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

Did you get your shot?

Shot postponed due to snowstorm (Jan 18th) - I'm in the Boston area. I'll update then!

I wish the Brojos or some fast runner would see this thread and offer their expertise/suggestions. This is worse then any stress fracture or pain related injury out there. This will ruin your career for life. I miss the feeling of being able to run as hard as I want without tripping over my leg.

I loss control of my left foot when I am running at tempo pace or faster, I had this problem after adding a lot of speed work and running on hard surface. My left foot overpronate basically overpronate I tried to cross train for a few weeks jumping rope swimming push ups squats etc, but I had a plantar fasciitis on my left foot because of the jumping rope (it's clear now) I ran on a treadmill at 4min/k pace for 20 minutes (I am 34XX 10k guy) one week ago the loss of control didn't appear but at the end I felt a bizarre sensation on my navicular/Talus region. I don't really know how to explain it, when my left foot is going up I felt like a resistance on the top of my foot just below my tibia.

It soooo annoying, I don't have any pain and doctor doesn't seem to know what my problem is... I saw a physio, one sports doctor, one chiro, the physio helped me to get rid of my PF but after my jog on the treadmill I think my problem is still here. I couldn't run lately because I fell pretty badly cycling I will probably star to run again next week.

Another weird thing with this kind of injury, is the fact that recovery doesn't seem to help, before my PF I stoped to run for 2 weeks and I started to cross train, then I started to jog lightly for one hour and the problem poped up at 4.30min/k after only 15 minutes of jogging while before I could run without any problems at this pace...

Just to update: I did get the diagnostic shot into the hip capsule. Really no change this time, so not sure if the hip joint is the source of the issue. I'll be getting a shot next week into the Illipsoas,as that was what one of the MD's I saw thought could be the source of the issue. Not sure if this helps anybody or not.

Hillrunner8...I am absolutely positive you have runner’s dystonia. If I am correct, your condition is neurological. Let me know if you wish to discuss and analyze further. I have struggled with dystonia for two decades and would love to chat further if you are so inclined.

After reading most of the earlier posts from about 12 years ago or so which I think connect pretty well to my situation, I wonder if there's anyone here who has dealt with the same problem as I have and has been able to overcome it, or is able to share how they fared in their challenge with this sort of thing. I am a college runner, and have dealt with a "injury" similar to a loss of coordination for sometime ( a few years its been on and off), but only recently (the last 4 months) it has gotten to the point where my running and walking is constantly affected. I put the word "injury" in quotations since I don't quite feel any pain, just some minor deep tightness in my hamstrings at most. While running, I get a squeezing or tightening sensation in my lower hamstring and lower quad, right above the knee. It's not painful like a Charlie horse, and it doesn't force me to stop, but it severely messes up my gait. It feels like I loose control of my lower leg, and my knee and lower hamstring spasm with each step. When this spasm happens, my lower leg feels as it is kicked outwards forcefully, and I have no control over it. While running, it happens immediately (it used to take a couple of miles before this happened), and as I get going, the squeezing gets worse, and my foot lands all over the place, and I have no ability to control it. As I run with this, the tightening seems to go into my calf, and during races (especially faster races on the track like the 5k, but I've also felt it in the 8k for cross), my calf will squeeze up and I will feel a sharp pain almost like a charlie horse. This is now exclusively in my right leg, but has also occurred in my left in the past. As I mentioned before, I have experienced this before, but it would usually go away after rest. Now that I have been in college for some time, by the end of the season, the squeezing is at its worst. Longer workouts activate this, and while i don't drop out, I am forcibly slowed down by legs that simply refuse to keep going, no matter how good I feel aerobically. Again, there is almost no pain in this, aside from tightening in the calves. What's even more annoying is that now (for the past four months or so), is that I feel this squeezing sensation when I walk. It feels like my right knee is forcibly kicking my lower leg out forward with a great force. As my lower leg kicks forward, my foot splays and wants to shoot out in different directions. It's like my right leg constantly wants to be hyperextended, and my knee always wants to be locked. I also feel the same squeezing of my hamstring and quads while I walk. I have seen a chiropractor who saw nothing wrong with my spine or back, and only mentioned that I need to improve flexibility. I have also recently seen a PT who believes it is a mechanical issue. After working with him for a few sessions, I made adjustments to my running form and cadence, and did lots of rolling/graston/cupping and some new exercises to strengthen glutes and hip flexors, but still had the problem. Of course, this has been less than a month ago, so I am not entirely ruling out the work we've done, I am more so impatient since nothing has changed. I had also taken a few weeks off of running before beginning PT where I only biked, but found no difference. This has been incredibly frustrating as it has prevented me from being able to run normally, never mind race without issues. Even walking is annoying. It just kills me that there is apparently no official name for all of this, and seemingly nowhere to turn to, as each day/week/month goes by and I cannot run/walk without any discomfort, even for a small period of time. I am forced to miss my winter season since I am not able to race or even do workouts remotely close to the level I could in the past, and without any foreseeable solutions, I fear that I may just have to just live with this and run slowly with discomfort, or just stop running altogether. Sorry for writing such a lengthy post, but, I am desperate to find out more. Please let me know what you think.

Been dealing with this problem for a couple months now. In September of last year I pulled my hamstring during a sprint workout, nothing too severe, was able to run before too long. However, around December I started noticing a lack of coordination in the same leg. It was especially bad on treadmills and hard, flat surfaces, as with most cases in this thread. The last couple weeks have been rough. My hip flexors feel tight during runs, and I even feel slightly “off” walking occasionally now.

Does anyone have any hypothesis on this? I’m sure it relates some way to my hamstring tear, but not conclusive on how exactly. This is absolutely the most frustrating roadblock I’ve ever encountered during my track career. Would be very appreciative of any insights/guesses.

Hamstring pull-> loss of coordination wrote:

Been dealing with this problem for a couple months now. In September of last year I pulled my hamstring during a sprint workout, nothing too severe, was able to run before too long. However, around December I started noticing a lack of coordination in the same leg. It was especially bad on treadmills and hard, flat surfaces, as with most cases in this thread. The last couple weeks have been rough. My hip flexors feel tight during runs, and I even feel slightly “off” walking occasionally now.

Does anyone have any hypothesis on this? I’m sure it relates some way to my hamstring tear, but not conclusive on how exactly. This is absolutely the most frustrating roadblock I’ve ever encountered during my track career. Would be very appreciative of any insights/guesses.

Go see a massage therapist. A good one can gain a lot of insight by getting hands-on. It would not be surprising if you have some lingering issue from your hamstring pull.

I've posted profusely on this before, and been through the ringer (as I know all of you have). Some recent research suggests something very interesting:

https://musculoskeletalkey.com/malalignment-syndrome-in-runners/

People have thrown around terms like dystonia, etc. but I think "Malalignment syndrome" seems to fit a lot more of our "loss of coordination" and why most of us seem to function better on trails or uneven surfaces. Not all, but many of us seem to get better with some sort of strengthening/gait retraining work. Foomiler has some excellent posts early on that discuss the ying and yang on muscles and how they fire or don't fire based on input (input being strength, weakness, injury, etc). It's not JUST glute strengthening, or JUST gait retraining...it seems like a full recovery from this incorporates 1. strengthening, 2. working on becoming symmetrical, 3. gait retraining, and 4. neuromuscular feedback (getting muscles to fire again, via E-Stim, Feldenkrais, etc). After 4 years of pretty much every treatment under the sun and every diagnosis, I'm starting to think that is a holistic approach to totally resetting/realigning a runners body that has, while very efficiently, learned to compensate for the weaknesses, eventually simply can't compensate anymore, and the issues need to be addressed, retrained, and then awakened. I've blogged before about the issue, but now I'm thinking about a full on experiment on myself to give it a good year to even out, realign the body, get stronger, and then rewire the hardware.

I've come across the same article and thought the same. Will be interesting to see your results. I fear it may be something that becomes so ingrained its irreversible.Hopefully I'm wrong.

Started physical therapy today, am going to focus hard on the exercises and let everyone know how it’s going in the coming weeks. Hopefully some proper strengthening work and loosening up my tight hammys will help.

I’ve been lurking and reading this thread for years and have come to the point where I agree that the majority of “loss of coordination” cases aren't simple enough to be pinpointed to one cause and that a wholistic approach is the only one which yields long term results.

Good luck

How many of these issues can be attributed to high cushioned trainers with heel to toe drops of 10MM or more. Plus you throw in the orthotics/inserts which makes it worse. You didn't start out with these high heel to toe drop cushioned trainers when you first started running. You were most likely as we all were training in close to zero drop running shoes. High cushioned trainers cause you to overextend your stride which leads to injuries among other problems . Maybe time to transition back to zero drop or less heel to toe drop running shoes.

Interesting theory, and it has been mentioned before. At least for me, I have 30 years of wearing running flats to train in even before minimalism was cool. That theory may hold true for others, though.

I had a hamstring pull / sciatica issue for more than 6 months, and at times could hardly stand on my leg.

I tried all kinds of exercises, remedies and solutions. My leg would get better, and then all of a sudden, much worse again.

Eventually I found out the problem was my bed, specifically my mattress, with a board underneath to keep it quite firm, but it was too hard, and eventually got to the point that it was painful to lay on. I got up in the middle of the night, ripped off the mattress, lay on some cushions that were ultra soft and made me feel like I was sinking down in the middle like a hammock.

There was no more pressure on my leg while sleeping.

By the third day, the pain was gone, my hamstring is fine and I'm able to walk and run again.

Did not work for me.

I’m temporarily stopping PT as my coordination is continuing to deteriorate. Can barely make it a few miles without it being a constant struggle. I’ll be going back to the doctor and hopefully getting an ultrasound/MRI. I’m beginning to suspect scar tissue in the hamstring may be causing it misfire, and may be leading to all sorts of problems. Either way, will post back when I figure something out.

After 4 yrs plus a couple days, I'm about 95% "healed"!!!!!

What has helped me get better faster with doing exercises then in the past is dong exercises just about everyday.

I started doing glute isometrics and pulsating lunges (assisted, meaning holding on to something. Some non assisted) everyday, with some scattered other exercises (like clam shells). This gave me slow gradual improvement.

Then I added just standing on one leg (the problem leg), with weight on my heals to make sure glute is activated, for sets of 2-3 mins. And after a week of doing that I got immense improvement!!! It took me a while to be able to stand on one leg, but for people who have this problem similar to me, this will do wonders.

I am beyond grateful for gaining this stability back and having this thread when I was so confused and knowing I was not alone. The thread also helped me figure out a good exercise routine (such as exercises should be done everyday) and provided advice that aided in my improvement.

I will continue the exercises to get to 100% and keep doing them to ensure correct muscle activation.

Please guys let my story show there is hope, I had this for 4 years and now I'm coming out of the tunnel. My heart goes to all of you suffering, there is a way out, don't stop looking.

-loss of coordination in leg SURVIVOR