Had my second visit with the doc at William Sports & Spine today and it was quite educational. We went over my x-rays from the first visit. I learned that my spine and vertebrae are healthy, but have a slight forward rotation of my right hip and a subtle bowing of the spine to the right. Part of that is because I'm right side dominant, and it's also the reason why I've had a sore lower back and back spasms. X-rays showed no arthritis or wearing out of any joints. I've read articles that running weakens joints and other articles that claim the opposite. Obviously I'm more in agreement with the latter. I also asked the doc today why I hurt more now that I'm running a lot less. He told me it's because of muscle memory. My muscles have been used to averaging 50 miles per week the last several months and that muscle memory is very unforgiving. I wonder if this is why other runners just keep going throughout the winter.
Anyways, after the x-ray review, I had some electric stimulator pads attached to my back to do whatever it needed. It was kind of a weird sensation to have these little pads sort of pull and knead my back muscles. I must say though that it felt really relieving for my back. After fifteen minutes of that, he stretched out my legs and along the way, snapped my rotated hips back into place and straightened out my spine. I walked out feeling pain free and very happy. :-)
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