Hip pain

[BigonaBianchi]

I have taken a three day break from the loops because I am getting pain in my right hip joint which I have never had before. Could this be cycling related? My Dad had a hip replacement...I dont want one...he used to ride fixed wheels all the time in 'olden days'

 

[spandex]

Is your seat at the right hight?




Cool I have just seen this post is the number as the year I was born

1977

Now I just need to get to the month and day! but that will be some time

 

[ColinJ]

I feel your pain! Actually, I don't - I feel my own . The same situation as you, but my dad lost the use of both hips. He spent the last 6 months of his life bed-ridden.

When you've seen what bad hips can do, it is a big motivation to look after your own.

Obviously you need to make sure that your position on your bike is good and that you aren't using massive gears all the time.

Arthritis is perhaps the most likely culprit so get yourself down to the doctor so you know what you are dealing with.

I had x-rays a few years back and I was already showing signs of osteoarthritis. I've managed to minimise it's progression by lifestyle changes.

I've had to give up on running now because that hurts my hips too much.

I haven't been swimming for a while but if I go again, I won't be able to do a breaststroke kick.

Hill-walking is okay as long as I don't clamber over big boulders. I have to limit the range of motion of my legs and then I'm okay.

I'm okay on the bike as long as I use low gears (which I do) and am careful dismounting (I sometimes forget that and swing my leg too vigorously - it hurts!).

I take Glucosamine Sulphate and Cod Liver Oil supplements and I think that they help. There is quite a lot of scientific evidence to support their use. Plenty of articles on that subject if you Google for info.

Good luck!

PS Make sure you keep your weight down too. The heavier you are, the more wear and tear on your joints.

 

[postman]

I too can recom' Sulphate and clo .Is that new bike of yours big enough you have gone from a 64cm Galaxy.To a different frame.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

the bianchi is fine...both bikes are comfy..in fact the Bianchi more so. It feels like a roomatick pain in my right hip joint...I suspect old age and decrepidissm are lurking in there...would a large dose of high volume alcohol help?

 

[jax67]

for some strange reason ive found brandy helps my osteoarthritis in cold weather! my osteoarthitis is in my lumber and sacrum joints and my cervical the thecal areas, also knees and ankles. its hell, and i am on morphine for it, and diazipam, as well as the suppliments mentioned above. Ive been told to keep cycling or risk loosing my mobility by my 50's, im 42 now and had back probs since i was 30 when I was run off the bike by a van, and also had meningitus at 33 (nearly lost my legs - but instead ended up with buggered circulation to them).
im finding caffeine, potasium chloride and a nip of brandy seems to help, maybe its due to dilation of the blood vessels, Im not sure - if anyone has any info i'd love to hear it.

 

[colly]

I had some problems last year with painful knees. So much so I could not ride in comfort and I stopped riding for a period. It got so bad I couldn't even get up out of a chair without having to push myself up. Even had to be careful how I got up into the seat of my van.
I took a glucosamine sulphate supplement for a while (7months maybe) and I can't say I noticed much improvement. However I read something about 'green lipped mussle' and came across this site:

http://www.maxavita.com/products/human/pernamax/

That particular product contains glucosamine as well.

Well for the sake of 20 quid I tried it and was impressed with the results. After a few weeks my knees had stopped being achey and painful and when on the bike I wasn't constantly worried and 'aware' of them.

After the first couple of weeks I only took one tablet a day so much was the improvement. I take one a day now if I remember to take it.

Of course there will be those who say it is nothing to do with the supplement and whatever problem I had has just cleared up. Perhaps thats right but you can only go by personal experience. I have recommended this to a couple of people for joint pains and both say it worked for them in the same manner.

 

[ColinJ]

However I read something about 'green lipped mussle'

I remember my dad using that stuff - made from "Green lipped mussle gonad". I didn't know what a gonad was then !

He left it all too late. Once your joints have crumbled or been ground away, a supplement isn't going to magically rebuild the bone. His hips were so bad that I could actually hear them as he hobbled about on his walking sticks. It sounded like someone stepping on a pile of crisps... . He was in agony for a few years but eventually he must have ground the sharp edges away. He stopped wincing with every step and just moved very slowly.

 

[Randochap]

The Internet really isn't the place to diagnose physical problems (it's not very good for diagnosing bike issues either)

My advice would be to go see a physiologist/sports medicine specialist, as well as a bike fitter. If you are lucky, you may find that your issue is soft tissue-related, rather than skeletal. Perhaps you have a leg-length discrepancy, or piriformis syndrome ... like I do.

These can be addressed w/ excercise and stretches. But again, don't take advice from the Internet on these; get a professional assessment.

It is also known that cycling encourages bone-loss, because it is not a weight bearing excercise.

Sorry, off to the gym with you.

 

[Ravenz]

The Internet really isn't the place to diagnose physical problems (it's not very good for diagnosing bike issues either)





Sorry, off to the gym with you.

Most sensible advice !!

If it hurts, stop doing what hurt it, go get it seen to etc etc etc

weight training will stress bones to increase resistance to weakened bone structure, not that cycling is a villain in promoting weakened bones, it is just because cycling is non impact unlike pounding the streets.

 

[ColinJ]

Weight training will stress bones to increase resistance to weakened bone structure, not that cycling is a villain in promoting weakened bones, it is just because cycling is non impact unlike pounding the streets.

Actually, it is increasingly being thought that cycling can be 'a villain' due to calcium losses in sweat. See this article. Perhaps we should all eat more calcium and do some weight- bearing exercise as well as cycling?

 

[Ravenz]

.. calcium deficiency really only affect those with dairy hangups imo.. interesting ref to sweat loss tho' .. hadnt heard of that before....
Luckily I almost enjoy my bouts of weight training.

 

[ColinJ]

.. calcium deficiency really only affect those with dairy hangups imo.. interesting ref to sweat loss tho' .. hadnt heard of that before....
Luckily I almost enjoy my bouts of weight training.

I should be okay because I get through about 750g of cottage cheese, 1.5 litres of yoghurt and 1.5 litres of milk a week! Oh, and about 1.5 litres of calcium-fortified soya milk.

I must start doing some weight-bearing exercise though. I do a fair amount of hill-walking but that's about it.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

Calcium ,,,hmm,,I wonder...since I had three nasty ops to remove a stone from my kidney I have been avoiding cheese/milk etc...

..

 

[Ravenz]

just as an after thought.. I would put calcium up there as one of the most needed ... not just because of the automatic assumption that it is for bones.. without it, the muscles would fail to work as it is a component for muscle action.