STRAINED OUTER HIP FLEXOR SINCE MARCH =[

That used to be me exactly. I shortened my stride - keeping my feet landing right in front of me instead of far out (also ups your cadence) and the problem has virtually gone away.

Advice from my PT for people who work at a desk - don't stay seated all day. you can't expect to keep the hip flexors "shortened" all day and then make them get up and run (which lengthens them a lot), they don't like that. So I get up and walk around a lot at work. Plus stretch them gently after running. Lie on the couch or side of bed and let leg hang over. Repeat on other side. RICE for awhile until the acute pain is gone though and then try these. Best of luck. Running injuries ruin my life. Seriously. Last one was 8 months ago though so fingers crossed...

ETA - I just saw the above comment and +1 for yoga!! If you don't go to a class then just look online for poses that stretch/strengthen your hip flexors.

Good advice on the stride. I didn't think of that and will concentrate on mine too.

Well .. I did the same thing. I injured myself .. 4 weeks ago. But it was my own stupidity. I ran without stretching first and after sitting for a long time. (My job involves sitting on my ***).

But speaking to my physiotherapist .. who is an experienced runner and has done Ironman races etc . He told me that running .. exerts 220-300% of your body weight on your body. Walking is 80-90%. So what does that tell you .... running is hard as **** on your body.

I recently learned that 50% of runners experience a running injury every year. Sorry ... i love running but I am deciding if I just want to skip it.

But re your injuries .. yes it is possible to resolve the situation. I have been getting the assistance of a athletic therapist .. and she has helped me get better so much over the past 2 weeks that I have been seeing her.

But .. you need to strengthen your muscles. She told me that a short muscle .. is most likely also a weak muscle. So .. strengthening them is also needed. But that is AFTER you have reduced the pain. She told me "listen to your body" and if there is pain .. stop. Common sense here .. but many people just do it anyways and that is when things become chronic.

My physiotherapist told me no anti-inflammatory drugs .. ie Aleve etc as that will actually not help the injury heal.

But .. stretch before you run. Critical to prevent injuries. But I trust you are not there by your post.

There are good exercises you can do. I do mine 3x a day .. and they really help. I thought I was not going to get better .. but the last week has been heaven. I am getting so much better now.

EDIT .. I just reread your post. OP ... DO NOT RUN. You are going to turn this into a chronic thing .. although I think it already maybe is. You need to get better first before you try to run. The pain when you walk .. is telling you that you are not in good shape. You probably injured your Psoas muscles .. like me. Very very very common in runners. Check out the web for exercises to rehab these muscles. There are some good running injury sites on the web as well that should help.

But most of all .. no running. I know that is hard, But you are not doing yourself any favors doing it.

Good luck .. and yes, walking is not much different as you do use the same muscles for both.

But .. stretch before you run. Critical to prevent injuries.

As long as those are dynamic stretches, not static.
http://www.runnersworld.com/stretching/should-i-stretch-my-runs
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/the-running-blog/2013/oct/10/should-you-stretch-before-running
http://www.active.com/running/articles/5-key-stretches-for-runners

But .. stretch before you run. Critical to prevent injuries.

As long as those are dynamic stretches, not static.
http://www.runnersworld.com/stretching/should-i-stretch-my-runs
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/the-running-blog/2013/oct/10/should-you-stretch-before-running
http://www.active.com/running/articles/5-key-stretches-for-runners

Sorry .. I don't 100% buy it and I will continue to stretch. Any stretching is better than no stretching. I injured myself even though I did warm up .. before the run that day. So .. warm up is just not the total answer when it comes to injury prevention. I injured myself by doing something that the muscle was not capable of doing ... it was tight (from my sitting all day) .. and it couldn't do it.

I will stretch .. as that will make the muscle less likely to be tight and seemingly fragile. Sure .. warmup is good. But there is also a place for stretching. I stretch every day now .. just cause stretching is a good thing to keep your muscles in a good functioning place and give them the ability to do what you ask of them.

Really .. when you are doing a warmup .. you are warming up those muscles. But you do need to stretch them .. or they will snap (aka injury) just like a rubber band.

My physiotherapist who is a runner for over 30 years .. and has done many many marathons / ironmans races told me to continue to stretch. He said tight muscles ... and running are a bad combination.

Listen to your body - I had an original hip injury that happened while running- hip flexor area - originally thought to be a torn labrum - ended up seeking PT after a year of not being pain free - still had been running/exercising because the MD's then said it actually wasn't torn. Thought to be bursitis/tendonitis. Nothing helped. Ended up not being able to even walk around the block as it gradually got worse. Saw orthopedic surgeon - after a year and a half of this not getting better - who did a scope and found I had a femoral impingement - basically the ball of hip joint had to be reshaped and frayed labrum repaired. Lots of pain, therapy, and healing later I can say after 2 years I'm feeling much better after the surgery and have started exercising again. I didn't listen to my body originally and kept pushing because the doctor's just said "there's nothing MAJOR wrong" - big mistake. Our bodies tell us when something is wrong.

The one-legged, kneeling, knee extensor stretch worked wonders for me. Try it. When I did I could feel immediately that it was stretching the injured flexor. Mine improved in about a week or so with that stretch.

I was just diagnosed with a severe hip flexor injury today. I can't stand upright (picture Smeagol from Lord of the rings) so... exercising is clearly out of the question. I'm not a runner but I do strength/cardio training in bootcamp 3-4 days a week and 2 days a week weightlifting. I didn't injure during these workouts though... I had just finished cleaning my windshield and was just standing there admiring how clean it was and suddenly felt like someone stabbed me in my lower back. I've been down since Sunday. I'm seeing a chiropractor/sports trainer everyday but I'm scared about how long it will take to heal since I can barely move at all.

Please tell me that this will heal and I can get back to working out. I have a long way to go on my fitness plan - "strong not skinny" is the motto my fellow bootcampers and I subscribe to. I'm seeing things online that it could take 8 weeks or more to fully heal.

8 weeks!

Once your injury is recovered you might try doing this routine.

http://youtu.be/FSSDLDhbacc