Recurring Leg Pain from Sports Injury

Hello, thank you very much for your time,

I have an injury related to the hip; however, before I discuss that, I think some background on

me might help the analysis.

I am a 23 year old, 6'1", 180 lb male. In high school, I was on a swim team. In college, I

stopped exercising for several years. Back in 2007, I started exercising again. I started

running 3 times a week, generally 5k (3 miles) each time. I also started lifting weights and

continued this routine up through this past Spring. I thought I was in pretty good shape. I

could exercise everyday without injury by focusing on different muscle groups each day. I had

made longer runs, up to 8 miles. I could bench press well over my body weight.

This past semester, I took a karate course at my college. At first, I did very well. The

drills weren't that hard for me since I was quite active before starting the course, and I was

very interested in the material. I learned about new stretches and performed them. Sometimes

we had paired stretching for the legs to improve leg flexibility. I did not have any trouble

with this though it was intense. Half way through the semester, we began to learn how to kick

and went through a series of drills for a defensive kick and an attacking kick which involved

jumping forward into the opponent. We never actually kicked anything but air. The drills were

only for technique, but we kicked with full force.

I was still lifting weights and trying to run though I hadn't ran as much due to a busier class

schedule. One day after we had started kicking, I went out for a 5k. I wanted to get my

distance back up, lately I had been doing 1 or 2 miles runs. The run itself went fine, but

afterward, my right hip was sore. The pain increased and was present for over a week. It hurt

to sit, to stand, to lay down. The hip also popped, I could feel it pop though I never heard it

pop. I was so sore, and I numbed the pain with ice and ibuprofen. Then it started to get

better so I went back to class and naturally continued to kick thinking that it was just

something related to running, and I had just done too much too fast. I stopped running for the

remainder of the semester. Throughout the semester the pain would return in the right hip and

the left hip after kicking. It was very stubborn of me to continue with it, but I was so

interested in the material, I couldn't stop.

Over the summer my workout routine changed a lot as I no longer had access to the school gym.

Instead I started building a gym in my basement and continued trying to get back into running

slowly. Most of my runs were only 1 - 2 miles. I still got sore sometimes but overall, things

were getting better I thought. These runs were on a soft ground (a city park trail in the

woods). Finally I went for a run in my neighborhood which has hills and is paved. I believe

this is what caused the following which has been my condition for nearly several weeks now

despite ice/ibuprofen:

Hip soreness comes and goes in both legs. The right hip pops when I lift my knee above my hip.
Shin/side of calfs ache sometimes. I think it may be a nerve or something related to the hips

as I sometimes feel pain from the hips down to the sides of my feet.
Knees feel loose/easy to hyperextend. When bending my knees, I can generally make them pop. My

knees have always popped, but now it seems much easier to pop them. There is no pain when they

pop though.

I would very much appreciate any input you can give me about this problem. I may be able to get

better, but I want to learn about the problem, so I can avoid it in the future. I realize it is

probably due to repetitive stress on the legs from kicking/running, but I want to find out

exactly what the problem is, lack of flexibility? overuse? I also want to know if there are

other remedies I might use before going to see a specialist. I think I was getting better for

awhile but just started exercising too intensly/with a new environment for my body to take well.

What is your opinion?


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