Invigoration

I've been suffering from lots of pain in my left hip this spring and on Sunday it finally got to the point where I had to do something about it. On Sunday I did a 5k run and then went for an easy 2 hour ride. When I got home from the ride my hip was so sore I could hardly walk up the four stairs into my house.

Now I knew that I had something wrong with my hip as last year I was told that the muscles were so contracted that my left side was shorter than my right. I was even told that this would eventually lead to problems. However, I was under the impression that I was going to have problems when I was older - like 60 years old. Apparently the guy who told me meant I would have problems very soon. I also did a team bike fit on Tuesday and the bike fitter commented on the weird movement my left hip made when I pedaled. He thought that was the side I'd had knee surgery on and was suprised when I said that I'd had surgery on my right knee.

Anyway, my hip pain made me want to address the root of the problem instead of going for a quick fix so I decided to go see Jonathon Walton who runs Invigoration Body Work here in Madison. Local cross racers will know him as the guy who came to all the cross races and gave out free bodywork sessions. Jonathon does something called ortho-bionomy.

This was my first time working with Jonathon as I have never had time at the cross races to have him work on me. Too bad as it would have been a good idea and might have helped me avoid the problem I have been having this spring.

All I can say is that I'm now a huge believer. Yes, I knew I had a problem on my left side but I didn't really understand it until my appointment with Jonathon today. I've never met with someone who took so much time to really understand my problems and who really explained everything to me. He even got out his anatomy book at one point to show me in detail the way the muscles and bones are connected in my leg.

Anyway, it seems that my various problems - hip pain, tight muscles on the left side of my body, tilt to my pelvis, etc -- stemmed in large part from the bone in my lower leg being twisted at the knee. That was pulling on my IT band enough to throw everything out of whack. Apparently it was twisted enough to pull my hip down as once he was able to get my leg bone straightened out it actually allowed my hips to straighten out. It felt really weird and I actually feel taller now.

The strangest part is that he does all the work in very small movements and asks for constant feedback about how things feel and where you feel it. He also had me feel the bone the way it felt with my leg twisted and then when it was straight so I could check and see if it goes back to being twisted.

I have to say that I have become a big believer in ortho-bionomy. Plus Jonathon told me to take note of how I felt this week when I walk, bike and run. Then he will call me in a week to check in with me and see if my body has stayed in alignment or started to go back to where it was. He said everyone is different and that my leg bone may now stay straight or it may start to go back to being twisted in which case it may take more work before it will stay in place.

If your body is as screwed up as mine I would recommend giving this a try. Obviously different things work for different people but I was impressed. For my local readers you will probably see Jonathon at some road races this summer and this fall at cross again so take a moment and check out his services.