I never thought it would turn out like this. All along, I was waiting for the turning point, and knowing that it would be when my hip started to heal and I could run again. At no point did I think that it was all going to turn to shit. And yet somehow, it has.

So I went for a run last night. Just a little one - once around the mulch track at China Creek park - but it didn't go as well as I had hoped. I had been feeling better and, planning this little test days in advance, I pictured myself falling right back into stride as if nothing had ever happened, going on to complete the 6 K at tempo that was on my running schedule for yesterday.

I'm still not able to run, or put too much weight on my right leg, because of the possible stress fracture in my hip, but it also occurred to me that I don't necessarily have to be doing nothing either.

Not really knowing what was wrong with my hip, I was trying everything -acupuncture, physio, chiropractor, heat, ice, various anti-inflammatories, whatever, but today the physiotherapist repeated an idea that he had had at the last meeting - that it sounds like a stress fracture.

After hurting my hip during last Sunday's long run, I attempted and aborted a 6 K run, skipped a 10 K run, and moved the 8 K run to the treadmill and instead of going away, it is getting increasingly more painful. Where it used to only hurt well into a run, now it aches all the time and I have trouble with stairs and chairs and balancing on one foot.

Sumbitted by Wilson Banwell

David Aboussafy, Ph.D.

Acute pain after an injury is a common experience. However, chronic pain can be debilitating and is becoming an extremely costly major health problem. US costs due to all forms of chronic pain are estimated at $90 billion a year due to lost income, disability and direct patient care costs. Some types of chronic pain are increasing, for example, the lifetime prevalence of recurrent low back pain may now be as high as 80%. Improving understanding about the nature of pain and how acute pain can become chronic is very important.