Quad injury/sports massage problem

wavyglanbles

I don't know if any of you can help me but I'm a regular runner (done numerous 10ks and half marathons, and was normally doing 7 mile runs twice a week), and in mid-September, I went and had a sports massage (done by a sports therapist) on my right quad and back of my shin. Due to my quad muscle getting sore after long runs.

I did feel pain during the massage, and I might've let it get done a bit too deep. And afterwards I had a lot of spots (was told that this is normal and apparently due to hair molecules) and felt a burning sensation for a few days. Drunk lots of water in the process, done 3 stretches a day, and had a couple of baths, one with epsom salts. I waited 5 days (today) before I went out for a 4 mile run and felt ok but was still in pain.

So I contacted a more experienced physio and had my first appointment as I was about to run a 10k race the following weekend and was worried about if I should take part or not. The first appointment (beginning of October), he said that it was most likely a build up of scar tissue (from past running) and maybe a small tear, and the massage might've been too deep. So he put me on extracorporeal shock wave therapy and then 20 minutes of interferential therapy, followed by the applying and removing of compression on the quad, and then application of kinesiology tape (which lasted for 5 days). He also told me to do a couch stretch 4 times a day to improve my hip flexors and glutes, and also to apply as much heat as possible.

The weekend after my physio appointment, I did the 10k race successfully (actually a few seconds faster than last year's race, a time of 47 minutes) but had a few small pulls during the process so walked a little bit during these events and got back to running. So was happy with that achievement. And luckily it's the last race I signed up for this year.

I've seen this physio two more times since, and he's done the same treatments (ESW therapy and interferential therapy, but this time without the k-tape) which have been great. And am happy with my time with the physio as he's seems really helpful.

I'm at the stage now where I need to still do the couch stretches 4 times a day, but also 5 different other stretches (squats, resistance band stretches and step ups) so I can strengthen and stabilise my legs. And have scheduled another appointment for 2 weeks time.

At this moment, I have been building up doing 2-4 mile runs gradually (twice a week) but I'm still feeling pain in my right quad sometimes during the day. And after strenuous exercise like manual work in my everyday job, I have still felt a bit of a burning sensation and random moments of small pain. My aim is to get back to running 7 milers like I normally did, and build up to doing 10 milers and eventually realising my goal to run a marathon next year (if not, will have to be 2019).

Has anyone had anything similar to this? And I'm wondering how long it takes and if I've been doing the right things on my road to recovery.
I'm also looking at doing yoga and/or pilates and seeing if that helps me, which one will improve my stability I'm not sure.

Anyway, I apologise if this has been a bit of an essay, but any advice would be highly appreciated. Thank you in advance.