Should be at the track - What is a compressed nerve?

No this is not a gambling post. Basically it is just an injury update.

So based on the physio what is causing my calf stiffness which is now essentially relieved is a pinched/compressed nerve (maybe the Sciatica nerve) that generates from my back. Not sure of the exact site that is causing this but could be due to hamstring tightness and my left hamstring is noticeably tighter than my right.

Rehab is essentially the stretches/strength drills associated with running including the hamstring stretch on the linked pdf and calf dips and one legged squats as well as a hamstring strench designed to release pressure on the nerve.

Tommorow I have my already booked massage at noon and then a physio followup at 4:20pm so will definetely get a day of health care attention on the region. So what is the good news about this injury;

• happened early season
• Caught this early (within a few days of it being apparent)
• Only ran a couple times on it (Friday and Sunday) and made the ealry call to get this checked out (I know I could have run through this but sure that a month down the track would have had worse issues)
  
• Know the warning signs now (Felt really bad on a run about 7 days before this happened, had put it down to general fatigue)
• Prevention should be pretty simple and overall beneficial - stretching, flexibility and core work)
• My mid season running break has been forced meaning that can really build towards spring and summer events upon return
• Still ran a 28:11 8km on one leg so are sure speed work has been helping as this was close to a healthy time two months ago.
  

Plan for next couple days is to focus on rehab and most probably not run until a week from now at the earliest if I am pain free and have strength back in my leg. I think the worst thing you can do with this injury is run as you change your gait to avoid the pain and develop other injuries.

Will hit the bike for an hour tonight on the trainer and look to swim tommorow night instead of my normal running workout. Potentially might do my 1500m time trial at this point to see where I am at.

Rant time - Having googled to get visuals of the streches I need to do I found a lot of crap on the internet about this stuff. Why people don;t go to a specialist ASAP is beyond me, I understand the $ factor etc etc but the amount of people wh have tried to run through the pain week after week amazes me and I bet that at least 50% of these have a decent amount of income. So if you have googled and come across this post go to a doctor, physio, rmt or something and at least get a diagnoses that is relative definitive. Tell them you have minimal income and they will likely develop a rehab plan that you can follow without needing to do multiple return visits.

Look in the mirror - Rant over what do I need to in my program to prevent similar instances;

• Strech more - especially when watching TV
• Core work - Keep a focus on this
• Recovery - Keep a focus on this
• Proactive - Potentially book some proactive physio/rmt sessions.