regarding my shin & knee injury pt. 1

i’m currently on the 4th week of a 6-8 weeks running ban, due to some injury. that above is an X-ray of my crooked right knee cap, one of the things to be fixed so that i can go back running again. the others are torn meniscus also on the right knee and shin splints on both legs.

so, what’s the story?

it all started during my Half Marathon training last year. some time in late October last year, the first time i tried on my Brooks Pureflow for a short 7k run, was the first time i felt shin pain on my right leg. well, not the very first. i had shin splints problem back in highschool. but that was many years ago.

the shin splints came and went, and only appeared when i wore the Pureflow. but i wore it anyway for long runs, because my older shoes are either spent or very minimal.

then, three days after the Great Eastern run back in November, the shin splints got really painful (on both legs now) during a 7k run, that i had to cut the run to only 5k. from there, i had to cut my training almost to a halt. i only ran 2-3k once a week and iced my shins 3-4 times a day, around 20-30 minutes per session.

it worked! the shin splints were totally gone for the 9k Brooks Run Happy, which was exactly one week before the scheduled Half Marathon Race on SCMS.

on the SCMS 2012 itself, the Half Marathon went okay. i wore my Pureflow again. and the shin splints didn’t show up at all during those 21k… yay! i was very cautious, and tried not to tire my legs… i ended up walking quite a lot during that race. maybe that’s why the shin splints didn’t show up.

but then after that, the shin splints never really went away. i stopped wearing the Pureflow, thinking that it was the problem. but it didn’t matter. i’ve been wearing my Merrell Dash Glove constantly since, and even though it doesn’t hurt during the run (wearing Pureflow always hurt my shins at the beginning of the run), the day after, my shins were always throbbing. i also started running on trails, because i noticed that if i ran on soft surfaces, the shin pain didn’t appear… but once i start running on the road again, the next day, my shins hurt.

i knew i was supposed to cut down my running when shin splints show up. or maybe see the doctor. but i was afraid and would rather avoid doctors all together. instead, i signed up for another Half Marathon race for April and started training again on February.

then, some time in February, my right knee started to hurt. i thought it was a tight IT Band (it probably was), so i made sure i stretched after each run. but instead of getting better, my knee pains got worse…

and then, the worst came on March 6th, where i was going to run for about 8k. my knee had started to act up even before i hit 1k. and by the time i was in front of aina’s school (which is only 1.5k away from home), i was already walking and limping. i stopped the run and walked back home. my knee was swelling and it was very painful.

that day, i called and made an appointment with Dr. Roger Tian, a Sports Doctor in Novena Medical Centre. the next day, i was X-rayed 8 times. he said:

1. there is a mild thickening of the tissues around shin bone on both legs, which means the bone had been under stress. he also found what might be a hairline crack on my right shin. basically, this warrant a 6-8 weeks of rest; no running or jumping at all during this time. hopefully, by the end of the rest period, they’re all healed. he also told me to see his podiatrist to find more suitable running shoes.
2. my right knee cap is crooked, due to muscle imbalance. and we can correct it by doing strengthening exercises to balance the muscle. so he made me an appointment with their physiotherapist to fix the knee.
3. he also thinks that i probably have a tear on the meniscus of my right knee. meniscus is one of the cartilages wedged between the shin bone and the thigh bone. the area on meniscus can be classified into two: the area with blood supply, and the area with no blood supply. if the tear happens on the area where the blood supply occurs, the tear can fix itself. if the tear is on the no-blood area, it has to be fixed surgically. we can’t really tell where the tear is, unless we perform an MRI. if the knee pain still persist after the 6-8 weeks period, it might be located on the no-blood area, and this means, i have to go through an MRI and maybe surgery. so, let’s hope it’s gone by 6-8 weeks.

so, i’ll be seeing him again in 6 weeks. meanwhile, i will have to visit his podiatrist and physiotherapist in the next few days.
(to be continued… next: podiatrist visit)