While never having an overuse injury in my first 40 yearson this earth, since March I have had ongoing and ever moving problems with my left upper hamstring/glute. Over that time the problem has manifest itself in frustrating variety of forms which each have come(started sciatica down back of leg, then pain at hamstring insertion, then big piriformis tightness, then bruise-like pain in side belly of hamstring, then moved to wicked tightness in upper glutes, then back to pain at hamstring insertion with added totally unexplainable twist of dep sppot of soreness after riding in the muscle that attaches to the middle of my shin???). Have been going to PTs (including ART most recently) and getting some deep massage since mid-May. After a few treatments deals with whatver the current symptoms, those symptoms go way but then it pops up in a new place. No issues running first month or so but through June the hamstring insertion tightness was noticeable running while generally it was the glutes/pirformis that got tight riding.
Through it all I have been reading all I can and trying to do the right things = PT noticed strength imbalance in glutes/hamstrings so I have been religiously doing hamstring/glute exercises parctically every day since early June. Glutes/hamstrings are clearly stronger and close to balanced but issue is not going away.
My current issues are how much time to take off and how much to keep stretching. I have pretty much trained through this since April but the last two weeks since doing Quelle Roth I have not done much other than the strength training, a little swimming and a couple very short rides last weekend. While the piriformis/glutes have loosened up over the last month the hamstring insertion still does not feel the same as the other when I stretch. So do I stretch (which could retard healing I have read in certain places)or not stretch (which I have read could cause it to heal shortened with scar tissue so the same thing happens when I start training again)? Do I stop all riding or running (to give it time to heal), and if so how do I know for how long (so as not to be one of the people who comes back too soon, reinjures and keeps the whole process going forever), or do I ride and/or run but alot less?? Is daily strength training for glutes/hamstring too much or a good idea if I want to heal as quick as possible? Basically, I have read and been given advice by therapists to justify any of the above answers and kind of feel like I do not have solid gameplan going forward to put this behind me as soon as I can. With all that as background, I'd LOVE to hear success stories from folks who have overcome this sort of thing including what worked and didn't work for you - cold turkey on the bike or run or just bike or less of both, what stretching, if any, helped and any other pearls of wisdom you have offer.