Andrew Taylor Still, the father of Osteopathic Medicine. Photo taken by FitOldDog in the office of his Osteopath, Perry North. Amazing guy.
Story in brief: Bike wreck September 2013 -> displaced pelvis (didn’t know that) -> misalignment -> chronically tight leg and hip muscles -> lots of roller work and stretching -> ITBS at Eagleman 2014 -> more rollers and stretching -> tried my arch supports -> plantar fasciitis -> detection of source of these problems in hips by body movement expert, Rebecca -> Tara, my massage therapist recommended her Osteopath -> Osteopath diagnosed a displaced pelvis, as classic accident outcome -> Osteopath straightened pelvis in 45 minutes -> hips loose and free -> severely undertrained for an Ironman, but able to run, somewhat (what a journey, and only a week away from the Maryland Ironman – life is fun!).
Perry North’s office in Durham, NC, USA – amazing man. Couldn’t believe it!
A bike wreck in September 2013 resulted in my always wearing bike gloves in races from now on, a visit to the Cleveland Clinic for a repair to my abdominal aortic aneurysm stent graft, and I thought that was that. I was wrong!
If you’ve been following my blog for the last few months, you’ll know that I’ve been battling a tight right calf, a tight left hip and ileo-tibial band (ITB), a ruined Eagleman race due to ITBS (ITB syndrome), and a recently associated plantar fasciitis. These issues were really apparent when I attempted to run, and to a lesser extent on the bike. My left leg felt weak and ached on the bike, which may have contributed to my problems at the Mont-Tremblant Ironman, who knows? It sure has been messing with my training.
As I claim to know something about plantar fasciitis, I started an investigation of the source of my heel pain, with my collaborator and co-author, Rebecca, which led us to the cause of my unrest, a very tight left medial glut and ITB. This tightness refused to respond to rollers, my trusty tennis ball, or massage. Then Tara, my lovely masseuse, said, “Kevin, why don’t you visit my Osteopath, Perry North, he’s great.” I did, and he is.
My visit to Dr. North was interesting and very odd. He rapidly diagnosed a severely displaced pelvis, with my hip being about half an inch higher on the left than the right. I asked, “What can you do about it?” Perry said, “Put it back!” After about 45 minutes of gentle manipulation, he proclaimed the problem fixed, instructed me to go easy for a couple of days, and expect some temporary discomfort. That was it! No more visits, and when I asked about the Maryland Ironman, Perry said, “Go for it!”
Since then I’ve been training carefully, and on the run due to severe under-training I’ve had some aches and pains, but they are in completely different places, but there is none of that tired left leg ache on the bike.
At the end of the day you have to find the proximate cause of any chronic issue before you can fix it, and it can take time and work. I sure am glad Tara recommended Perry North.
Happy Trails.
And so a reductionist discovered within his own frame the reality of complex systems and just how perverse they may seem.
Life is fascinating, newness is everywhere.
Hi Trevor! What on Earth makes you think I’m a reductionist? I spent the last 15 years of my career studying network behavior, in a number of ways, including through mathematical approaches (probably a good way to get a feel for one’s total ignorance, mixed with wonder), and I realized pretty quickly how hard (impossible – e.g. the 3-body problem) it can be to predict the interactions of a few nodes and edges, let alone millions, as in us. Nope. No reductionist, I. Kev
Mayhap thou doth protest too strongly. Deep within most have that desire for simple solutions. You for example spent too much time on the calf, the symptom and it took others to direct you to the solution. For a while there it seems you were an island of reduction in a sea of complexity….
But know man is an island, that is only too clear.
Hi Trevor: Interesting logic, which creates a lose-lose situation for me: I comment and I protest too much. Don’t comment – let’s assume ignorance on my part. Nope. If you read my Plantar Fasciitis book (first edition, now being updated based on new information), it includes the sentences: “The key to solving this puzzle [your plantar fasciitis] is to realize that your body is an integrated machine, with all of the parts talking to each other one way or another. Your heel pain could arise from the way you hold your shoulders during running, throwing off your balance, resulting in an asymmetric or unstable foot strike arrangement. …” We are now expanding this section, and recreating the product as a combined book (second edition) and DVD (or streaming) set. FYI. Kevin