Gracilis Pain

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Can you expand on that? What's the basis?

I'll try. I'm no doctor, but....

Replace carbonated soda with organic fruit juice....a no brainer? The silvers have mentioned before that they drink a lot of cola every day, and found it difficult to cut back. This can leach out nutrients from your body, including calcium (overdoing colas can in fact lead to accelerated bone loss according to studies), and put a strain on your kidneys. Calcium helps prevent painful muscle cramps, which might be what Mr. S is experiencing (gracilis is a large muscle, right?). "Real" fruit juice adds nutrients rather than washing them away like sodas do.
Protein is something some of us actually don't get enough of in our daily diet, especially when doing lots of physical exertion like the Silvers do. I had a hip injury from roller skating recently, and had two weeks of totally agony and pain and immobility, where nothing was seeming to get any better at all (plus consulting with my dr. and chiropractor...not much help there, it was a pulled muscle with inflamed bursa at the hip joint and they basically told me just to wait for it to heal). I was in horrific pain and could not sit or put my own shoes on or even lift my legs up to get into bed.
I did some reading and got some supplements which included protein powder. I read that insufficient dietary protein can delay healing of tissues and injured muscles. Though I take plenty of vitamins and calcium, I reviewed my diet and found I was not eating the recommended normal daily requir. of protein for someone like me, and hadn't been for a long time. Once I started taking that protein powder, my hip kicked into super-light-speed recovery- within 72 hours I was like suddenly 80% better! It was miraculous to me. I swear I felt better all over- but perhaps that was placebo effect? I'm still taking it (20g/day worth) and am feeling fabulous these days.
Hope this explains my humble suggestions? They might be worth a try for Mr. S, and they don't cost much and aren't harmful in any way.

Oh, and another woman I know who skates and works out like CRAZY also injured her hip muscle two weeks before I did, and she had exactly the same experience as I did- she suffered, immobilized and in awful pain, with almost no improvement for a whole MONTH, then started protein supplements and immediately recovered within a few days and was kayaking and skating again. Wild! Can't hurt to try it, I say!