Riding is total agony - where do I go from here?

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Miss Tipps

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Around about August last year I started to get terrible pain in my hips during and after riding, so bad I would get up in the mornings and nearly fall down the stairs because my hip couldn't bear my weight.

I started having sports massage treatment which gave a bit of relief but as soon as I was back in the saddle the pain came back. I was referred to an osteopath and, again, the treatment sessions are fab, but ultimately haven't fixed the hip problem.

I took a break from riding and things got a lot better, but now the eventing season is here again and I'm riding most days I'm really suffering once again.

I've always been a fairly fit person, I run, go to the gym, weight train, play squash, the works really. But, in simple terms, the muscles in my legs that attach to my hips are contracted and nothing seems to help. Riding is soo painful, 'proper' riding that is
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- I'm sure I could be a happy hacker, but my horse would disagree!! Sometimes its ok, but mostly the pain makes me tense up so badly that my poor boy must wonder what the heck I'm doing up there. I'm sure I'm not being effective and my leg, and especially my seat, aids must be clunky and crude.

So what do I do? Do I call it a day?
 
how wide is the twist on your saddles? i had a wideish dressage saddle (Inch's Xanthe) which made my hips really ache, nothing else ever has since.
might be worth trying a narrower saddle in the twist... for e.g. i know that Ideal have certain saddles that they describe as being for "petite" riders which are narrower in the twist, such as the Roella etc. just an idea.
other than that, umm, i think i'd try a sports massage therapist, and a physio, or go to the doctor's and stress how important it is, see whether they can come up with an accurate diagnosis. since it only started last August, perhaps you pulled something which hasn't healed yet?
sorry, can't think of anything else.
 
I ride in a Wintec Isabel, but its funny you should mention width because I have wondered to myself more than once if I would still have this problem if I had a nice skinny TB rather than a chunky 3/4 ID!!!
 
Maybe see a specific sports physio? A girl in my riding soc goes to one and says its great. Or try Horse driving trials! Amazing fun, a sport where the water obstacles are still deep, not the stupid 30cm at badminton, I acctually saw a team of ponies swiming once it was so deep! Even driving a single horse across country is amazing, you can really see how agile horses are at speed without us getting in the way! Any horse/pony with remote manners can be broken to drive too, its not for old/broken down/outgrown ponies, although get some lessons/schoolmaster 1st.
 
Are you sure it's not your pelvis that's the problem?

I suffered from acute pain for years and finally went to a great Chiropractor - who as part of my initial consultation took Xrays of my hips & pelvis. She found that my pelvis was rotated and not level. Nearly a year on, having regular treatment I'm the most pain free I've been for years... not perfect but much better.

I'd really recommend seeing a chiropractor who takes xrays as standard. Mine uses a particular type of Chiropracting called SOT.

Good luck!
 
have you been to see a doctor - don't let your GP fob you off, make him/her send you to a consultant orthopaedic surgeon or a rheumatologist! Insist!
 
Go and see a chiropractor.
i had a nasty fall and afterward my hip hurt every time i sat down and it was agony to get in the saddle.
5 trips to the chiro later and i no longer feel anything from my hip. They are suprisingly inexpensive. My first trip to a private clinic cost £75 for an hours consultation and 2 xrays (at £25 each). each treatment cost £40 for 45mins!
 
I'm in the same position with my back. Chiropracter makes it feel a bit better for two to three days then its as bad as ever. My advice - see a consultant, push for x-rays and possibly an MRI scan, tell them you're prepared to have an operation if thats what it takes- you can always back out later. I've made do for nearly three years and it does get to the point where all the determination in the world can't make you do a decent job while you're trying to cope with the pain. Get it properly investigated, don't let them fob you off with a bit of physio, and once you really know what you're dealing with, then weigh up your realistic options. Good luck!!
 
Have you had thins checked out by a specialist? Could be a whole host of things.... bone weakening, ligament issues etc....
 
I get this in my back (thoug not quite as bad as youyrs sounds), for ages, after everytime i rode my ack went into spasm, because it had slipped out of space, and i couldnt move my neck for than a millentre either way, or use y arms much. I went to the charipractor A LOT and turned out i was borderline hypermobie and hypersensitvie(still am but its settles down a bit), so i was goig every week for months, and eneded up taking 6 months off riding, but now its much better most of the time!

Thats how i got into driving trials so much, im with Ezme on that. And also try a charopractor.
Hope that may help perhaps? Hope it gets better, mabye take the exercise down a notch? could be straiining yourself?
 
The treatments I have had so far are:

6 sessions with a sports injury massage therapist
?(lost count of) sessions with an osteopath who is herself a dressage rider and also equine osteopath
2 sessions of rehab with a personal trainer

My osteopath did say I have a rotation of the pelvis which is caused by the contraction of the muscles and I've had stretches 'homework' to do. I think I maybe am a little better than I was, but its just impossibly slow progress. I think I might go back to the doctors and make more of a fuss. I just flippin' hate doctors, they always seem to make me feel like I'm taking up their time unnecessarily
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Ezme and JCB - where are you guys based? You could always take me out and show me how much fun you can have off the horse
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I go to a Mc Timmony Chiropractor for my back every now and then as I have epilespsy and inevitable throw out my back when I fall down. Its great, like having a massage and alwasy works. At my local one in north devon its £40 for the 1st visit (longer and take a massive history and all sorts) then £30 for every other visit for however many you need or how far they are appart. Last time i dislocated a rib near my lower back, he got it back in and its never come out since
 
Just been onto their website and there are two McTimoney people right near me so I think I'll give one of them a call.

Thanks guys - I'll fight another day -
 
McTimoney is great, would recommend it very highly.
however, if you do go to your doctor, you have to go prepared to fight, or you'll get fobbed off. the fact is, you contribute to the coffers, so you're entitled to treatment.
when i did my knee in badly falling off a horse, i went to the doctor and was fobbed off, he examined it and said if i rested it for 6 weeks it would be fine. it was agony at the time, and i couldn't straighten it at all, or bend it much.
i went to a sports physio two days later, who, when i said i had private health care (i'd told the doctor this too, which is what makes me really angry, i wouldn't even have cost the n.h.s. money!), told me to go to a specialist. he recommended someone, a day later i had an appointment, within 10 minutes of him examining my knee he had made an appointment for an m.r.i. scan 30 mins later (!!!), and i had an op within a week.... no WAY would it have healed itself in 6 weeks, i had a ruptured cruciate, torn meniscus and fracture to the bottom of my femur...
thanks to the specialist and the operation, it is now 100%. if it had been left to my doctor, i'd still be limping, and would have had to give up riding.
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so: moral of the story, if you're still with me - you HAVE to speak up for yourself if you go to the doc, cos they will fob you off if they can (well, some won't possibly!), and when it comes down to it you only have one body, so it had better be as good as possible!
very best of luck!
 
I would suggest that you try accupuncture both my sister and my mare have had it! Sister swears by it and the mare is like a different creature.
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Agree with those who say - get a referral to an orthopaedic consultant. Just keep repeating your request to your GP until you get somewhere, even exaggerate your symptoms if you need to! After this you will know what you are dealing with. NHS is a dinosaur institution with so much red tape but persistence pays off and the consultants are very good once you get to see them ( I work in a hospital!!) Good luck!!
 
Thanks to everyone - you've all been great and I'm definitely going to go see my GP as a next step. Depending on how that goes I may well follow up with the McTimoney chiropractor, but at least I've got some new options to explore :-)

Oh and in the meantime - if you do happen to spot me somewhere making a total hash of a dressage test...yeah ok - excuses, excuses
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Sounds painful! Do you twist your hips at all when you ride? I have a habit of doing this on a specific saddle and I can definately tell from the pain I'm in after. Like Oldmare says, what about riding side saddle if it's a problem that's going to be on going. It's much more comfy and my hips don't ache like they do with a normal saddle.
 
My GPs useless, with my back, it was affecting my vision, i kept going numb down my arm, i couldnt think properly...he's very fond of telling me i suffer from stress issues! Finally went to charopracter cause a brain mri (he just wanted to make sure i didnt have a tumour so we couldnt sue him) showed my top 3 vertabre were out of place, my bad back expl;ained all the symtoms...I also use mctimonuy charopractors for myself and my horses
Ooo h yes, et your horse checked out, if you had a rotated pelvis or whatver it was, it would be your horse has a bad back so how you sat on him and he moved twiddled your pelvis, and then his back could have been getting worse as a result of your hips...

Im in hamoshire too, Andover, where in hampshire are you, i might know a good charopravtor? And or a harness club ^_^
www.horsedrivingtrials.co.uk www.indoordriving.co.uk

Most driving people are pretty friendly, i reckon even if (hopefully) your hips get better you should give it a go!
 
Hi,

I have a friend that suffered with the same problem, he is 41yrs old always done extreme sports, skiing etc done lots of SJ, XC on a LW/MW horse and only had slight hip pain now and again, then bought a big chunky horse and has been in agony ever since owning him (2yrs) he has just been to see the GP whom x-rayed his hips to find arthritic changes. He has now seen the Ortho Specialist who has booked him in for a hip re-surfacing next month. This proceedure can only be done on the younger generation and usually guarantee's you can ride again after. I too have a less degree of hip pain which on bad days gives me a dead leg when riding, it has eased by making my horse loose weight and changing my saddle from a Kieffer to a Wow. Hope this is of some help.
 
You could do yourself a favour by chucking out the Isobel (well ok, sell it) and using a saddle that has a less extreme position - the Wintec pro will allow a little more bend in the hip but still supports a long leg position.
 
It does force the hips into a very open position - which is fine if you are a dressage rider who rides several horses a day and are competing at quite a serious level. For those of us who are not, or might be getting a bit creaky (that would be me) I think the position is extreme and can cause hip pain.
 
I'm very creaky and stiff around my lower back and hips, and also have very tight hamstrings, especially in my right leg, caused by driving long distances in a c...p car (company's choice, not mine) and sitting in rubbish office chairs. Also I spent 4 years riding an Irish giant who was much too wide for me. I find regular Chiropractor visits (I don't know where you are in Hampshire, but I go to one in Wincanton, Somerset who events herself so is very tuned in to rider's problems) really help, and I also do as much yoga and pilates as I can find time for. But like others I would say that the first thing is to get properly checked out to make sure there isn't a more serious problem.
 
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Just been onto their website and there are two McTimoney people right near me so I think I'll give one of them a call.

Thanks guys - I'll fight another day -

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I can always look after Mr Harry for you....he might like to come and live in Banbury with me and you can keep my old baggage??
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Seriously though, I know you hate Doctors but I think the time has come to go back!
 
I tried the Isobell dressage saddle on my old shire x tb mare and felt like I was sat on a barrel, I was amazed at the difference between that and all the other saddles I tried. I couldnt get on with it at all.
 
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