"Riders strain"

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pixie

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Having only recently started riding again and being rather unfit, I am in pain!

I have been suffering from "riders strain" (AKA overstretching/tearing of the adductor/inner thigh muscles) for about 7 weeks now. I think it must have been a tear, because it occured very suddenly and painfully in my right thigh (it kind of felt like a sudden "pop"), but my left thigh is not nearly as painful.

I find it very uncomfortable working with long/no stirrups, doing sitting trot, maintaining jumping position etc. Also, the rest of my muscles are still fairly week, so combined with the above I have difficulty keeping lazy horses moving forward.

My (non-horsey) fitness instructor has kindly written up a workout program for me of exercises beneficial for horseriders. I started doing them at the beginning of the week, and its certainly a thorough workout! I go to the gym and work out for an hour on Mon, Wed, Fri and have one hour riding lesson on Thurs.

What I would like to know is, has anyone here suffered from this injury? How long did it take to heal? What exercises do you do to stretch/work this muscle? Any other comments would be greatly appreciated
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yeah, she's given me a couple gymball exercises. However they are mostly for the core area (alterntate limb extenstion and trunk extensions). I used to have a book of these exercises, but I lent it to one of the FIs at my old work and he lost it, grrr! I've got a gym ball at home, so I should really use it more often (than never!).

I usually just have a quick shower when I get back to wash away the horsey smell before dinner
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maybe I should do the whole relaxing bath thing after dinner too
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*cough* I'm not very good at getting myself checked out, I'm too worried about wasting people's time
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I've had hip pain since being thrown off a horse about 6 years ago and now its moving onto the other hip
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Well, I need to go to the doctor soonish to get my contraceptive implant replaced, so I might as well mention it while I'm there.
 
I had something similar this spring (odd, as my riding apparently hadn't changed in any way) in which I had pain in the right adductor (quite a lot) and also right up at the muscle attachment, so that I seemed to be sitting on a little ball of agony! TBH rest is what helped the most, though I used NSAIDs and ice/heat as well. Take the pressure off it in whatever way works (eg stirrup length) when you're riding (but try to make sure the pain's not making you crooked when you do ride), or don't ride - if you have strained something it needs to heal, and if you make it worse you may end up with a chronic problem.
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This may not be of any help at all, but I've returned to riding after a break of 30+ years. I have been having weekly lessons for about a year now. The day after my lesson I am usually fine, but the next day my adductors can be quite sore.

This week after cantering numerous circles I was sore for 2 days - my instructor did apologise for working me so hard, but said the circles were coming on so well ...
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Anyway, the only time I have found that I don't get sore thighs is if I cycle to work the day after my lesson - it's a 15mile round journey - I don't know what it does, but seems to prevent the soreness. I can't do it at the moment because it is now dark am and pm on the way to work and the roads here are not particularly cyclist friendly.

So, you could try a bit of cycling - I would not recommend the machines at the gym as you do not get the same benefits as road cycling.

Good luck, hope it works out for you.

Holly B
 
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