Loss of coordination in leg - Official runner's dystonia / focal dystonia discussion thread

After dealing with this problem in my right leg all of indoor track and outdoor track (had to cut my indoor season short and pool run for a few weeks because of some deep soreness--possibly sciatic pain), I found a way for my leg NOT to act up in my 5k races.

One meet we arrived late and very close to the start of the 5k..I had a total of 22 minutes to warm up. The other two races I started my warm up about 25 minutes before the start to mimic the first race. It worked, as all of my other races involved my leg acting up and me running slow. during the 25 minute warmups, I would do about 12 minutes of uptempo running, and then some pickups before the start.

This shortened warmup is the only progress I have made in the past 5 months to figure out my problem. That, and weekly massages to gradually workout the pain, which jumped around in my left leg. I plan on getting custom orthotics this summer, and seeing some more doctors I guess.

so, I guess its a problem of unusually quick fatigue? When I allowed more time for my warmup, and was not constantly in motion before the start of the race, this caused problems. Now, after over a week of no running, I feel a pinching/discomfort in my butt/hip area...

It looks like McDougall is still dealing with this problem, judging by the race video. He dropped out and then explained the problem to his coach using his leg. Interesting...

this is the problem that has been bothering mcdougal.... i hope someone finds out what causes this and how to fix it SOON or mcdougals career could be in jeaopardy

After watching the race video and hearing his comments in the two Flotrack videos, I'm pretty sure he has it.

I think he's learned his lesson about trying to race on the track with it.

i'm kinda waiting for mcdougal to find an answer for us all that have been posting here, considering he is prob going through every option possible....

I, too, have this same issue and am surprised that so many people suffer from this ailment--it's very frustrating for me right now: I've been laying down some solid miles for the past 3 months (55-70) but feel that I can't start doing to faster/tempo type workouts because it starts aggravating the hamstring. It seems that as long as I'm keeping these slow and not overdoing it with too many hard days in a row (quicker than normal pace or strides/hills) I can keep the mileage up.

In addition to what most of you are dealing with, my hamstring is also warm (most of the time) to the touch and is almost always warmer than my right (non-injured) hamstring. It's also very tight and my massage therapist says it's very "bumpy and knotty". What the heck does that mean and does the "knots and bumps" affect this loss of coordination I'm having? Are you experiencing the same?

If anyone has info I'd be much appreciative, but am curious to what Miss Osage has to offer especially, as it seems that this person has tried almost everything.

(I've been dealing with this for over a year now...)

bumby and knotty because of possible lack of blood flow to the area? which means the impingement is coming from the spine - or anywhere in between.

try an osteopath, this is what cleared a 3 year problem for me - although my osteopath is probably one of the best healers in the US, very low profile, been doing this for 44 years.

Took 5 months and 8-10 visits to resolve. Now I do whatever I want.

Has anyone ever gotten an Electromyography (EMG) ? Several thin needles are inserted into specific muscles and it tests how the muscles and nerves interact, in essence. My doctor mentioned it to me and it sounds like it could be a good idea.

Have any of you tried acupuncture? It seems like acupuncture would work well for this condition.

I think the most perplexing part about all of this, for me at least, is if I take a few days off the problem intensifies greatly. I mildly strained my right lower hamstring recently, took 3 days off, and now am having a hard time running easy for a few miles without my legs locking up on me. My legs also feel much weaker and my knees buckle inward for pretty much the duration of the run.

It seems like the only way for me to keep this problem somewhat manageable is to continue running a lot (for me, 80-90 mpw) with my usual workouts, etc.

Have the rest of you continued your training as of late? Or have you cut way back on what you normally do?

I am going to try something new to see if it does anything. I'm pretty sure it won't do anything for coordination loss due to a sciatic nerve impingement, but as for my leg weakness and muscle tightening issues as I run, I don't know. Anyways, I'm going to try to loosen my abductors, IT band and vastus lateralis while strengthening my adductors and VMO muscle.

I don't know if that's the answer, but it's worth a shot I guess. When my legs tighten up it feels like my legs rotate outward thus tightening my abductors and outer quad, and perhaps weaking my adductors and inner quad.

got the emg and results were normal

it has to be a spine problem, not a leg muscle issue.

As crazy as this sounds, its possible that our cell phones could have caused this problem. The radiation they emit is potentially damaging to nerves after long periods of exposure.

How many of you carry your cell phone in a pocket on the same side as the problem leg?

i had this problem too and found that a change in footstrike and adding some light plyos twice a week have cut it out. i do some jumps, squats, squat thrusts and a few other leg excercises twice and week and that has taken care of my loss in coordination

I think I may have found a solution, that will probably seem improbable, but it seems to work for some reason. You might flame me, but it is based in some science.

So, I started having problems in 1999. Running track and pretty fit. Once I got to a very anaerobic state in the race, my leg would lose strength and begin the flopping feeling that we all dread. WTF? It was intermittent at first, but became almost daily, even during easy runs. I would take time off, and it would get a little better, but never 100%.

Fast forward 9 years. I basically have quit running, save for 15-20 miles a week. I'm a jogger, but I still want to run. In the past few years, I have tried many supplements to see if they could help, but nothing really did. One of the supplements, CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) really made this condition WAY worse. (google CLA, it is typically used for weight loss, but has a muscle preserving aspect about it as well). What does this tell me? That there is something more than just an impinged nerve that is causing the problem. I also noticed that other supplements would make it worse, such as caffeine.

But, even if I stayed away from those, still a problem. Sometimes. It came and went, but seemed to come when I wanted it the least.

I have read this entire thread, and another one similar. I've tried some of the exercises, ran around the track backwards, etc. Better, but not healed. I have a background in biomedical engineering, with a focus on orthopedic products. I know that if a nerve is impinged, you will have many other sensations than just loss in strength.

So, I asked myself, why would a muscle just quit? I researched some reasons, but this area really is not well studied. For some reason, I got into the acid/base relationship in the body. I personally believed this was some pseudo science, but I like to make that decision after reading about it. Sounded a little hokey, but could make some sense. I also read about a study using a buffering agent that was successful in building bone in women over a six month period. (not calcium). It is potassium citrate. They hypothesized that it was creating a more basic blood chemistry, thus not breaking down bone as much.

So, I went to the local GNC to find it. Nothing. Went online. Found a few that carried it. It turns out, potassium citrate is also being used to treat kidney stones, among a couple of other diseases that are known caused by an acid environment. I bought some online here:

http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/browse/sku_detail.jsp?id=VS-1081

No, I don't work for them, it is a cheap ($11) vitamin. I tried taking one or two capsules a day. Not much change. Then, on a whim, I took 4 before a run. My run was awesome. My leg was fine the whole time, and seemed to get better as I went. It could have been just a fluke, as that happens some time. It's been two weeks, and I can't be happier. Back to normal, as far as I can tell. The 20 pounds I have added don't help, but I feel strong.

So, am I saying this is the cure? No, maybe not. But, maybe it is. I've been thinking that the reason the muscle may quit is that it became so overworked, that the biochemistry inside the localized muscle tissue may have caused it to fail. Kind of like a safety response. Or a glitch, whatever you call it. But, change the biochemistry, and back to normal. I remember one of the doctors I had study me (nerve specialist) said that I may have just overworked the muscle, and it might be damaged. Well, I think it might be damaged in a temporary way.

Do your research and give it a try. Check the internet, peer reviewed journals, etc. It might only cost you $10.

I'll report back with more findings as they come

THanks for information and I will give that a try and report back. I don't think caffiene has anything to do with it because I had the problem for a long time when I never consumed caffiene.

I do get Kidney stones as well !

experimenter--- care to share some of the exercises you have found helpful? also, what kind of change in footstrike did you make?