I was speaking with an avid runner the other day who was sitting out a race because of an injured knee. He was sure that the injury was a recurrence from a knee operation 1 year prior. Understandably he was pretty discouraged that less than 1 year out, the issue had already returned.
I performed an informal assessment of his knee to see if I could provide any insight. What I found was a source of pain that was NOT a recurrence of his surgical injury, but apparently an issue which likely caused the surgery and had still had not been diagnosed.
I explained my findings to him and gave him some ideas on stretches and exercises that would resolve the problem.
When looking at injuries it is imperative to look at the whole system and always look for the ROOT of the problem In this case, I found some tell-tale signs that there was pathology around that knee that probably CAUSED the surgery to be necessary in the first place. A quick check alleviated most of the anxiety he was feeling and gave him the confidence that he would be back to running in time to participate in his next big race.
The lesson here is twofold. First of all, try not to jump to your own diagnostic conclusions and cause yourself undue anxiety. Second, find yourself a good healthcare provider and get checked out sooner rather than later. It could end up saving you a second surgery and anxiety, and get you back to your regularly scheduled programs!
