I have to start this blog with a short comment. This is not meant to be some type of attack on running and I use to love to run outside not on a track or on a trend mill.
I was a runner most of my life. I ran relay races in Elementary School almost every day at recess. I was on the track team in Junior high and added the cross country team and basketball teams during High School. I played several inter-mural sports in college plus running for fitness. We ran numerous miles back then with really bad shoes (I could not afford good shoes and they did not exist like today). I played hours and hours of playground and hard court basketball for numerous different type of leagues and teams. As an adult I always went back to running to lose weight and get back into shape. I also played a lot tennis and tried my hand at indoor soccer (absolutely the only sport I have ever seen where players beg to come off the field for a quick break). Walking is fine and fun especially when my wife and I go for a long walk but it is nothing compared to running several miles from an exercise perspective. All runners know what the natural HIGH one can get from going out and running your scheduled number of miles.
One recent spring Sunday morning my wife and I went for a long walk. It started to rain in a fairly heavy fashion so I said lets run back home since I had not run for several months and I had the running in Katy Texas urge again. The next day I had what I though was a bad groin pull. I had trouble climbing stairs and the pain and discomfort did not go away and just got worst. Like most men I did not pay attention to my medical issues and figured it would finally go away some day. I went to my GP doctor who wanted to attack my back with all kinds of tests. I refused as I knew it was not my back that was not the issue. He finally gave in and gave me a series of low impact exercises to do. Most these exercises were of the stretching variety. My right leg had terrible pain every time I attempted to do these simple things. Finally after several months of struggling with what to do, I visited an Orthopedic Surgeon. It turns out the cartilage in my right hip was almost completely gone and I also had arthritis in my hip. Prognosis was simple.. Hip Replacement Surgery. After touring three different surgeons I found one who uses a different technique than standard for his operating procedure and this system is less invasive and shorter from a recovery time. I choose him and on December 15, 2010 I had the surgery. I am still recovering today. They do not tell the truth about the pain one goes through with this type of surgery. If they did NO ONEin their right mind would do it!!!!
My point is if you are a runner or participate in sports involving running (soccer, basketball. etc) pay close attention to your hips and knees. My 3 surgeon group all told me I had a high tolerance for pain and should have had a scope procedure done many years ago. (This procedure probably did not exist many years ago) If you catch the problem early enough you can have a scope procedure of the hip performed and not go through the agony of the surgery. I find it very interesting how many folks I run into after having this surgery on a daily basis who know someone or who have a relative who has had this type of surgery or knee replacement surgery. We are becoming a nation of people with replacements joints!!!
All that running I did over the years has helped wear out my body parts. Take care of yours and pay attention to aches and pains you might have after exercising...
If you need additional data on hip replacement try http://www.webmd.com/osteoarthritis/guide/hip-replacement-surgery.
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