Hips

[Chisamba]

In the past five years my " upright" posture had deteriorated to a more forward seat. The reason is mostly due to hip pain and bursitis. On particularly round barreled horses, the problem is exacerbated.

In attempt to fix the problem I started doing hip stretches.

Well,. Instead of improving, I am now having difficulty walking so I tweaked something. Anyone knowledgeable about the best safe hip stretches?

Thanks

[Beorn]

You may be best off seeing a physical therapist for some help to isolate what's hurting in order to identify the best solutions. 'Hip' pain is somewhat vague as far as what's inflamed or tense or over-worked. I've struggled with pain in my psoas, piriformis, iliotibial band, and plain old groin, as well as a healthy dose of modern body syndrome that makes me more prone to contracting the front side of my body. Sometimes stretching is counter-indicated, and sometimes specific strengthening exercises can be really useful.

[Moutaineer]

Yeah, what Beorn said. You also need to know what you are trying to fix, so a diagnostic workup is probably in order. Is it actually in your hip joint or is it muscular or spinal? I've got arthritis in my SI, bulging disks, and some of the stuff that Beorn is dealing with.

I've been doing much better since I had steroid injections in my rear end 2 years ago, and now in general ride a much narrower horse. But then last week I slipped on the ice and hyper-extended the whole thing again, so now I'm miserable again. A couple more weeks of this and I'll be back to the pain doctor.

[Chisamba]

Yes,i shall have to find the time to visit a professional
thanks for the kick in the pants

[DJR]

Yes,i shall have to find the time to visit a professional
thanks for the kick in the pants

I've had major hip problems since a cycling accident in 2002. I also have trouble with "tweaking something" if I do the wrong stretches at the wrong time. I found that a physiotherapist was quite helpful in setting up a stretching/strengthening program, but for me an athletic therapist was even better. She is able to isolate the issues (which helps me know where to focus my efforts with my home program). And, she does manual release & traction on the worst hip which I *cannot* do by myself at home, and it always helps.

If I stick with the program, my hip starts to feel better after about 8 weeks. Unfortunately, life crowds in repeatedly and then I'm back to square one, but at least I know how to tackle the issue now (with my AT's help!).

[Moutaineer]

Yes,i shall have to find the time to visit a professional
thanks for the kick in the pants

The way I'm feeling at the moment I couldn't lift a leg to give you a kick in the pants if I tried

[Kyra's Mom]

Definitely get a work up. Depending on the cause, the RX could be very different.

I started having hip problems while rehabbing my foot post tendon surgery. I thought it was probably from the wonky way I had been walking. I did some PT for it...without a diagnosis and that made it much more painful. I gave up that and did some yoga which didn't hurt it, but didn't help. I finally went to the doctor and I had 2 needle like (at least that is what they looked like on x-ray ) bone spurs around the joint and the head of the femur was flat on one side. So, it was hip replacement for me. That went well and I was on a horse ( yeah, just a pony ride but ON ) in 4 1/2 weeks. I had a newer approach called Superpath. No muscles are cut and the recovery is faster. I'm 2 years out and have had no riding related problems.

Anyway, definitely get a work up then hopefully the best resolution can be arrived at.

Susan

[Tanga]

I have all kinds of issues. I have an amazing work out class on Zoom, and what I find is that when I finally get to a problem area that has been stuck for a long time and start moving it, it is very sore for a long time. I just have to keep at it, and eventually it gets stronger and the pain lessons. I have been going through this in a whole bunch of areas on my body. It's been an really interesting experiment in understanding how we have to reshape our bodies and how it resists the change, and pain is necessary to get it where it needs to be. I try to always keep this in mind with the horses as I hit something that might be painful for them because they are too weak and tight.

The good thing about this class is it's live and in three years on Zoom and many live before that, she never does it quite the same. Finally when I think I'm strong, she switches it up a little and hits it in a different way, and I've found something that is weak or tight I need to work on. Sigh. I can't even count how many areas that is.