Hip Arthritus

kingrollo

get the results of my x ray on friday. But I am fearing I have hip arthritis. It is made worse by sitting - and sitting on bike saddle is painful almost instantly. I have had a bike fit, and seen a physio - walking isn't to painful - although I do limp if I walk to far.
I am sure if I could get round the sitting pain - I could ride my bike. Anbody tried any of those noseless saddles - Spiderflex and moonsaddle are the ones I have seen.
Any other suggestions ?

ollyridesfirst

Where and what sort of pain do you actually get?

kingrollo

The most persistent pain is in the groin \ thigh right close to the happy sack - but more on the leg - its a sore pain. I sometimes get it when sitting in any sort of chair - but I feel it almost straight away when I get on a saddle (it triggers on all 3 bikes i own)

I also get a lesser pain on my out hip - this a tightness pain - and is releived by stretching. My PT says I have a tight IT band - since I have been doing the stretches he gave me my knee pain and walking has improved. But the inner groin is constant as soon as get on a saddle.

wishitwasallflat

Sad to hear of this your majesty - post up x-ray findings please - could be few things causing that pain what makes you think it's OA? I would have thought if it was OA then pain would be worst on standing, walking or junping as the forces through the joint would be orders of magnitude greater than when sitting. Sitting on a saddly would focus force through the contact point which could not be in the joint itself - bursitis or capsular problem???

kingrollo

Thanks - look on here about noon tommorow - and I will post the findings !

wishitwasallflat

Fingers crossed - but they may not tell you right away as its a radiographer who takes the picture but (usually) a radiologist who reports it and the latter takes time.

kingrollo

Thankfully the pelvis xray - showed no OA.

I had done some resaerch after you mention burstis - and ischael burstis seems to fit it quite closley - the only exception is that six momnths after the flare up - it hasn't healed - where as most people were healing within weeks.

I mentioned this to the orthapedic surgeon - who agreed to do an MRI which he said would show any burstis....if postive they could do a cortisone injection (as a one off) to calm it down........sounds promising !

Do you know of any excercises or techniques I could do to make it heal ?

Thanks for listening !

wishitwasallflat

Good news King - OA seemed unlikely to me and (with the limitations of internet assessment) ischael bursitis would be very high on my list of suspects.

Basically (apologies if you know this already) a bursa is just a little bag of fluid which acts as a cushion/lubricant between two surfaces and there are a fair few in the body. The ischael one is between ischium (sit bones) and butt (or in this case Ischium-butt and saddle!) and bursitis just means it's become inflamed/ irritated by something. The golden rule is always that normal tissues will only become irritated by abnormal forces - prolonged perching with weight focused on it (i.e. riding a bike) would - in physiological terms - be an abnormal loading for the ischium. Our bodies did not evolve to do this and haven't yet but if all roadies breed more it will eventually (please see later comment re nuts though)! Bursitis will often settle in a few weeks but that would be if the source of irritation - the cause - was removed. I would suspect that (like most) you probably tried to ride through it and I wonder if that is what has caused the symptoms to last?

I am also not cheeky enough to doubt your surgeon but I must admit I would have thought it would have to be a pretty big inflammation and a lot of swelling of that bursa to show up on an MRI (no expertise claimed in that area though as I have only ever read MRIs not ordered them). To my knowledge/experience bursitis is normally diagnosed clinically (by symptoms and touch) but as with any inflammation the cure is to remove the source of the irritation/damage and allow the inflamed tissue to settle and then not irritate it again. The healing/settling is speeded up by ice, rest and anti-inflammatorys. The beauty of a cortisone injection is it's a powerful anti-inflammatory given directly into the bursa - obvious advantages over taking anti-inflammatorys by mouth! You hear (and will read if you search www.) horror stories about side effects of cortisone injections (Crones being one of the most popular) but in the vast majority of people, getting only one (or perhaps two) injections in their lives is very effective with no problems.

You would need to lay off stressing the area though and let it settle regardless of what treatment was given and then build back up at a sensible rate afterwards. There's a whole other thread here starting about saddles (as where and how much pressure is on the area is key) but I won't ...
Brufen (ibuprofen) is a simple NSAID (non steroid anti-inflammatory) which you could try but be very careful (check the leaflet in the packet carefully and follow the dosage directions etc to the letter and never ever take it on an empty stomach - as it irritates the stomach) especially if taking it for any extended period of time. If I may also say don't use it to makes pain to let you ride - if it is bursitis that will just exacerbate the problem.

Also - if you decide to sit on ice watch out for frozen nuts!

Let us know how it progresses and best of luck.