I finally broke down and saw a physical therapist - Mike Stare at Spectrum Fitness. I've always been skeptical of physical therapy, afraid I'm going to pay hundreds of dollars for exercises I could have looked up on the Internet.
It turned out Mike was very impressive. He didn't just talk at me, but spent a lot of time listening and asking questions, as well as taking seriously my own analysis of what was happening. Did I like him just because he was flattering my input? I hope not. What he did do was take me step by step through a deduction of what was happening based on my testimony, a series of exercises he had me do, and a fair amount of pushing, prodding, and stretching various muscles.
My problem has been ongoing pain in my right leg, as though I still haven't recovered from the strains I got in my quad and groin last November. Mike is convinced that there is nothing wrong anymore with my muscles. What he thinks is going on is something called "neural hypersensitivity", which I had not heard of before.
The idea is that after a trauma, the nervous system can become sensitive to stressing of the muscles, anticipating another traumatic event. There seems to be some science to back it up. And the discomfort in my right leg hasn't felt exactly like a strain for a long time. Sometimes it doesn't hurt at all, and it doesn't hurt when I ride the bike. Yet when I wake up in the morning, it will be sore.
The good news is there is a path forward through some PT, which I will be starting shortly.
