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

Thanks for the response, I feel like I was able to end the sciatica problems but now have shooting pain from hip and sometimes top of hamstring. I am assuming bursitis and tendonitis can do such a thing? Does anyone know if these 3 symptoms are prevalant in overuse type injuries? My coordination is definitely off when I run. I feel like my reaction time is so much slower in the one leg.

Many of us seem to have labral tears. Has anyone had the surgery and gotten a relief from coordination problems? Or are people too early in their recovery to know?

I am two days out from surgery... so way too soon to tell! Neliah had the surgery and iirc is healthy/training. Tdf had the surgery too and is better but I think still has other problems. Ms Osage county had the surgery but I am not sure if she got back to training or not.

To the other poster--"shooting" pain is almost definitely nerve related. That is not a symptom I ever had. Like I said sounds like you still have some sciatica.

Hey frustrated runner, I hope your surgery went well! I just wanted to clarify that I did not have labral tear surgery.

I am very happy for those of you who discovered you have a labral tear and are able to get it treated, either through surgery or conservative methods. I wish you all the best in your rehab and return to running. For me, the labral tear may be an effect of my loss of muscle coordination, but it is not the cause.

How do you know the labral tear is not causing your symptoms?

And did you ever solve your problems?

I have a large 9x1x.5cm heterotopic ossification in my left hamstring that is pushing on my sciatic nerve and compressing it.

Yes but you have also blamed it on a herniated disc, a labral tear, a leg length discrepancy, Morton's toe, weak/tight muscles, dystonia, accessory navicular, etc. Do you have any evidence that it is the root of your problems?

I would like to take this opportunity to remind other posters that, while spine/sciatic nerve is definitely the first place to look for this issue and most doctors I have seen think as much too, few to no posters have found any answers on that avenue, and it is problematic diagnostically speaking for several reasons, not the least of which is that the sciatic nerve ONLY controls muscles on the posterior side of the leg, not the hip flexors, quads, or shins.

It has been a long time since I have regularly posted. I too, as another wrote a few pages back, found this thread as somewhat of a support group, and I thank all of you for that. To know I was not alone was incredible solace. Whether or not we do, in fact, all share the same “root cause,” we do share many similar symptoms and emotions, and I feel that unites us. My intentions in posting over the years were to share the latest theory, test, or treatment I was considering as it may be of help to someone else, and to encourage others to hold onto hope just as I was trying to. What others might have seen as gullibility or eagerness to buy into some in vogue voodoo, I justify as my choice to put my full faith and belief in each idea or treatment I tried until the evidence against it stacked up so high its validity could no longer be ignored. I felt I must believe in each test or treatment as I tried it, or nothing would ever work. As Michael Jordan said, "I have failed many times, but I have NEVER gone into a game expecting myself to fail." We achieve nothing if we do not believe in it. I posted the steps I was taking, because at the time I truly, truly believed that THIS time, this was IT, and I wanted to help others, just as others had helped me by posting what they were trying. As I worked to sort through and rule out possibilities, I became more and more attuned to the sensory input my injury provided me as I ran with it, sometimes clarifying things and sometimes muddling things further under a constantly evolving perspective.

I have had this injury for over 10 years now. Ten years. Ten long years, and I'm not complaining because I know some of you have had it even longer. If I were trying to solve any kind of problem over the course of a decade, I hope I would have more than one idea or theory about it, just as I have had with this uncommon, bizarre injury. I don’t know how everyone else views their role with this injury, but I feel like I have to be my own injury detective. No one in the medical world has said, “Hmm….you’re an interesting case. I’d like to help you figure this out as quickly as possible so you can get back to running, racing, and trying to achieve your dreams! How does that sound?!” If I could’ve come up with what was causing my leg problem in one and done, and then post it here to try to help everyone else, yes, of course I would’ve preferred that route.

I should get checked for a labral tear. But I am a poor college student.

Somewhat related, but does anyone know if this is in fact the condition that sidelined and ultimately ended the professional career of Josh McDougal? Here's a video that touches on his problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBqQlUstzLE

Hey sidebar, I actually did know that. It scared the hell out of me for a while because even with his resources he didn't seem to find an answer to his problems.

But guess what?! He is training again know and considering a comeback now! Last I read he was up to like 60 mpw or so and running with his team regularly. His problem was apparently related to some poor motor patterns starting in the back muscles and affecting his entire stride.

For those of you following my progress I thought I would give an update. I had the impingement surgery on 4/30, they did find a small labral tear which they also repaired but the main point of the surgery was the bone shaving done on the head of my femur. Of course I have no idea if it helped yet, but I'm being cautiously optimistic. I should be off crutches in about 2-3 weeks (but its honestly feeling close to that already) and running probably in 8 weeks. I still have lots of PT to go through.

I hope all of you have also looked into the impingement syndrome. I'm not saying it is definately the answer to my problems but it is highly likely. Also, remeber that I did not show most of the 'classic' symptoms with this condition, so I'm sure many other runners with this injury could also be disguising it from proper diagnosis.

Anyway, I encourage you guys to look into it. Ask your ortho for an MR arthrogram or CT scan (these are the only tests which showed my impingement, simpler tests did not show it). Good luck everyone, I'll get back on in a few weeks with my progress

I haven't read the entire thread, but I have had a recent experience -

I have pain on the very top of my quad, adductors and it has started radiating to my rear end.

So I was starting to save up for an MRI to look into FAI or a labral tear.

But I came across piriformis syndrome and self treated for it.

I rolled around on a baseball for a few days, and to see what would happen, rolled around on a baseball on the top and outside of my quad, where labral tear pain might appear.

Two days later it seems to have helped quite a bit - pain seems to be retreating and I have had some good runs.

So my .02c is to roll around on a tennis ball or baseball front and back of your leg and on your rear end - can't hurt, right?

I think it's multi-factor condition. In your case, you may have solved everything you need to.

For most of us, piriformis massage and hamstring streching only provides temporary relief.

Hi all,

I have done a lot of research on this problem and wanted to ask you guys if you think my problem fits these symptoms or if I just have tight muscles. The problem most prominently pops up when I am running a prolonged harder effort (such as a track 5k, 10k, or tempo run) and can be best described as a severe tightening of my left leg. It feels like there is a cord of tightness that runs from my inner mid-calf to about 1/2 way up my inner hamstring. My lower hamstring and upper calf both tighten simultaneously on the inner side (so the side toward the centerline of my body) and consequently, my stride becomes choppy and awkward and forces me to slow down long before I am aerobically spent. I first noticed it about 3 months ago, but it only pops up when I am running hard and goes away when I am just doing regular mileage. I started doing more leg lifting around that time if it matters at all. Any input/advice is greatly appreciated!

!0000miles, one of the reasons this thread is so long is because everyone has a slightly different condition, I would encourage you to look through the whole thing (it'll take about a week, but i think its worth it) and see if anyone has very similar problems to you, see what they did, and maybe try and get ahold of them. Sorry you're hurt though, this injury is pretty frustrating for most of us. One thing you described though is pretty much the same for everyone, hard tempos definitely bring on the condition worse, is yours worse on a treadmill?

I have to admit I've only read the first and last page, but noticed a bunch of people stating that they have Piriformis Syndrome. Besides the typical stretch, massage, and ice deal in treating this condition there is another school of thought, not backed by too much research but seems makes more sense when you think about the symptoms and how the muscles (Piriformis and the abductors) work.

A case study took a runner who was diagnosed with Piriformis Syndrome, and put him through various tests to asses his hip abductors strength, more specifically the Gluteus Medius (Glute Med for short). Weak Glute Meds have been implicated in many other overuse running injures from IT band syndrome, to shinsplins, and I believe even plantar faciitis. This runner did in fact have weak Glute Meds, so his treatments consisted in strengthening them. In the end his symptoms did go away, giving another possible way to treat Piriformis Syndrome.

The rationale behind this is that is the Glute Meds are weak, the individuals knee will drop in towards the body (adducting) and rotate inwards during the stance phase. In an attempt to compensate for this the Piriformis is working overtime to externally rotate the leg and abduct it. This overuse of the Piriformis can cause it to go into spasm, and once that pain-spasm-pain cycle starts it is hard to break. The Sciatic Nerve runs right under (and in some people through the Piriformis) so it gets compressed and agitated from the spasm, giving you the radiating pain.

I'm not sure if this has been addressed in the thread yet so I thought I'd throw it out there...

haha you think "weak glutes" hasn't come up 100x in the course of this thread? Read pages 2-48 and you'll see...

I'd just about given up hope with regards to this condition until my most recent appt. with an Orthopedic Specialist. He did an exam on me, and scheduled me for an MRI. He said that while my affected leg DOES show signs of FAI or labral tear or whatever, he's convinced that the spasming nerve sensation is almost definitely coming from the back, and that nothing will fix that better than good ol' fashioned intense hamstring stretching. He said that I had outrageously tight hamstrings, and that I need to really stretch them out, and that THAT would likely greatly reduce the severity of the issue. So far, he's absolutely correct. Try doing a lot of the "downward dog" stretch. Very intense.