Let me start by saying the 5x5 is a very effective workout. This injury is my fault, not the fault of the program.
I need help. If anyone has heard of this injury before, they're probably on this site. I don't believe my orthopedic Dr. has seen this before. He describes it as "interesting."
Here's what happened. I hurt my tricep down by the elbow. So, I discontinued all upper body exercises in an effort to let the elbow heal. In the mean time, I decided upon the 5x5, omitting any exercise where the tricep might come into play. This basicly limited me to squats, some ham and ab work. Every other day, I set out on the 5x5 squat program outlined as on meso.
As some of you may know, the 5x5 program is extremely effective. By the third week, my working weights were WAY up on the squat. Here's where I made my mistake. I got aggressive and added what was apparently too much weight. All the while I've been doing my squats ass to ankles. Well, on the "max" five rep day, my quads in both legs got real tight and slightly swollen. I lost a lot of flexibility, but I thought I was okay. No bruising. NO harm done, right?
I decided to stay off the legs. No more squats, no more anything that involves the quads. Back to upper body, provided the tricep is up for it.
About two weeks went by with no improvement in the legs. There was no real pain, but they were swollen. Another two weeks: Squatting down and stairs started to become difficult. On July 4th morning, I woke up and couldn't put weight on the left leg.
To the Dr.
Got an MRI.
Back to the Dr.
The Dr. says I've got a hematoma in the left leg. A "pocket" of blood trapped in there and it won't absorb in the body. Probably caused by tearing the muscle, and it bled inside. There has never been any bruising. So, we get the left side drained. Half a liter of blood (455ccs) came out of the left side.
Another appointment with the Dr. for a follow up after the draining. I have not yet told the Doc about the right side, because it didn't hurt. Well, now it starts acting up, too. So, I report it. And the fact that the left side now seems to have filled back up with blood since the draining.
He sends me back to the MRI for BOTH legs.
Yesterday we had another meeting, and he says it's obvious both legs have fluid trapped (hematoma) in them and the body is not absorbing it. Additionally, the drained leg has in-fact refilled.
His opinion: it won't heal on it's own. There is a pocket of scar tissue in both quads that has formed a sort of hollow mellon for blood/fluid to collect in. The initial trauma created so much pressure/bleeding that the tissues were separated. The tissues scarred up and now there's the space that keeps filling up.
I need opinions of anyone who might know something about this. Was this caused by tearing the muscle? The Dr. never said he could see a muscle tear in the MRI. Only that it must've torn, bled out so much pressure, and now I've got this pocket of fluid on both sides. Does this sound accurate? Is it characteristic of a torn muscle?
In the meantime, I've lost about 30 lbs of muscle since June 1. I really worked hard to get where I was. Now I look like some "normal" guy again. I've found my "natural" untrained weight. I'm not liking it. I want to get this healed correctly and get back in the gym. I'm working with my dr. now to get a second opinion. Any kind words or advice is greatly appreciated.
This is Houston area if you know any good Dr's. All the sports Dr's I look up seem to specialize in the knee or elbow. This is the quad, about 1/4 the way up from the knee on the very outside. Vastus Lateralis I think is the name of the muscle.
I need help. If anyone has heard of this injury before, they're probably on this site. I don't believe my orthopedic Dr. has seen this before. He describes it as "interesting."
Here's what happened. I hurt my tricep down by the elbow. So, I discontinued all upper body exercises in an effort to let the elbow heal. In the mean time, I decided upon the 5x5, omitting any exercise where the tricep might come into play. This basicly limited me to squats, some ham and ab work. Every other day, I set out on the 5x5 squat program outlined as on meso.
As some of you may know, the 5x5 program is extremely effective. By the third week, my working weights were WAY up on the squat. Here's where I made my mistake. I got aggressive and added what was apparently too much weight. All the while I've been doing my squats ass to ankles. Well, on the "max" five rep day, my quads in both legs got real tight and slightly swollen. I lost a lot of flexibility, but I thought I was okay. No bruising. NO harm done, right?
I decided to stay off the legs. No more squats, no more anything that involves the quads. Back to upper body, provided the tricep is up for it.
About two weeks went by with no improvement in the legs. There was no real pain, but they were swollen. Another two weeks: Squatting down and stairs started to become difficult. On July 4th morning, I woke up and couldn't put weight on the left leg.
To the Dr.
Got an MRI.
Back to the Dr.
The Dr. says I've got a hematoma in the left leg. A "pocket" of blood trapped in there and it won't absorb in the body. Probably caused by tearing the muscle, and it bled inside. There has never been any bruising. So, we get the left side drained. Half a liter of blood (455ccs) came out of the left side.
Another appointment with the Dr. for a follow up after the draining. I have not yet told the Doc about the right side, because it didn't hurt. Well, now it starts acting up, too. So, I report it. And the fact that the left side now seems to have filled back up with blood since the draining.
He sends me back to the MRI for BOTH legs.
Yesterday we had another meeting, and he says it's obvious both legs have fluid trapped (hematoma) in them and the body is not absorbing it. Additionally, the drained leg has in-fact refilled.
His opinion: it won't heal on it's own. There is a pocket of scar tissue in both quads that has formed a sort of hollow mellon for blood/fluid to collect in. The initial trauma created so much pressure/bleeding that the tissues were separated. The tissues scarred up and now there's the space that keeps filling up.
I need opinions of anyone who might know something about this. Was this caused by tearing the muscle? The Dr. never said he could see a muscle tear in the MRI. Only that it must've torn, bled out so much pressure, and now I've got this pocket of fluid on both sides. Does this sound accurate? Is it characteristic of a torn muscle?
In the meantime, I've lost about 30 lbs of muscle since June 1. I really worked hard to get where I was. Now I look like some "normal" guy again. I've found my "natural" untrained weight. I'm not liking it. I want to get this healed correctly and get back in the gym. I'm working with my dr. now to get a second opinion. Any kind words or advice is greatly appreciated.
This is Houston area if you know any good Dr's. All the sports Dr's I look up seem to specialize in the knee or elbow. This is the quad, about 1/4 the way up from the knee on the very outside. Vastus Lateralis I think is the name of the muscle.
