Psoas Tendonitis improvement

[Jerryt]

Further to a post Nov 7 2018, re a huge improvement in my psoas tendonitis, I am updating my story. I had a re-surfaced hip with the Gantz trochanteric flip osteotomy, feb 2009.
RH hip now almost 11 years old. 5 years ago psoas began shortening and chaffing against metal cup. 2 years ago, so bad couldn’t put trousers on without sitting down. Surgeon in Treliske Hosp, Truro, Cornwall, uk, wanted to cut tendon! I began simple psoas stretch every morn on both sides. I was beginning to experience a deep pain in LH hip also. It took 5 months before I noticed a slight improvement. 2 years on, I still do a triple stretch, every morn, RH, LH and RH to finish. I am playing racketball 3 times a week and league squash without painkillers.
The pain I was experiencing in LH hip has more or less gone which I put down to the balanced stretch. The only down side I find is if I undertake a decent walk, 10 miles or so, I must not sit down or drive in an upright position for too long afterwards as the following day is agony. This has happened twice tho all pain gone after 2 or 3 days. It seems the psoas contracts and shortens temporarily?. I don’t know!. For those with psoas tendonitis, i hope this article offers some hope.

[jimbone]

That's great news for you Jerry and very encouraging to others.  Reminds us how the body can heal with patience and perseverance.  Glad to hear you're enjoying your life.

[Jerryt]

Thank you Jim. This is first Forum I’ve ever posted. I thought, I must tell others wherever they are about,my experience. I’ve been excessively active all my life with squash being the main sport so wasn’t going to surrender to aches and pains without a fight. When I first had pain in groin, we didn’t know if it was caused by the three 2” screws in my leg put in to secure the greater trochanter. They were removed and still pain. Then steroid injection directly into psoas. Instant relief for about 8 days!. This was when I was given 3 options, do nothing and take ever stronger pain killers, total hip replacement to bury “the acetabular component”  or cut the tendon! A PT friend said DON’T let him do that and since then I’ve learn’t that this option has been removed! This one “silly little yoga” exercise has changed everything for me. It isn’t perfect but getting close. It was about 3 years from when I first experienced pain playing squash,to the point I began stretching so, in my mind, I’m hoping for even further improvement. I know I’ve rattled on a bit here but if this story improves life for one person, I’ll be greatly satisfied. J

[jimbone]

Jerry-

What yoga position/sequence helped you through?  I'd be interested to know.

[Jerryt]

Hi Jim, yes it's a simple one.  To stretch the psoas in question, RH in my case, I stretch forward with my Left leg until the Left knee is at 90 degrees. The right leg should be kept straight. It's best, to begin with, to carry out the exercise near a chair to balance oneself with Left hand. The back/pelvis should be kept vertical and perpendicular to the ground. Whilst doing this, my Right arm is extended vertical and leaning over to the Left side. Incidently, this sideways arching of my back, has greatly helped with various back niggles I've had for years!
When I first began this exercise, it was fairly painful but I stuck with it and only stretched for as long as I could manage. You should feel the psoas tendon resisting this movement but for me it was obvious I had far more flexibility on my left side than the right. As I said previously, I stretch RH, LH and then RH again holding the stretch for 20 seconds or so. I picked up this exercise off Youtube if memory serves me correct. As with any Physiotherapy, care should be taken to not overdo the exercise! I would remind anybody reading this that I didn't notice any improvement for 5-6 months! Patience is required and of course Groin pain can come from other sources - this worked for me! J

[jimbone]

Thanks Jerry-

I'll you tube this to get a better visual on it.  Before surgery I visited a deep tissue therapist for several years.  Back, hips, legs, IT band were regular areas of difficulty and she was very competent.  At a point when dealing with a back issue she did a psoas release on me and it was a genuinely novel experience.  As I felt the psoas finally letting go the back issue resolved itself immediately.  Hard to locate therapists trained in this so self care is at a premium. I'll look into this further.

[Jerryt]

Hi Jim, you mentioned surgery and your PT doing a Psoas release. I'm interested to hear about your experience when that was carried out and the procedure involved. 
On the subject of sharing experiences, there are a couple of other snippets of info possibly worth sharing. In 2015, whilst playing squash, I managed to dislocate my Metal Hip. It came out and stayed out! I hit the floor with a scream, apparently! I landed on my LH side in a state of semi-consciousness. I could hear people around me who had run onto the court to help me tho my eyes were closed and in this "other world" . In this weird state I managed to drag my right leg from somewhere behind me into a position where the Right knee was directly behind the left knee. In a secondary move, I then lifted the right knee onto the left and thats when all hell broke loose. The hip must have slipped back in because I came "back to life" gasping for air, sweating as if I'd been hit with a Tazer. I spent the next 10mins recovering and then another 10mins or so before i was helped to my feet and led off court. Within the hour, I felt pretty good, was walking around and even drove myself home. Went to A&E the next day, x-rayed, no damage, referred to a second Orthopaedic consultant who also didn't believe my story and referred on to the Main surgeon, the brilliant Mark Norton. He did agree that it was possible for hips to come out in extreme circumstances and sit on the edge of the pelvic cup! After this event, all i could say was, "I don't remember the Pain until it wasn't there"
Also, I have been taking Glucosamine sulphate with Chondroitin for approx 7/8 years now for a Knee injury. I wouldn't be able to do what I do without it. I still come across people that have never heard of this amazing supplement.
J