECOVERY WITH 2XU

RECOVERING FROM INJURY IS COMPLICATED

Recovering from injury is rarely linear, or with a constant upward trajectory. However, for the first 12 weeks, my road to recovery from Hamstring surgery was pretty close to this.
Weeks 10, 11, and 12 ticked by as planned, with my rehabilitation program being completed like clockwork. For week 13, it was time to progress my program, under the watchful eye of my physiotherapist.

I wasn’t nervous about the session, but rather excited. It went as planned, until I left the gym, and my Hamstring tendon started to ache. As I walked home, it didn’t settle, it got worse.

Naturally, I thought the worst.

Had I re-injured this tendon thats been unhealthy for over a year and a half, and only three months post surgery?
As the days went by, things never settled, and this is where concern kicked in.

I contained most of the negative & unhelpful thoughts of not being able to run or cycle again, walk up stairs without pain, or sit comfortably. These thoughts came and went, yet I still felt a strong sense of frustration.
I sat with these thoughts for a few evenings, and realised it wasn’t frustrated at what I potentially couldn’t do again in the future, but my daily restricted movement I was experiencing right now!

Fit, healthy, and active humans can sometimes take for granted the most simplest of things in their lives. (I know I have in the past.)

Sitting and then standing up without pain or discomfort. Walking without thought of how you will navigate stairs without the aid of railings. Or even rolling over in bed while asleep, and not being woken up with a dull achey sensation deep underneath your ‘butt muscle.’

This is what frustrated me, my inability to move & function without pain or restriction.

The only way to ease my mind, and truly know if I had done any damage to the tendon, was to have an MRI scan. There weren’t many possible outcomes of this scan.
It could reveal nothing was wrong, and my Hamstring is just upset, and that my rehab needs to be progressed at a slower rate. Or, the tendon has torn away from the bone a little or a lot, which could lead to, well, that would be up to my surgeon & consultant to discuss.

I waited five days for the report to come through, and when it did, I couldn’t wait to open it.
As my eyes scanned the document, they kept registering a single word that was repeated at the end of each line of text.

…normal.

…normal

…normal.

A smile stretched from ear to ear, as I now had confirmation there wasn’t any damage to my hamstring tendon, it just needs a slower rate of progression for its rehabilitation program.
For now, i’m thankful for this outcome as it could have been a lot worse.

Even though sitting is uncomfortable, standing is uncomfortable, and i’m still being woken up at night when I twist my leg in certain ways while sleeping; I’m happy my pain in the ass is just that, a pain in my ass…

READ BLOG 5 OF MY ROAD TO RECOVERY WITH 2XU