First published: 02 March 2018. Go to latest update 9 March 2024
Injuries Timeline – they are a part of life!
I Started jogging 13 Sept 2008 then up to 4km by Jan 2009. Mostly doing 5km twice a week during 2009 and then started longer jogs of 6-7km twice a week from Feb 2010. First hip injury was caused by it, or rather by weaknesses aggravated by jogging, same for knees and ankle. Back and shoulder injuries were brought on by Capoeira/Insanity.
* 13 May 2010 – 45 mins jog but very sore right hip after.
(Length of injury 18 months: May 2010 – November 2011 AND Oct 2017 – Nov 2017 Trochanteric bursitis)
This soon progressed into lots of pain when standing up after sitting or while walking. Stopped jogging and had 9 private physio with sports therapist. Then saw a specialist at Parkside Hospital 4th of August 2010 and Podiatrist on 7th of September. Got insoles from Podiatrist (got flat feet). I had about 3 months of little exercise and put on weight, so I started cycling end of Oct 2010, walking the common, also doing yoga and zumba at home.
MRI Scan in November 2010 – specialist at Parkside Hospital, Wembley (they thought hip pain would be linked to my back, pain was in the hip bursa area, so they scanned my back, not my hip)
Date of exam: 9 November 2010
Area Imaged: Lumbar Spine
Radiologist report
History: a 39yo patient presents with low back symptoms. Bone stress? Disc?
Technique: Standard protocol
Image findinds: Normal lubosacral vertebral alignment is demonstrated with no subluxation or compression injure seen. The conus lies behind the T12 vertebral body and has a normal appearance. There is desiccation of the L5-S1 disc with a mild bulge slightly towards the left side. However there is no neural compromise. The facets are normal. No bone stress is seen.
Conclusion: Desiccation of the L5-S1 disc with a mild bulge on the left side is observed. However there is no nerve root compromiseDavid Connel, Consultant musculoskeletal radiologist
2 jogs in November, 1 in December 2011 as hip hurt less
Then I was recommended complete jogging rest when given these results above on 7 December then physio on New Year. So I was just doing Zumba, Yoga and cycling. From 18th of January I started cycling to work instead of taking the tube.
I restarted Physio with David Galea (sports physiotherapist) on January 19 and saw him weekly until 18 May 2011. I also started Capoeira on March 2011. On May 9 2011 I jogged home from Capoeira (about 1.6km) and wrote ‘bad move’ as this aggravated my hip and it seemed I was back to square 1!!! On June 21st I saw a doctor, who prescribed 28 days course of 500g Naproxen. She also referred me to St. George’s physio Dpt. Had about 3 apts. and was discharged on 7th of November 2011 as it was improving. Then got a really bad cramp on hip during Capoeira, got another month’s supply of Naproxen on 15th of December. Both times I took Naproxen I suffered from colds and feeling tired. But this time it seemed to do the trick. Started running regularly again in January 2012 (after shorter runs to build up to usual 5-6km distance in November/December).
Why did it take so long to solve this? It was just hip bursitis. Why no injection, or a scan of the area? Still get pain if I sit for too long but normal life/exercise routine resumed.
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* 06 Sep 2013 – sore left knee during jog
(Length of injury : Sep 2013 – ongoing – Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS)?) still hurts sometimes, I roll and massage it when required. I didn’t jog for a couple of weeks when it first happened. Haven’t been able to sit cross legged for long periods of time since this.
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Right Shoulder 2013-2014, then 2016-17
(Length of injury Aug 2013 – June 2014 (10 months) AND Sep 2016 – Feb 2017 (5 months))
Started in August 2013, probably due to using arms more in Capoeira. Took anti inflammatory, did physio for quite a while at St. George’s, eventually had cortisone injection also at St. George’s, and after two weeks issue was resolved in June 2014.
Then in Sept 2016 my right shoulder started to hurt again. Firstly I rested and took Naproxen for a month (Oct/Nov). After that I went private as I didn’t want to waste months on physio. I also had an ultrasound this time, which confirmed Impingement, bursitis, rotator cuff tendinopathy diagnosis then had injection on 23 November @ Parkside Hospital. This time the injection took a lot longer to work, almost 2 months! Did the injection work or did it resolve itself?
https://lelecapoeira.com/2013/physio-at-last/
https://lelecapoeira.com/2014/physio-arm/
Injury Update: needles and more needles, shoulder cortisone injection
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Back/Quadratus Lomborum(QL)/Hip
(Length of injury Feb-July 2014 (5 months) AND Feb-Oct 2016 (8 months))
First time treated by Osteopath over 7 sessions.
Second time, failed private injection, then osteopath, then specialist at Parkside (self diagnosed and confirmed by Reza Mobasheri @ Parkside: meralgia paresthetica). I took Naproxen for 4 weeks for my shoulder in October and although it didn’t sort shoulder out it seemed to fix this.
Injury Update: needles and more needles, shoulder cortisone injection
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Right ankle
(Length of injury Jul 2017 – Feb 2018 (7 months))
I can’t think of a particular incident that may have caused it. Probably running related.
Stopped running and did physio at home. It got better slowly. Took same distance walks and doing everything else as normal. Started running again Feb 2018 (One 5km run in Feb). Still aches a bit but it feels like it’s going to either improve or just ache occasionally like my hips.
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Left Shoulder 2017
(Length of injury Sep 2017 – March 2018 (6 months)
Similar symptoms to right shoulder. Took Naproxen for 10 days (hoping it would help with shoulder/ankle/right hip), once I stopped pain got worse. Did supported pushups with legs on the floor for months. Rolled shoulder on a ball. Started taking Vit C every day (at the start of Winter) and Collagen + Vit C. It started to get better without seeing doctor or getting any injections from January 2018. It feels pretty much resolved, I can do unsupported pushups. Did 4kg weights via T25 Gamma throughout the duration of the injury as I believe it helps.
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14 September 2018 *Update*
Have been in relatively good condition lately. I really, really think the weekly Yoga session helps keep things under control and it seems to realign everything. It’s the gentlest exercise I do, and it feels like it balances out the higher impact stuff, effectively aligning my body and ironing out any bumps. For example, a couple of weeks ago I felt something on my back go during Capoeira, it was deep and I couldn’t touch the pain, but rolled on a ball a few times. It stayed there for a few days, but went away after the Friday Yoga session and hasn’t been back since.
I do have aches and pains from previous injuries plus new ones on my wrists (those arrived after I started practising the guitar regularly), and the other day I realised I can fit them into “heads, shoulders, knees and toes” nursery rhyme, except mine would go
“shoulders, hips, knees and ankles – knees and ankles x2
Eye, wrists, back and psoas
shoulders, hips, knees and ankles – knees and ankles” 😉
However they’re not stopping me from doing anything. I’m jogging twice a week, but never ever go over 5km, to protect my ankles which get achy afterwards, especially the right one.
Injuries Timeline diagram
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02 October 2018 *Update*
My left shoulder feels impinged again, since Sunday (30/09). This was after Saturday event MAIOR É DEUS, GRANDE É JOÃO! followed by class on Sunday – which had a lot of tesouras. Lifting arm overhead is uncomfortable – so I’m resting for a few days, icing the shoulder and rubbing Ibuprofen on it.
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Right arm tennis elbow 2020
(Length of injury 2nd of June -2020 – ongoing)
Been a while since I had anything but since lockdown a few things have popped up. My right hip/piriformis has reared its ugly head since I started running 3x a week, and I manage it by self massage with a ball/roller + stretching so it’s not too bad. On the 25th of June, Thursday, the day after a class where we did a lot of kicks, afternoon jog, then Capoeira class the on the Thursday (this was the 3rd week when I had started doing the extra Weds class) my *left* hip suddenly started hurting so much in the evening I could barely walk! I spent the next 2 days with an ice pack wrapped around my hip but it all seemed fine by Saturday! PHEW! I was back jogging on Saturday.
(14 July 2020)The worse injury by far has been one I never had before: Tennis elbow. On the 2nd and 3rd of June I started painting the garden fences and shed. By the end of the first day my right elbow hurt a bit and by the end of the second day I could only hold the brush with my left hand! For some stupid reason I didn’t ice that injury and I didn’t strictly rest it either because doing handstands and pushups/bar hangs/burpees etc didn’t hurt at all. I just carried on doing them, I just stopped lifting things (ie weights, heavy stuff). It now has gotten to the point that even lifting my coffee cup is uncomfortable. It seemed to get better at first, but I guess I kept aggravating it with handstands/pushups/burpees.
I started reading up about it, eventually, and anything that extends the elbow joint is bad. So now I’m resting for a couple of weeks. NO HANDSTANDS!!! I’ve been doing them almost daily since lockdown, and really loving it. No pushups, no burpees – was doing those 3x a week. And no Capoeira classes either, also was doing those 3x a week. Just leg stuff for next 2 weeks. Hopefully it’ll help. I ready that it tends to right itself within 6-12 months, provided you rest. Great.
14 August 2020 *Update*
This is getting better slowly. I can pick up heavier objects with my right arm now. For example, before I couldn’t pick the guitar with my right arm, now I can! Still not 100%, though. For my right hip, I’ve been sitting on an ice pack after running and doing glute activation exercises with resistance band in the evening, in front of the TV for last couple of weeks.
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(Length of injury Jan 2024 – March 2024)
Right arm recovered well from 2020. I had about 4 months or aching on right shoulder (old, recurring injury) in the latter half of 2023, I think due to playing piano too forcefully, but I just carried on doing what I do and it seems to be in remission…
Latest issue has been my left ankle – achilles heel. My left achilles/ankle started aching around mid-january. I iced and rubbed anti-inflammatory (Voltarol) – cut down on distance (I started running 10km and 8km once a week each from August 2023) then stopped running from 7th to 24th of February (was walking instead). The ache improved, so with new trainers on I resumed running on the 24th (8km instead of 10km) and then again on the 27th of February. As the ache didn’t get any worse afterwards, I figured it’s probably on the mend, but will not run 10km for a while and stick to 8km for both Tues/Sat runs.
I had similar issue on right ankle a few years ago (2017-2018). Given how long that took to heel, instead of stopping running this time I’m continuing, just being careful with posture and going a bit slower/shorter distance than I have been going.
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