Hip Pain When Riding?

[apx_31088]

Left hip was resurfaced by Dr Gross a year ago, and it's doing great!
At one year followup appointment, the doctor pointed out that the other hip is arthritic and is a candidate for resurfacing.  That hip has been aching periodically, and it really aches when on horseback.  Seems that if the stirrup was about an inch or two forward then it would be lots less painful.  When the pain get too much, I stand up in my stirups because when my leg is vertical relieves the pain a lot compared to when the leg is bent.
I've almost met my health insurance's annual deductible, so maybe I need to get scheduled soon so surgery expenses will be incurred before the end of the year.
Until that time, what are some pain relief options for hip pain?  Ibuprofin helps me some, but it's still sorta painful.

[newdog]

Ibuprofen is the only thing that would work for me. It didn't stop the pain completely, but it helped a lot. A lot depends on what stage your bad hip is in. As I got closer to surgery it didn't seem to work as well.

If you want to have your surgery with Dr. Gross this year, don't wait much longer to schedule. He books up fast. Good luck!

[Luann]

Hi apx,

 I am a very avid equestrian, as are a few members here. Look under the Horseback riding section to see our thoughts on the subject of hips, HR and riding.
 I had a lot of difficulting riding before my HR. Now it is life back ot normal. (Standing up in the saddle used to help me, too!) I'm not sure how close you are to having something done to make your hip more comfortable, but I have a suggestion. You mentioned that you wish your stirrups were further forward. You did not mention if you ride western or english. English saddles have stirrups that are more forward hung than western. It is usually the traditional western saddles that make riders hips and knees ache! I ride ONLY in what is called a Fallis saddle (there are a few off brands on the market, too, that cost less) They all, Fallis brand or other, called Balanced ride saddles. They have bulkless rigging (no big "KNOT" of leather under your left leg!) and more forward hung stirrups (I'd say at least 2") than traditional western saddles. They are wonderful; I will never go back to any other type of saddle. Don't worry, I have absolutely NO financial interest in the brand. I just swear by them. They have a website that explains them, and although they are hand made and can be quit spendy, I find them all the time on ebay used for very resonable prices.
 Hope this helps, Lu
 

[apx_31088]

newdog:  Ibuprofen seems to reduce (but not fully alleviate) the pain for me, too.  I haven't tried others (aspirin, Alleve, etc).  I think I once tried OTC Tylenol and think that I remember that it didn't relieve my pain.  Aspirin works great when I get those very occasional throbbing headaches (maybe 3 or 4 times a year).  For those, I take 5 aspirin and a glass of water and the problem is cured for a few months.  I have a cast-iron stomach, so my stomach is not an issue with pain meds.

luann:  Forward stirrups --- what a GREAT idea!  I though about it because when my right foot (non-operative leg with arthritus) is out of the stirrups I had no pain.  When extending the leg backwards towards the stirrups, lots of pain.  Yeah, it's a western saddle.  I studied pictures found online about the Fallis balanced ride saddle.  It was easy to see that the stirrups were below the saddle horn whereas western saddle stirrups are below almost the middle of the length of the seat.  So, engineer that I am, I rigged up a couple of latigo web straps together to make a single long web strap with adjustment holes on each end.  I laid the strap over the very front of the saddle in front of the saddle horn so that each end of the web strap hung down on each side of the horse like an alternate set of stirrup straps.  I moved the existing stirrups from the existing strirrup straps to the newly installed alternate stirrup straps.  It works great!  I mounted the horse and got my feet into the newly positioned stirrups.  There was no pain at all!  Even after 40 minutes of ambling around!  A couple of minor issues that I might to eventually tweak around with: 1. It works a little better if I spread my feet out about an inch from the side of the horse because close contact with the sides results in my feet bumping lightly against the horse's legs as the horse strolls.  2.  Because the feet are about 6 inches forward, it looks like it will be an effort to stand on the stirrups to lighten the weight sitting on the saddle when things get bumpy.  I don't think that will be a significant issue for me because I don't get the horse to trot or jump or do anything else except amble.
     Thanks for the very helpful suggestion!  It was exactly what was needed!

[Luann]

Hi again apx,

 Glad I could help, and that was a very inventive experiment! However, please use the "latigo stirrups" only as an experiment. It could be really dangerous to ride that way. They are not stable, and if the horses spooks, turns sharply, stumbles, etc., you could get hung up or off balance and take a fall very easily. You do not want to injure yourself or your hips!! I also believe that in front of the saddle may be a little extreme. You do not want your legs so far in front of the horse (if you are bumping the horse's front legs as he walks, it is too far) that you lose seat stablity and leg aids/control of the horse. Part of being stable in your seat horseback is the abilty to "grip" the sides (barrel) of the horse lighty with your calves. This would be impossible in that position (especially if you are holding you legs out "one inch from the sides of the horse").
  If, however, you do have the desire and funds to purchase a Fallis, you can call John (he is the saddle maker/owner) and talk to him about your special needs. I'm sure it would be possible to custom make a saddle for you with stirrups as far forward as safely possible. By the way, I am an ex-jockey and very used to "two pointing" or standing up in my stirrups, and even with the stirrups more forward hung, I have no trouble doing this in my Fallis. These saddles put your legs and feet in front of you (feels much like sitting in a chair) as opposed to reaching back in traditional saddles, as you mentioned. Again, Fallis' are a little spendy, there are copy cat brands under the name Balanced ride (I think Textan makes one, Simco, Vic Bennet, Foreman). I find all these brands used on-line, often for half the price of new ones. I think all equestrains with hip/leg/back/knee problems would benefit from them.
 Please be careful! Perhaps if you take your saddle to your local saddle maker/repair shop someone could alter it for more forward hung stirrups? Worth a try. But please do not do much riding in the latigo stirrup invention, other than to just see how it feels.
  Here's hoping you can ride with less pain,  Lu

[apx_31088]

Update:
1.  I talked to the Nurse Praticioner Lee Webb, and she recommended Naproxen for the hip pain.  She said Coritsone injections are not a reliable means of relief.  I've found that Naproxen works LOTS, LOTS better than Ibuprofen and it only has to be taken twice a day.
2.  With the improvement in pain relief from changing from Ibuprofen to Naproxen, I don't have to use forward stirrups anymore.  Can now almost comfortably get my feets into regular stirrups.  I can also mount my 14 hand horse from the ground (but it isn't pretty!).  Still have to use a mounting block with the 16 hand horse.
3.  Scheduled for HR on the right hip in December 28.  You folks were right - that I needed to schedule now if I wanted surgery done by the end of the calendar year.  There were only two dates left!  Looks like our family deductible will be met by then, so there will be NO out-of-pocket for the entire procedure!  Had HR on the left hip in August of last year.  That hip had been bone-on-bone since an auto wreck in 1982 that caused 8 fractures in the acetabulum.  27 years of bone grinding had resulted in lots of powered bone around the hips and in the surrounding muscles.  That had produced a large amount of heterotropic bone growth around the hip socket.  Dr Gross had to spend a couple of extra hours in surgery chipping away enough of that spurious, stray bone growth to be able to get the ball of the hip out of the socket.  I was 90% non-weightbearing on crutches for something like 6 weeks after surgery.  But there was no pain, and there has never been any pain after surgery!  Lee Webb said my bones were so worn that it was like having wheels that had thrown off the tires and were running along on the rims.  Dr Gross said there is no doubt that I have a high tolerance for pain.  So it's strange that my "undamaged" right hip hurts so much when I move my leg from left to right that I have a hard time not holding my breath when moving my leg that way and I have to really "push" myself through the pain.  HR will relieve so much pain and I am really, really looking forward to a regular ole fast recovery without crutches and full weight bearing.  Even with the complications from the surgery last year, I was driving two days after that surgery because there was no pain and I had finished the pain medication regime.  I was really doing some remarkable stuff after last year's surgery.  Besides the rapid return to driving, just a few days after that I was unloading a 40-pound computer monitor from a car trunk and carrying it up a flight of 17 steps to an apartment while using crutches while being 90% non-weightbearing.  I understand that it's unbelievable until you can actually see it.  I was diligent about not riding a horse until clearance at the one-year followup after surgery.  Dr Gross was emphatic about me not riding for a year after surgery because of the complications of the surgery.  At one year, he released me from all restrictions.  Life is good!

     BTW, the insurance explanation of benefits shows a $87,000 list price for the entire surgery last year.  Of course, the insurance company paid much less than that because of the network provider discounted rate.  Dr Gross and Lee Webb were a very small part of the bill (maybe $8,000 or so?).  The hospital was the bulk of the bill.  It was a swell hospital, absolutely first class with great staffing.  The room was single occupancy (no provision for another bed) and everything looked new and clean and quality.  There ws nothing to not like about the entire course of the surgery (except for my six weeks of crutches at 90% non-weightbearing).  Looks like this second surgery is gonna be like a walk in the park!  Only time will tell for sure, but it sure looks good from here.

[newdog]

apx,

Glad to hear you got in before the end of the year. It's great news about the out of pocket deductibles. Yes, Dr. G books fast. I had to wait over 4 months to get in for surgery since I am a bi-lat.

A couple of extra hours to work on your hip the first surgery? Wow! Both of mine were only about 1 1/2 hours each. I like the part about "chipping away" at the built up bone. A doc once told me that bone doctors are nicknamed "Flintstones" because they are chipping or hammering all the time. 
Sorry, I thought it was kind of funny.

You are so correct about the hospital. I even thought the food was great.

[Luann]

Hi apx,
 
 Glad things are going better for you and you have your next HR scheduled. I would still look into the more forward hung stirrup saddles. Even with HR'd hips, they are so much better than traditional western saddles. Much easier on your entire body.
 Good Luck, Lu

[apx_31088]

1.  Naproxen has worked very well for relief of hip pain.  Not as good as HR, but it will have to do until HR surgery on 12/18/2011.
2.  With that pain relief, I am able to ride with regular western stirrups now.  The operated hip is always pain-free even when the horse is trotting.  The unoperated arthritic hip experences intense pain with every trot.  Because of that, I always ride at a walk.
3.  I am mounting the 16 hand horse without a mounting block!  I mount from the right side because the operated hip is limited to a 70 degree range of motion (Dr Gross doesn't suppose it will get any better).  I am 6 ft tall, and the leg has to be flexed more than 70 degrees to get my foot into the stirrup.  My arthritic right leg has a greater range of motion than the left.  I think I am going to get a stirrup extender to hang maybe about 4 inches below the regular stirrup.  Once I'm mounted, the stirrup extender is easily removed by pulling up the stirrup and removing it.  Getting down has not been a problem.  I swing my right leg over the horse's neck and side sideways with both legs on the left side of the saddle.  Then I grab the saddlehorn, and then slide off the left side of the saddle while grapping the saddlehorn.  Works good for me and the horse is OK with it.
4.  The horses have been challenging me because it has been so long since they have been ridden saddleback.  Found that if I work the reins and kick my heels hard and fast enough then they do indeed decide it is better to go in the direction I point them in instead of twirling around or walking backwards on me.  We are having good rides now.