• yesstiles
      • RE: loss of coordination in leg 11/23/2006 10:40PM - in reply to hillrunner8
      • yesstiles
      • It's very possible that your sacrum is out of alignment. Very few chiropractors know how to correct this problem that affects runners. I had your problem, and this adjustment helped me.

        I went here:

        www.therunningdoctor.com
    • hillrunner8
      • RE: loss of coordination in leg 11/23/2006 10:58PM - in reply to yesstiles
      • hillrunner8
      • yesstiles wrote:
        It's very possible that your sacrum is out of alignment. Very few chiropractors know how to correct this problem that affects runners. I had your problem, and this adjustment helped me.

        I went here:

        http://www.therunningdoctor.com
        thanks for the advice, but I live in michigan so i wouldn't be able to travel to san diego to see the doctor. do many chiropractors not know how to correct this problem, or do they simply not know about it? are there any excercises that he gave you that would help or is it just the adjustment that helped? thanks again for the advice, I really want to get to the bottom of this.
    • yoga
      • RE: loss of coordination in leg 11/24/2006 12:31AM - in reply to hillrunner8
      • yoga
      • try this:

        do that quick foot drill (slow slow quick) where every third step is a quick pull through. the one where you basically take turns making each leg come through quick that sprinters do. it takes a fair amount of coordination. if this works as a diagnostic for you, you probably have nerve impingement in your spine somewhere or sciatica. Do bikram yoga (the hot yoga)3-5 days a week to unpinch the neve and give it 4-6 weeks to grow back healthy and you will be fine.
    • brc1355
      • RE: loss of coordination in leg 12/18/2006 3:59PM - in reply to yoga
      • brc1355
      • i recently explained the problem to my chiropractor and he explained some stuff that helped:
        Take off your shirt so you can see your hips and stand in front of a mirror. Quickly bend your knees so that your butt comes down about 4-5 inches. Look in the mirror to see where your hips are and if, like me, they are out of ailignment, then one hip will be higher than the other. To fix this you can do what you just did but focus on keeping your hips level when you drop. After you've done this, move your body from side to side with your feet planted and your body in alignment: your torso should remain perpendicular with the ground and your hips should be parallel with the ground. Then you can stand on one leg (bent) and move the other leg out from your body from different angles, once again keeping your body aligned.
    • track dude
      • RE: loss of coordination in leg 1/12/2007 3:50PM - in reply to brc1355
      • track dude
      • Bump. I've been cleared of MS and an EMG came back negative for any type of nerve damage. The neurologist says its most likely a biomechancial/muscular problem, the problem is nobody knows where to look. Any ideas?
    • mlbfan24
      • RE: loss of coordination in leg 1/12/2007 8:43PM - in reply to track dude
      • mlbfan24
      • Add me to the list, since I've started a couple threads on this in the past 6 weeks or so. I'm trying the rest route right now and haven't run for 17 days. I'm also seeing a chiropractor who has been adjusting my lumbar spine and the right side of my pelvis because it is anteriorly rotated and also rotated inward. I will be getting a blood test, dopplar test (for DVT... blood clots), and probably an MRI on my back to check for nerve issues.

        When you guys run, are your legs uncomfortable the entire run? Mine feel awkward and stiff or rigid, as if my range of motion is greatly decreased. The weird thing is, I can run my normal pace fine and feel like I am jogging, but then have to come to a complete stop to stretch out my quads before continuing on for a few minutes. It definitely isn't an issue of fatigue in the usual aerobic sense.

        I have also noticed if I greatly exaggerate an anterior rotation in my pelvis while standing still, then bring my knees up in a running motion, there is even greater tension placed on my quads and hip flexors. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it, but it's worth a shot.
    • oneill
      • RE: loss of coordination in leg 1/12/2007 10:00PM - in reply to mlbfan24
      • oneill
      • Well, I had a progressive loss of control of my right leg. After trial diagnoses of MS and ALS I finally had a consult with a neurologist who was also a runner, who sent me in for a CAT-scan to confirm a herniated disc causing pressure on a nerve at the C-3-4 level. After the keyhole disc surgery it didn't get any worse, but the existing nerve damage will never get better (nerve tissue damage doesn't repair) so I run with a slight list to starboard and sore knees and back, and an occasional back muscle spasm.
    • track dude
      • RE: loss of coordination in leg 1/12/2007 10:18PM - in reply to mlbfan24
      • track dude
      • mlbfan24 wrote:
        When you guys run, are your legs uncomfortable the entire run? Mine feel awkward and stiff or rigid, as if my range of motion is greatly decreased. The weird thing is, I can run my normal pace fine and feel like I am jogging, but then have to come to a complete stop to stretch out my quads before continuing on for a few minutes. It definitely isn't an issue of fatigue in the usual aerobic sense.
        For me its only my left leg that has a problem, and it does feel awkward for the entire run, unless I'm running on a trail or grass in which case I would barely notice it. It never hurts, its just feels like a weird sensation and I can feel a tightness coming on in the quad that eventually gets uncontrollable...its like pressure building up. Like you, if I stop for a few seconds, it temporarily goes away until I keep going for a while longer.

        Do you notice anything when you walk?

        Hopefully you will get some benefit from the chiropractor, but for me (and a previous poster) they did not help at all. They generally have all kinds of theories about what the problem is, but never seem to be able to fix it. Spinal adjustments did absolutely nothing. I went to a massage therapist last week who noticed a rotation in my hips and he said he was able to fix it with some manuevering. I'm skeptical that this was the problem, but I'll find out when I start running in a few days.
    • mlbfan24
      • RE: loss of coordination in leg 1/12/2007 11:07PM - in reply to track dude
      • mlbfan24
      • Mine is both legs, although the left leg is worse. It's as you said...almost like pressure building up, but something else. When I was trying to run through it, I'd wake up with stiff legs, but now that I haven't done anything for 2 1/2 weeks, I feel normal. Even while training, walking around throughout the day felt fine. Did you have any back pain or back injuries when this first occurred? I'm also wondering if it is some sort of strange nervous system fatigue.
    • mlbfan24
      • RE: loss of coordination in leg 1/18/2007 7:05PM - in reply to mlbfan24
      • mlbfan24
      • *update*

        After taking 3 weeks completely off and not cross training, I ran 4 miles last night and 4 miles today. I feel much worse and have no coordination at all while running. I can't even hold my normal cadence while running because I simply can't move my legs fast enough anymore. I'm not sure if I could run 7:00 pace for 5k right now, simply because my legs won't do it.

        Does anyone else's condition get worse with rest? This is ridiculous and needless to say, I'm really frustrated.
    • Alex S
      • RE: loss of coordination in leg 1/19/2007 4:27AM - in reply to mlbfan24
      • Alex S
      • In the absence of disease, this is my guess:

        Your body will only move 'correctly' if it has the strength / flexibility to do so - many biomechanical problems can be improved / solved with the correct conditioning exercises.

        With insufficient strength, your body compensates, and moves awkwardly. Perhaps with a huge conscious effort you can control it for a few steps, but it always slips back to the awkward movement.

        This shouldn't be at all controversial so far - so what has this to do with you, where you're fine for a while and then the coordination goes wrong part way through a run?


        Well, i am suggesting your conditioning in some area is a bit borderline. At the start of the run, you're fine, but then you fatigue. Fatigue causes a transient strength loss. So during the course of the run, you pass from having sufficient to insufficient strength, and the coordination starts to go wrong.

        With this rationale, you would expect it to be worse on hard surfaces. You would expect it to get worse with prolonged rest (i.e. weakening from detrainng). You would expect doctors to be unable to diagnose a specific condition responsible for the problem.

        How does that fit your experiences?
    • mlbfan24
      • RE: loss of coordination in leg 1/19/2007 4:40AM - in reply to Alex S
      • mlbfan24
      • It fits, but what would bring on such sudden weakness? I can't speak for anyone else on this thread, but in my case, I went from running mid 26's for 5 miles to being unable to sustain that pace for a mile without losing coordination and being forced to stop. I'm starting to think I have some sort of neuropathy, but I don't even know where to begin with that.
    • DKsucks
      • RE: loss of coordination in leg 1/19/2007 5:55AM - in reply to mlbfan24
      • DKsucks
      • Geez Boys,
        I'm in the same boat. However, I start to feel a general tightness in my left lower leg and it progress up to my knee and ITB. After about 1/2 mile of running on a hard surface it feels like my left leg is completely rotated out and I have to stop to stretch it. I've been tested for compartment syndrome, no dice. Also saw an ART guy, nothing there.

        Other info:
        Chronic Achilles Tendonitis in the same leg
        For foot lander/supinator.
    • track dude
      • RE: loss of coordination in leg 1/19/2007 7:48AM - in reply to mlbfan24
      • track dude
      • mlbfan24 wrote:
        Did you have any back pain or back injuries when this first occurred? I'm also wondering if it is some sort of strange nervous system fatigue.
        Well my back did hurt shortly after the condition first came on, but I attributed that to running with messed up posture. I learned not to continue running when it happens, because you will just end up messing up some other part of your body. After that intial episode, I have not had any back pain.
    • track dude
      • RE: loss of coordination in leg 1/19/2007 7:58AM - in reply to mlbfan24
      • track dude
      • Yes, my weakness came on all of a sudden at the tail end of my best every track workout. In the month leading up to that, I was running better than ever. The fact that it happened in an instant led me to believe there was some kind of trauma associated with the injury, but I have no idea.

        mlbfan - I often assumed it was some type of neuropathy for me, but the neurologist more or less ruled that out in my case. I suspect that it is some type of exercise induced neuropathy, which may explain why it did not show up on any of my tests, since I was at rest during the tests. Its kind of like compartment syndrome, except in the upper leg.

        I'm going to a very agressive massage therapist next week to see if he can help.
    • bystandard
      • RE: loss of coordination in leg 1/19/2007 10:09AM - in reply to hillrunner8
      • bystandard
      • https://www.letsrun.com/forum/f...ad=1340079

        similar thread with similar conclusions

        as for me, absolutly nothing has helped
        over the years I have gone from not being able to run a 10k on the track to not being able to run a 5k and now the last couple of laps in the indoor 3k give me problems

        very frustrating indeed
    • spokompton
      • RE: loss of coordination in leg 1/19/2007 10:45AM - in reply to Alex S
      • spokompton
      • Alex S wrote:
        In the absence of disease, this is my guess:

        Your body will only move 'correctly' if it has the strength / flexibility to do so - many biomechanical problems can be improved / solved with the correct conditioning exercises.

        With insufficient strength, your body compensates, and moves awkwardly. Perhaps with a huge conscious effort you can control it for a few steps, but it always slips back to the awkward movement.

        This shouldn't be at all controversial so far - so what has this to do with you, where you're fine for a while and then the coordination goes wrong part way through a run?


        Well, i am suggesting your conditioning in some area is a bit borderline. At the start of the run, you're fine, but then you fatigue. Fatigue causes a transient strength loss. So during the course of the run, you pass from having sufficient to insufficient strength, and the coordination starts to go wrong.

        With this rationale, you would expect it to be worse on hard surfaces. You would expect it to get worse with prolonged rest (i.e. weakening from detrainng). You would expect doctors to be unable to diagnose a specific condition responsible for the problem.

        How does that fit your experiences?
        I completely agree. I posted earlier on this thread about my left leg problem. I notice the tightening and slight loss of coordination around 2 hours now.

        At first this happened much earlier in my run when I made the switch to flats full time. These problems are the result of weakened and uneven sized muscles. Over many, many months of high mileage in very minimal flats and stretching the amount of continual running time needed for this problem to arise has increased.

        I recently added high rep, low weight leg curls to my weekly routine. I normally am not an advocate for weights but this single excercise has drasticlly improved my left leg. I think my left hamstring was significantly weaker than my right side. The more I do this lift, the more I can feel the strength evening out.