The deep ass pain has gotten worse over the last few days, presumably from the cortisone shot wearing off. The pain is slightly different, coming from the same area but different muscle movements eliciting the pain. I took Friday off to give it a rest, then returned to the gym on Saturday for a whopping 20 minutes on the bike. I decided to break up my hip and hamstring strengthening and save the hammy work for tomorrow. Another day's rest won't hurt. Today I did my hammy work, beginning the Icy Hot experiment.
I got the idea for the Icy Hot experiment from a bartender friend. I got to know this bartender because he works at the bar our running group meets at after the Wednesday night run. Since I am not running, I still meet up with the group but always manage to get to the bar earlier and start drinking. That is where I got to know Mike, the bartender.
Mike has a friend who runs and has chronic Achilles problems. His friend swears by Icy Hot. He puts the Icy Hot patch on his Achilles before running and it has miraculously cured his problem. Mike is not a runner, and he bought in to the story. When I returned to the bar the next week, he had a present waiting for me: Icy Hot patches.
While his heart was in the right place, I was very skeptical that Icy Hot could cure my problem. A little about the hamstring tendon: the hamstring tendon originates at the ischial tuberosity of the pelvis, which is deep in the butt. Genetically, this poses a problem as my family is known for carrying a little extra junk in the trunk, and I am not an exception. Thus, the Icy Hot has to penetrates layers of adipose and muscle tissue before it reaches the tendon. Also, the active ingredient in Icy Hot is menthol. I scanned the scientific literature and found that menthol has been shown to reduce pain and reduce blood flow. There is no evidence that menthol provides any other physiological benefit that would decrease recovery and healing time in muscle strains. Despite the lack of evidence that Icy Hot will help with my ailment, along with basic common sense, I decided to try the Icy Hot theory. Desperate times require desperate measures.
The Icy Hot Experiment
Methods: Apply Extra Strength Icy Hot Medicated Patch (8 cm x 12 cm, 5% menthol) to junction of right butt cheek and proximal upper leg. Conduct hamstring strengthening exercises as instructed by PT. Analyze pain levels before, during, and after exercise.
Results: Icy Hot patch provided cold and hot sensations, "Icy to dull the pain - hot to relax it away". Pain levels seemed to decrease slightly during and after exercise, but whether it was due to the Icy and Hot feeling on my skin distracting from the real problem is unknown.
Conclusions: Icy Hot may be useful in therapy when pain prevents normal range of motion exercises to be performed, and there is little tissue in between the skin and tendon/muscle. No evidence was provided that suggests Icy Hot may speed recovery. Sensation on skin suggests a bottle of Scotch may be as useful as Icy Hot patches.
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