Kicking troubles & pain

[supernix]

HI,

I am starting back to Karate after many years of being out and have been having troubles.
Actually the troubles started shortly after I had a wreck and broke my right femur.
When I was 19 is was not a problem as I was taking Karate with a Jujutsu instructor so they did not expect high kicks or teach them.

But now I am starting to learn Shotokan Karate and I am having lots of trouble getting my kicks past knee level.
Funny thing is if I kick using my right leg I have better luck but if I use my left then it gets to feeling very tight and painful in my hip joint.

The big question is what can I do to get to where I can do the kicks again?
Or does it sound like a limit that I am just going to have to live with?

 

[MJS]

First off, Hello, and Welcome to Martial Talk!!

As for your question. After your accident, did you do any physical therapy to help rehabilitate the leg? You may want to consult your doctor again to see if he can offer any suggestions.

One thing I can tell you, is that any time you injure a body part, and its not being used for a certain amount of time, it will be a while before it gets back to where it was before. I injured my knee a while ago during a grappling class. There was little that I could do without being in extreme pain. After doing some PT and the balance/strength building exercises that they gave me, it finally got back to normal.

Mike

 

[supernix]

That accident happened when I was 17 I m now 31. I forgot to mention that part.

I did get some therapy just basic though they had me walk some steps a few times and taught me to use a crutch but that was it.

I at a total loss on how to gain back the flexibility I had to do the kicks and such.

Thanks for your kind welcome and time and attention to this matter.

 

[MJS]

That accident happened when I was 17 I m now 31. I forgot to mention that part.

I did get some therapy just basic though they had me walk some steps a few times and taught me to use a crutch but that was it.

Well, it sounds like you got the short end of the stick when it came to the therapy. When I injured my ACL, I continued to go to the PT until I could perform all of the exercies they gave me with ease. Again, they wanted to make sure that they balance and strength had been restored to a point. I did continue to do the exercies on my own after the PT was over with. I would consider going back to a doctor..he may be able to offer some advice. If you're not getting anywhere with the regular DR., I'd consider one who has a background in sports medicine.

I at a total loss on how to gain back the flexibility I had to do the kicks and such.

I'd start off with some of the basic stretching that you did when you were training. Take it slow though.

Thanks for your kind welcome and time and attention to this matter.

You're quite welcome! There are alot of people here with much to offer, so please keep the questions coming.

Mike

 

[KenpoTess]

Mod note,

Moved to Health questions

~Tess
-MT S. Mod

 

[shesulsa]

I'd have to agree with what's already been said. You probably got the short end of the stick because you were young and it's assumed (wrongly, of course) that the youth engage in enough physical activities to ensure proper healing and recovery just by nature of their youth.

What you're probably looking at is, though your tissues have healed, you are not completely rehabilitated. It's not too late to do this, but you are probably looking at having to maintain flexibility and strength levels in your leg for the rest of your life or for as long as you are reasonably able.

Go see a physical therapist now and give him/her your history and your current goals and see if they can give you some very specific exercises for your leg. Do them a lot. You're going to be one sore puppy, but don't give up.

Please post again and keep us up to date on your progress.

Happy healing!

GK

 

[Lightning Ram]

I also agree with everything that is said above, I recently had a hip injury and developed scar tissue and had to spend time working it out. Also I changed to several different Physical Therapist until I found one that I felt he knew what he was talking about, the first two didnt spend to much time with me and just let me do my own thing after they gave me a few exercises to learn. The one I stayed with always worked with me and kept changing my routines and helped me stretch. my .02


Clay

 

[DuneViking]

Greetings,

Yes, you can. I spent 4 years in a cast for a broken leg from age 19. I did not get back into TKD for several years. After verifying it would be safe with your physician, warm up, use hot bath/shower then some light exercises for the specific problem area. SLOWLY, approach your stretch limit, try laying on your side if you need to. I use the rope and pully method after some initial warming up, making sure the foot closure is real comfortable. They key for me is warmth and then warming up the muscles with exercise and pushing the envelope slowly and consistently. I am getting old, got at least a decade on you, so if I can do it and your Doc says ok, I know you can do it.

 

[ginshun]

There is an excellent stretching FAQ in the sticky threads of the beginers section here on Martial Talk. I learned a ton from just reading through it. I think the thing that stood out and that a lot of people don't realize is that stretching should not be your warm up. You should do something else (jump rope, jog, jumping jacks whatever) at a slow pace to get the blood moving a little bit before you do your stretching. Also that the order in which you do your stretches is important to developing flexability.


I have also heard that dynamic and active stretching are really good for developing high kicks, althoug I have not really done much of it yet. I am sure someone else on here can probably tell you more about it.

 

[sinistersamuri]

Physical Therapy

 

[buldog]

HI,

I am starting back to Karate after many years of being out and have been having troubles.
Actually the troubles started shortly after I had a wreck and broke my right femur.
When I was 19 is was not a problem as I was taking Karate with a Jujutsu instructor so they did not expect high kicks or teach them.

But now I am starting to learn Shotokan Karate and I am having lots of trouble getting my kicks past knee level.
Funny thing is if I kick using my right leg I have better luck but if I use my left then it gets to feeling very tight and painful in my hip joint.

The big question is what can I do to get to where I can do the kicks again?
Or does it sound like a limit that I am just going to have to live with?

supernix, It sounds like you may have done some damage to your left hip while favoring your broken right leg. They probably didn't teach you how to properly use a cane from the start(happened to me). Try finding a good massage therapist in your area that specializes in medical massage or sports massage. They should know some assisted stretching techniques that could help you regain your range of motion and eventually do those high kicks with little or no pain. If you have trouble finding a therapist try going to amta.com, they used to have a listing of qualified professionals. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
Scott

 

[buldog]

Just noticed the date of the original post, but good luck anyway.

 

[jester8798]

Hello,

I am 22 and new to the forum and fairly new to the martial arts community. I started a few months ago at a Taekwondo school in the area. Everything has been going well except for recently my right hip has started to hurt when working out and when I try and bend a certain way. Not much pain in daily activities though.

I would describe the pain as sharp only on the out side of my hip joint and it is mainly noticeable during roundhouse kicks.

It sounds like you guys have lots of knowledge so if you have any thoughts I'd appreciate it.

Thanks,

-Michael

 

[buldog]

Hello Jester, Welcome to MT! You might want ot go over to the Meet and Greet section and introduce yourself. As far as your hip pain goes it could be a number of things. I noticed you said that you just started a few months ago so it may be that your body is just not used to using those specific muscles yet. It is also possible that you may have done some damage to the hip. How long has it bothered you? What makes it feel better? What makes it feel worse? Does it only hurt when you kick or do you feel when you are stretching?

If it has bothered you more than a couple weeks have a doctor look at to make sure you haven't injured it too badly. If left untreated a minor tear can become much worse and haunt you in the years to come. Also have your instructor look closely at your technique. He may pick up some small flaw that could be contributing to your pain.

Good luck, Scott

 

[jester8798]

Thanks Scott,

It has been bothering me for the last couple of weeks but not since I started. It doesn't bother me much during the day and only seems to be prominent when kicking high (above the waist). It seems worse when I have my knee bent and my hip bent, when rotating, etc. If that makes any sense.

I'll check with the doctor later this week.

Thanks for the reply, keep 'em coming if you guys think of anything else.

-Michael