I Can't Do a Split Anymore!

S

Soosan

Cathlete
About two months ago, I was dancing at a party and decided to show off and do a split. Well, the heel of my boot slipped, I went down too fast and felt a slight pulling sensation in my butt/hamstring. It hurt a bit that night and the next day but really felt fine after that. Since then, I have no problem doing leg workouts, but whenever I try to do a wide leg seated forward bend (like Cathe does in the GS Legs stretch segment), I can barely bend at the hips because of pain in the far left side of my left butt cheek which also shoots down my hamstring. I used to be able to get my chest on the floor in this position! Other hamstring stretches and hip openers don't bother me, but I can't do a split anymore either.

I'm really bummed because doing a split was my 40th birthday goal (I'm 43 now) and I've improved each year. I also thought it was cool I could get my chest to the floor and was very proud of that.

Can any physical therapists or other knowledgable folks recommend some exercises I can do to facilitate healing? What did I injure?
 
I am assuming you are talking about a straddle split and not a front split. I had a similar injury years ago when I was a teen and it took weeks to heal but I had to gently stretch it everu day by pushing the stretch gently and holding it for several minutes each stretch. This will allow you to regain the flexibility. You will always need to be careful and never go into a split unless you are warmed up and its a good idea to ease into it and be in control of it.
If it doesn't ease up see a sports doctor.
 
Thanks for your reply! I do mean a front split (not straddle). I've been stretching it daily, but as soon as I feel pain, I back off. I will try holding the stretches longer. As of yet, I haven't gained back an iota of flexibilityx( .
 
I could never do a split. I can cross my legs and foreward bend until the cows come home but my adductors are tight creatures and won't relent. Here's the thing. If you could do one, you can but you haven't used those muscles for such a purpose in awhile and they balked. Gently remind them they can do and the can, but gently. We aren't getting any younger. I would hate you for your adductor flexibitlty if I did not love you so much.
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Tell me, what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? -Mary Oliver
 
Hi Soosan, I'm wondering if you might have torn some of the fibres of the tendons of your hip rotators or the muscles themselves, there are 6 and they come off of the sacrum and into the head of the femur (far left side of the left butt cheek) the sciatic nerve weaves through the rotators, especially the piriformis muscle and may have gotten a little nip if you did the splits when you weren't warmed up and would account for the pain shooting down the leg. I would suggest alternating heat and cold (20 minutes heat/10 minutes cold with a stretch after heat). I'm curious how you feel doing lying spinal twists or seated twists with the leg extended, other leg crossed over with torso rotating towards the bent leg. How does pigeon pose feel, does it aggravate the left butt cheek?

My wheels are turning and this is what I can think of right now. I'll check some of my books and see if something else sounds likely.
You do right to stop stretching when it hurts but you might want to try a little hold relax stretch also, stretch to the point of comfort and hold 30 seconds then contract the muscle for a slow count of 6 breathing deeply then stretch again. Hope this helps.

Take Care
Laurie:)
 
Bobbi, you're a trip! And you can't hate me anymore (even though you really love me :)) because I can't do a split anymore and any adductor flexibility I had is gone, gone, gone.

Laurie, a friend of mine is a PT and fellow yoga enthusiast and also suggested the trouble may lie with the piriformis. She was a little unsure, though, because she specializes in hand therapy and hasn't delved in other injuries in a while. She also suggested heating/cooling, but, quite frankly, I don't have the time. It's all I can do to squeeze in my 60 min workouts as it is! I'll try your relax stretch idea and see what happens. Do you think it would help if I held a few stretches for a few minutes each?

Lying spinal twists, seated twists and pigeon all feel great (no pain), although my ROM is slightly reduced.

I appreciate you all taking the time to answer and, Laurie, if you find anything else in your books, I'd be most appreciative!

One more question: do you think there's hope?
 
"One more question: do you think there's hope?"


Yes, absolutely.
My DD injured herself in exactly the same way: going into a split too fast, without proper warming. She also had turned her foot, which added a bad rotation to the leg and compounded the problem. However, with gentle, daily stretching, staying well-hydrated, and holding those stretches, it is finally worked out. You will need to work on the area, because just your regular post workout stretching probably won't be enough...but you can regain that flexability if you work at it! :)

Julie
 
Susan. That must have been a h*ll of a party! I am still cracking up over this described scenario. Why does everyone else have all the fun?:-(

Marla
 
>She also suggested heating/cooling, but, quite frankly, I
>don't have the time. It's all I can do to squeeze in my 60
>min workouts as it is!

Any little bit would help Susan, even if you can run hot water over the area at the end of your shower, stretch and then sit on a cold gel pack for 5-10 minutes. Unfortunately connective tissue injuries are very slow to heal as they aren't vascular (blood and it's healing components don't run through them but are absorbed from around them). Vascular flushing with hot/cold shunts fresh blood in and out of the area and is invaluable in healing tendinous and ligamentous injuries. I tore some sacral ligaments and my lats over a year ago and it was the seemingly tedious care like hot/cold and stretching that really made the difference. I hear you about the busy schedule though, we do well to get our workouts in but I gently suggest that if your son had this injury you would find the time to care for him. Be good to yourself:)

Feel free to hold the stretches as long you can (warm up first and no heels please ;-) ). The longer we hold them the more the muscles will open up knowing it is safe to be in that position. Try the hold relax, it's such a cool neuromuscular trick, I am always fascinated by the increased range of motion after the hold and have had fantastic results with it personally and in clinic.

Is there hope?! That's been my saving grace in this ife, there is ALWAYS HOPE!!!!:7

Take Care
Laurie:)
 
I can still do my splits thankfully :p , but I am having trouble with my shoulder. I took a fall in December coming down some icy steps and I knew then that I did something bad. It hurt, and something popped, but I figured as long as I could get up and sort of move it things would get better.

Well, it hasn't. I still have pain, and like you, have noticed a decrease in flexibility. I can no longer reach behind to my back as well. I really see it now in trying to sunscreen my own back. It used to be no problem, but there are areas I cannot reach and my husband has to get for me.

I hope YOU feel better. I keep thinking if I stretch every day it will get better, but it has been more than 7 months now.
 
Susan....that hurts just thinking about it.....BUT I bet you looked REALLY awesome through that dance!!! :) :) :) . You already have good advice up there so I am just here to throw sympathy and hugs your way. On a bright note...this should not interfere with your outstanding pullup advancements.;) ;) ;)

Be patient and this too shall pass. :) :)

Briee

By the way....ARE you going on the road trip???? Just curious?
 
Thanks, Dani and Briee! I'm sorry to hear about your shoulder, Dani. I'm sure it's discouraging that it hasn't healed thoroughly. I really wonder if mine will heal enough for me to regain my previous level of flexibility.

Briee, the main thing, of course, is that I DID look good during the dance because, as we all know, it's more important to look good than to feel good.:p And my pull-ups are advancing quite nicely. I'm now up to 824 and 3 millimeters of the 825th.

Yes, I am going on the road trip. I inquired a while back whether you and Bobbi were going and Debbie said you both were not. I'm disappointed but understand that not everyone can get away. Hopefully you guys can go another time. I'm also bummed that A-Jock's not going.
 
Susan, the last time I did a split, I was 8. Can't do that no more. Even those yoga poses that stretch my inner thighs (cobbler pose) are hard for me now that I'm old. So this July, please help me relive my glory days and teach me how to do it again.:) I hope you're feeling better. It must have been one unforgettable performance.:)

Pinky
 
YOU ARE GOING, SUSAN?????? Now I'm really jealous, I may not speak to you for some time, please understand it's nothing personal, but wow - you're going. Now I really want to go, I didn't know you were going, are you REALLY going, sheesh, this is killing me. And you'll meet Debbie and everyone else and you'll PROBABLY get to touch Cathe's bicep vein (okay maybe that's getting a little too personal - but I'd ask anyway - heck, I'd maybe just trip while standing next to her and touch it on the way down just to say "I touched Cathe's bicep vein, you know") and you'll do low ends RIGHT IN THE SAME ROOM with all those Cathe vibes flowing and hovering around....you probably won't even think of Brian Kest ever again....oh man, and I'm going to miss all that.

Pheeeeewwwww - I had to get that little outburst off my chest. I'm okay now. Breathe, one, two, three.........

Briee

Bobbi....I'm still speaking to you. ;) ;)

Susan....could you maybe pick up a cathe tshirt while your there and rub it on her bicep vein and mail it to me????? Please??:p :p
 
Pinky, helping you relive your 8-yr-old glory days might just be the incentive I need to get this baby healed by mid-July. Since I've made zero progress in two months, though, I don't know how optimistic I am.

Briee, why the heck aren't YOU going? Is it because you don't have a bicep vein? Just because EVERY SINGLE Catheite who's going has one, doesn't mean you should feel self-conscious. (Actually, Rocky doesn't have one and he's going. He does have a tail vein though.)

I'm sure Cathe won't mind at all if I ask to rub a t-shirt on her bicep vein. That's a perfectly reasonable request from a woman who can't do a split and who's holding a squirrel.:p
 
ROTFLOL. You're onto me. I would have passed out from heatstroke doing her workout wearing a long sleeved tshirt.

NEXT ROADTRIP!!!! Bicep vein pending.

Briee
 
Now I see how the chips have fallen!! It is a separation of the "haves" and the "have nots" with the old bicep vein!! All this time I thought I wasn't going because it is just a big leap to come all the way from California and the timing just wasn't right for the family etc...now, sadly, I must stand with Briee on the other side of the line. Where all of us who long for the elusive bicep vein, dream of it in fact, must wait for our Vein Free Road Trip. It is at least nice to finally know the REAL reason I can't go this time around;-) ....and I am in good company with you Briee! (though I wish I was meeting so many of you OTHER ladies...rub a t-shirt for me too please!)
 
Hey Dani....listen up. I just sponsored an art class at my home last Thursday and we did charcoal drawings and I was thinking that if we used the right shading technique we could get "the bicep vein look" and blend right in. Can you do the splits and do you have a squirrel??? If you can do the splits you'll look cool (like Soooooooooooooosan) and the squirrel is just a diversionary tactic....people ALWAYS look at the squirrel and say "aw isn't he cute" and they won't notice the charcoal dust on your tank top. Unless your squirrel is a smartaleck like Buckingham and perches on your shoulder...little paws pointing towards your bicep region with a smirk on his face.}( }( }( }( (I think I'll leave him home)

Briee

Hey Rocky....I'm sending you a pack of Reeses...we'll see just how well YOUR tail vein fares. Buckingham
 
Dani, I guess it IS a sad fact that the world is separated into those that have bicep veins and those that do not. I'm sorry you and Briee are on the "have not" side and are thus not allowed to attend the road trip, but that's just the way the world is. People have been trying for eons to change it.

Briee, alas, many people try to fake it by using your charcoal and squirrel diversionary tactics, but the "haves" are just too smart to buy it these days.

Tell Buckingham that sending Reeses to Rocky is really mean, and that I'm going to intercept the package.
 
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