Recovery mistakes.

Yeah, I've made a few.

When I was first injured, I rested. Classic RICE. I also used the foam roller, massaged my hip with a tennis ball, popped Advil and, I admit, did some lower body exercises. For two weeks, that's what I did and for two weeks, my hip didn't get any better.

Then, I met with my doctor, got the results of my MRI and learned that I was, inadvertently, making my injury worse.

Sure, I wasn't running. But the foam rolling and tennis ball massaging were hurting my poor torn muscles. While those two actions are great treatments for tight muscles, they aren't good for torn muscles. They are, according to my doctor, bad. B.A.D. Bad.

And, the Advil. Yeah, also B.A.D. Bad. I thought that since Advil is an anti-inflammatory pain reliever, it would be a good thing to take. Wrong. Since part of my problem is the hematoma, I need to avoid anything that will thin my blood, which is what ibuprofen does. So, for the same reason you aren't supposed to take ibuprofen before surgery, I shouldn't be taking it now. At least, according to my doctor.

Then there is the issue of the lower body exercise. Well, what can I say? I wasn't running! I thought that was good enough but it turns out it wasn't. No more squats and what-nots for me. For the next few weeks, that is.

As of Tuesday, I've been full-on resting as prescribed. And you know what? My hip is starting to feel better! It is probably mostly mental at this point but, I swear, it doesn't feel nearly as bad as it did a week ago. Hooray for progress!

And hooray for learning from my mistakes and no longer making them.

Have a great weekend, everyone!