TAG | sports massage
Two years ago I injured my left shin and took time off running. After coming back, I started to notice pain in my right upper hamstring/butt area. I just thought it was a sore muscle. I was training for a marathon and over the next few months the pain was present even when I was not running, the worst was long drives in the car. I received a few treatments of massage for the problem and it seemed to help. I ran my marathon and quailed for Boston and set a PR. A few weeks later, I ran a half marathon and again ran a PR. But just a few days after my race the pain in my right hamstring was so bad I had to stop running. I called the doctor made an appointment and then called Terrel. I described the problem and he was able to see me. He worked on my hamstring and was able to feel that my muscles in the area were both tight and sore. About a week later, I went to the doctor and he ordered a MRI, my DX was ischial Tuberosity, better known as a parcel torn hamstring. I called Terrel and told him my DX. He said that he wanted to treat me in tandem with the the doctor. So, I saw Terrel twice a week for the next few months and over time my leg started to get better. I had stopped running at this point for a few months.
When I tried to run again and my left hamstring felt better but the pain came back. Terrel told me it would take time to heal but I really didn’t want to wait, I just wanted to run. I listened to Terrel and by the end of the summer my left hamstring was getting better. He did the ART for the semitendinosus, the middle hamstring muscle. I also had a stem cell procedure to help grow back the torn muscle. At this point I was still getting massage and ART but it was now starting to get better faster. The surgery helped but both Terrel’s massage and ART were helping it heal much faster than the doctor was calling for. A month after the surgery I started to run again. I was not taking any medicine. At this point, I was only getting massage and ART. If I missed an appointment, my left hamstring would hurt and I could not run that day.
Over time as we worked on a regular basis in tandem with my running, I was able to see it was Terrel’s work that was really helping me get back to running pain free. I started to run full time again in October of 2009. In December I ran a half marathon PR of 1:20:42. There is no question in my mind of two things. First, the consistent work that Terrel gave me over the months helped me got over this injury much sooner than the doctor said and second, the massages helped me run that half marathon PR. I would have never made it to the start if it was not for his skill. His is no doubt a gifted therapist
