Sunday, May 18, 2008

sorry i have been away from this blog. i will be away longer...

sorry i haven't been posting nor checking this blog for a long time till today.
i have had too many days of pains and confusing symptoms and reviewing everything has been kind of a bummer since i still have issues.
i got diagnosed as having lyme disease over a month ago, after being bitten by a deer tick last september. at that time i had the rash and all the lyme symptoms. but, like sports hernias, the lyme diagnosis can also be elusive due to 1) lack of knowledge 2) lack of good testing, and 3) doc egos. despite the obvious, my doctor said i didn't have lyme because the blood tests weren't "positive enough." this is very hard to believe. things were getting better for me as far as the sports hernia recoup was going, then i was bitten. within a few months my shoulders were killing me, then things continued to spread and get worse. finally, in march, i was diagnosed as having lyme.
so i think that perhaps the lyme has halted my sports hernia healing. the past 8 months have been very gloomy. with that, i decided to cool back from posting.

now i need to point out the importance of labral tearing. it has been posted, even in one of my earlier posts, that such tears can be underlying causes of or perhaps results of sports hernias. i did get diagnosed with a left labral tear 2 months before my sports hernia diagnosis. now that it is almost 2 years post-op, and i still have that pain in my gluteals and groin on that same side, i am going to get it checked out again.

so please pardon my absence from updating this blog for a good while in the future. but i will start it up again in a number of months.
daniel, feel free to link this blog to yours.

i seriously hope that this blog has been helpful to people out there. i genuinely hope that all of you feel better and can return to normal lives without pain in the groin.
i am also working on a book that will basically be memoirs of this battle with not only the diagnosis and treatment but also the doctors and medical system that i strongly feel has turned our battles from what should be simple into long journeys. this has left me financially ruined, often depressed, yet much wiser. i hope that when my book is done, it will also serve as a positive influence for anyone suffering with similar battles.

if you want to get in touch with me, post your email or a way to get in touch and i guarantee i will at some point.

best wishes

john (sports herniac)

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Sports Hernia Surgeons

Here are the names and contact info for some sports hernia/AP surgeons. There are more out there than I have posted here but I don't know their info nor history of their work.

Dr. Ulrike Muschaweck- Munich, Germany. info@hernien.de is the best way to contact her. Her staff is very friendly and will get back to you in a timely fashion. She has performed the most of these surgeries over anyone else, by far.

Dr. Brown- Montreal, CA. From what I understand, he is more or less retired but still does occasional sports hernia surgeries. His office# is 514.935.4888. His assistant is also the assistant for Dr David Mulder, who is the surgeon for the Montreal Canadiens, and she is very pleasant to speak with and is also knowledgable.

Dr. Meyers- Philadelphia, PA. He has performed thousands of these surgeries. Marcia or Trisha can help you, they both are very knowledeable and friendly. Office # is 215.762.4157.

Dr. Cattey- Mequon, WI. He also has performed many of these surgeries. He uses a laproscopic approach. Office # 414.961.3254

others??? please feel free to post info to help people decide where to go!!

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

hip labrum and fai along with sports hernias

this is in a debate of sorts. there are many people who have both labral tears (either due to femoroacetabluar impingement, or perhaps the fai is a result of labral tear) and sports hernias.
which came first? some say the sh can lead to labral tears, some say the other way around.
either way, many people out there have labral tears and no symptoms. i myself had a labral tear in one out of 2 mris and a ct scan and nuclear bone scan showed nothing wrong with the hip.
the hip specialists as well as other sports docs said to leave it alone.
i had the sh surgery done 1st. as i am still recovering over a year later, i wonder if it is the hip. but then i know that if i undergo more sugery before my muscles are restored in strength and balance, the hip surgery would only screw things up.
anyhow, here is an article on hip fai...
http://www.hipfai.com/
who really knows the connection to sports hernias. there are so many soccer players who have had sprots hernia surgeries, you'd figure that there would be a few dozen labral tears in the mix as well. but they are good to go after surgery. it might be also important to note that these athletes are most often diagnosed very early, thus are in good shape when they go into surgery, perhaps leading to an easier recovery.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

muscle imbalances and the si joint

the sports hernia, if left alone, untreated, for a long time, can very easily lead to muscle imbalances in and around the pelvis.
as one of the keys to our cores, the transversalis muscle is injured and can go into spasm as a result. this in itself can cause a domino effect of muslce imblances which can lead to great pain and dysfuntions. without the t.a. muscle to help support your lumbar spine, other muscles must become hypertonic to take over. linked to the t.a. via fascial connections are the pelvic floor muscles, the quadratus lumborum, and the gluteals, not to mention the obliques and rectus in the abdomen.
sometimes this imbalance or imbalances can lead to issues with the sacroiliac joint. si joint dysfunction is common yet, like sports hernias, is often missed when coming to a diagnosis for pain near the joint itself as well as the hip, groin, lower back, buttock, and tailbone.
if the muscle imbalance that occurs locks up compartments such as psoas, the pelvis can rotate which can in turn affect the si joint. si joint dysfunction can be severely painful in itself, and probably cannot be permanently corrected without the treatment of existing sports hernia(s).
it should also be noted that trigger points left untreated can also lead to a viscious cycle where the shortened, tightened muscles can not be stretched or lengthened due to these painful trigger points. once these are addressed, the position of the si joint can be addressed.