Leg muscle injury question.....

[Doug Hatton]

This is kinda bizarre, but thought some of you guys might actually have an answer for me... About 10 years ago I played on a softball league and while running to first with everything I had, I pulled a muscle in the front of my thigh. I never went to the doctor and the pain was pretty bad. I found that as long as I didn't sprint it didn't hurt too badly. I played the rest of the season on it like a trooper but never could really sprint hard on it. Well, fast forward 10 years. I now have a distinguishable lump of muscle at the top of my thigh. I imagine that the muscle that was once there did some sort of window-blind maneuver and is all balled up at the top. I can jog, but to this day, any kind of sprinting that requires me to pull my leg forward quickly can be painful. I can feel that same muscle tweak. My questions are 1) How would this have been treated if I had handled the situation correctly? 2) What can be done now? Any particular rehab that should/could be done? Sorry so long. Here is a pic of the muscle that I THINK is the injured one and where the "knot" of muscle is located.

[droppedlime]

Not a pro or anything but a kinesiology major at UT.It sounds like you might have snapped your medial sartorious. When you say it is balled up at the top it sounds like you had a distinguishable tear near the ankle where the sartorious goes. For surgery they usually can reattach a muscle although a painful process and most of the time you will have a hard time getting the same motion as it was at 100%. Definetly have it checked out even after 10 years.

[The Raven]

This is kinda bizarre, but thought some of you guys might actually have an answer for me... About 10 years ago I played on a softball league and while running to first with everything I had, I pulled a muscle in the front of my thigh. I never went to the doctor and the pain was pretty bad. I found that as long as I didn't sprint it didn't hurt too badly. I played the rest of the season on it like a trooper but never could really sprint hard on it. Well, fast forward 10 years. I now have a distinguishable lump of muscle at the top of my thigh. I imagine that the muscle that was once there did some sort of window-blind maneuver and is all balled up at the top. I can jog, but to this day, any kind of sprinting that requires me to pull my leg forward quickly can be painful. I can feel that same muscle tweak. My questions are 1) How would this have been treated if I had handled the situation correctly? 2) What can be done now? Any particular rehab that should/could be done? Sorry so long. Here is a pic of the muscle that I THINK is the injured one and where the "knot" of muscle is located.


Sounds like you tore the mucle, or it detached at the knee, and it's balled up at the top. I dunno though, I'd imagine that would have been a bit more than "pretty bad", and walking would be a problem, much more so sprinting.

[Doug Hatton]

I don't think the muscle I tore goes all the way to my ankle if I read your post correctly. The knot may just be rebuilt (albeit poorly) muscle at the spot of the tear...? The knot is fairly high and I was able to use my leg after the injury. I guess it may have just partially tore or something. I can do leg extensions at the gym w/o any pain, but for some reason when I try to sprint it still bothers me when bringing my leg back forward after each stride.

[01WhiteCobra]

Not a pro or anything but a kinesiology major at UT.It sounds like you might have snapped your medial sartorious. When you say it is balled up at the top it sounds like you had a distinguishable tear near the ankle where the sartorious goes. For surgery they usually can reattach a muscle although a painful process and most of the time you will have a hard time getting the same motion as it was at 100%. Definetly have it checked out even after 10 years.

Ankle? That would be a really weird looking medial sartorius. How about knee?

Only a doc is going to be able to tell you if it is the sartorious or not. High grade sprains and tears are slow to recover and typically result in significant hematoma formation (the ball). If the strain/tear originally existed in your muscle belly usually deep tissue massage, stretching and strengthening are sufficient. If the strain/tear occured in the attachment then you have to go conservative, rest until pain free, then deep tissue massage, stretching, strengthening over weeks.

Best advice to you is find an ortho you trust and go to him. Most likely he'll give you a referral to a physical therapist that will get you moving again pain free.

After my achilles rupture I spent an hour a day in deep tissue massage and another hour in rehab exercise and stretching for a solid month before even thinking of walking without help. I also spent every night in the "boot" with my foot in constant dorsiflexion (foot/ankle/toes pointed up toward my lower leg)

If you rush it, especially in your legs, you are going to create an imbalance that will be difficult to fix. I still have a small imbalance I'm struggling with. I can feel it when I'm running and favor my left leg much more on push off (I almost feel like I'm running in a circle)

[The Raven]

...and it's a little too late to say now, but you should never ignore a seriousl injury like that, it will only make things worse.

[Ronin6135]

I have a good OS, that i used for my knee. He did a great job if you want his name. Not to get you down or anything, but a guy on our rugby team has a similar injury ( or so it sounds) in his arm. He held of on going to the doc, and by the time he did it was basically to late to do anything.

[Doug Hatton]

Like I said, at this point daily function is fine. I can jog w/ no pain, do leg extensions, etc. The ONLY time I notice it is when doing the same motion that I was doing when I originally injured it. (sprinting or pulling my leg forward quickly like running up stairs). I'd like to learn as much as possible about it, then decide what I should do about it if anything. Thanks for the info. I guess a Doc will be able to give me the best info. Considering that my leg's still functional, I'd imagine the tear was in the muscle body as opposed to an attachment point.

[01WhiteCobra]

Considering that my leg's still functional, I'd imagine the tear was in the muscle body as opposed to an attachment point.

I walked for 4 days in Mexico with a complete tear of my achilles tendon. Got home, cut the grass, and spent another day walking before getting it looked at. Pain yes, but I could still walk (running was out the question) :D

There are alot of tendons and ligaments that will compensate for a loss of the function of the others.

It could be just severe tendonitis.