Ow! My thigh!

Doing lunges today in the gym, not very heavy weights--working on form. All of a sudden, a searing pain shatters my concentration in my left thigh. I'm supersetting, so I stop and go work on the hamstrings. Return to lunges, try it again, and stop after 3--the pain is intense and I don't want to start sobbing in the gym. Besides, if it hurts, maybe my body is trying to tell me something?

Anyway--what's the best way to help my thigh heal? I stretched a lot after my workout to help keep the thigh from seizing up.

Second, is it possible that I may not be able to do lunges? My leg construction is a little bizarre (congenital)--one leg is build like most other people's, but the other has everything after the knee offset by about 45 degrees (and yes, I've had problems with it before working out). Any good substitutes? Thanks!

"If there's nothing else that's relevant, I'll be leaving now"

"Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground"

best way to help a thigh heal? Rest it.
 
Now having a leg shaped the way u have, it creates a lot of imbalance in the way forces are exerted through your leg. Not only that, it predisposes you to injuries such as the one youve just had. In this case, the way your muscles (thighs and hamstrings) may be the same on both legs however, they way they are forced to act is completely different because of your foot position on the leg that is offset by 45 degress. As a result, the forces acting on the muscle are coming at different in both your legs. The chances are, and i cant say for sure without having a look, that the leg that is at a slight angle is at a disadvantage in terms of stregth and is hence weaker. Making the weaker leg thats at an angle perform the same motion in the same plane and angle with the same amount of weight as thte stronger leg will place a great deal of pressure on it compared to the other one. As a result, it can get damaged and torn.
 
Now the searing pain you talk about could well be a tear in the muscle. The only person that can tell you for sure is your doctor with a simple ultrasound.
 
If the pain is radiating down your leg, coming from your buttocks and travelling down to the back of ure knee, then this is more serious and is often caused spinal nerve root compression. Im assuming this (the radiating pain) is not the case with you.
 
Rest and ice (if its still inflammed and sore) is the key at this stage. Its been 8 days since its happend, if the pain is still persistant after another week, id strongly advise you see your doctor if you havent already.
 
Im actually quite interested in seeing the leg that ure talking about. If youre not too embarrased and you dont mind, can you post a picture of it?

Sure, here are a couple of pics of the mis-constructed leg.  I guess my parents must've lost the receipt for that body part.  No embarrassment--heck, the arches of my feet are featured in a medical textbook for their extraordinary height!
 
Yes, you're right, that leg is weaker.  Shows up in the calf measurements (0.5" difference between R and L legs)
 
The injured leg was the left leg (aka, the "normal" one).  The pain died after about three days, and in fact, just yesterday, I did a killer leg workout (my most intense one in my short BB career; see day 3 in http://www.gzinkl.com/webpage_g000019.pdf  I could hardly walk home the 0.5 mi, and I felt like a geezer.  But no pain, yeah!


[image]local://4037/52997E3F74F543F9B6E1889476624891.jpg[/image]

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"If there's nothing else that's relevant, I'll be leaving now"

"Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground"

here's another, turns out hard pics to take to convey the information!

[image]local://4037/E8093EA9E7A44A4F801EA0D5A96B830D.jpg[/image]

Attached Image(s)

"If there's nothing else that's relevant, I'll be leaving now"

"Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground"

thats fascinating...
do you have any other problems as a result of that leg? e.g. running, jumping? have you been injury prone with ure legs? does it stop u from doing anything?
 
Sorry if i seem nosy, but ive never seen this before and would like to know more..

Yes, lots of problems, although they didn't start until my postdoc (early 30s).  Never had a problem until then, but then it was dramatic.  Almost crippling pain, and nothing worked to rid me of the pain.  I could hardly walk.  A bunch of doctors and even an orthopedic surgeon later, still nothing.  Luckily ibuprofen controlled the pain.  It wasn't until a physical therapist took her time to examine my leg, how I walked, and consulted with a bunch of her colleagues did a solution come forward:  it's built funny, and it makes my muscles tight and very inflexible.  I walk funny, as far as PT's are concerned (most people would never notice).  The solution was orthotics for awhile, but then something changed in my feet, and those went.  Now it's just tons of cushioning in my shoes.  I've been forbidden to do anything high impact, such as running.  Most of the time it's ok, although an extended walk (3+ miles) will start to make it ache.  Dancing is a problem.  More than 15-20 floors of stair climbing is definitely an issue (although going down isn't as bad).  Swimming and biking are all ok. 
 
Note that while it has prevented me from taking up running per se, I will be running my first (short!) race in about a month.  More about me wanting to do a race and said I did it, even if it is very short (3.5 mi).  I plan on coming armed with fresh cushioned inserts, 800 mgs of ibuprofen, and water.
 
It does affect other exercises besides the lunges.  For example, calf raises are very weird on the right leg than for the the left leg, and the difference in strenght is very marked.  Even doing something a simple (mechanically speaking) as a hanging leg/bent knee raise is complicated by the weird leg construction.  I always have to ask myself what adjustments do I need to make to make sure I'm hitting the muscles I mean to hit.  Squats terrify me, although I do them religiously--although I won't push the weight or failure so much unless I'm on a smith machine (but I do free standing too because I want the stabilizers to be strong).  I'm just waiting to have the leg give out some day and the barbell go crashing through the mirrors, or worse, on someone...that's why I'm pretty cautious on the free-standing ones, even though it has never happened.
 
The other weird thing my partner has observed is when we're walking, I trip a LOT with my right leg (the bad one) and the ankle twists easily, especially if I'm inflexible (it hasn't been as evident since I've been working out and stretching).  Even a small trip will throw me into pain, but that pain is short lived.
 
Ironic that it's my sister that was in a leg brace when she was a kid, and not me.  This construction was never really not noticed until I started complaining about it.

"If there's nothing else that's relevant, I'll be leaving now"

"Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground"