I went for my MRI on Wednesday ...
Fortunately, the PT's assumption wasn't quite right.
Unfortunately, the PT's assumption wasn't quite right.
In other words, it turned out to be something different than expected, better in some ways, possibly worse in others. But definitely with a different treatment plan.
In my case, around the end of Nov, I started feeling a bit of an ache in my right leg when running. Figured it was muscle. Rested a bit, did some stretching, and it felt a little bit better.
Ran a half-marathon, and could barely hobble by the end. Still figured it was muscle, tried more rest and stretching, but lots of difficulty walking, and definitely no running. It even hurt to cycle.
Went to a PT who ran me through a whole bunch of tests and was pretty sure I'd fractured my hip ... stress fracture. No walking, no cycling, no running, no stretching ... nothing for a week until my MRI. If it were a stress fracture, I would have had to rest for the next 4-6 weeks.
But it's not a stress fracture!
Instead, I've torn the cartilage in my hip and have really messed up the ligaments.
Yes, I'll still have to rest, so treating it as a stress fracture would have been all right in that regard, but I
can still do some exercise (slow walking and cycling, not running) and it will be treated with specific stretching and strengthening by my PT. If we had assumed it was a stress fracture and I just rested, I would have lost a lot of fitness, and I would not have done the stretching and strengthening aspect so my ligaments may not have recovered as well as they might. (Of course, we still have to wait and see)
These days we have the technology ... it's no longer a guessing game.