Sore On-side Hip

[Horton]

Anyone else have this....

 

When I spend a lot of time at my hardest pass my left hip muscles are sore and tender a few days afterwards. I am RFF so it is my Onside hip.

[gregy]

Yes my right hip and I'm LFF. I keep saying I'm going to see a doctor about it. When I ski right, stay stacked hips forward it doesn't bother me as much but when I start getting back and loose form the hip gets worse. Mine feels like it more in and around the joint.

[lakeaustinskier]

Yes - my hip is sore right now. At first I was concerned that I was getting some arthritis in my hip, however, the Xray was negative. The massage therapist thinks the asymmetry our sport causes the soreness. I deal with it by using a Trigger Point roller and doing yoga stretches that focus on the hips.

[eleeski]

Try canting the rear boot a bit like a trick ski. I liked the way a reverse cant skied but it hurt my hip. When I inadvertently set up a rear boot with a reverse cant I broke my hip - pulling out for the gates. Be careful with hip issues. And check your setup.

 

Eric

[mwetskier]

experiment with your rear binding angle. our hips were designed to work side by side but they are angled when we ski so rotating the rear binding to a different angle could help.

[Horton]

my back binding is angled as far as I can get it already

[mwetskier]

maybe angle it back toward straight forward some?

[9400]

Yes, left hip and I'm RFF. But I have also had it in my right hip in the past. I assumed too much time with a desk job.

[cragginshred]

From the Physical Therapy bio mechanical perspective your rear hip is internally rotated and in extension thus with hard passes and increased line load and subsequent tension on the hip musculature, particularly the rear hip due to its position on the ski will result in tightness and potential left sided SI and L-5 irritation.

If you are irritating the discs lumbar spine there is a referred pain pattern that can radiate into the hip and groin area (with no lumbar pain present).

 

Can you be more specific than 'Hip pain'? Rear hip (gluts hams) Outer (Abductor) Deep joint pain, Front (hip flexor) or inner (adductor)?

 

I can provide you with better info and specific stretches if you'd like once I get a better idea of where you are getting this hip pain.

 

Matt Rini suggested externally rotating my rear binding out as others suggested and it does help with my offside turn and overall pass results.

 

[Horton]

@cragginshred well if we are going to be technical - It is the "fleshy pocket" above the actual joint.

 

It is not really a problem but more of a curiosity. Never fails that if I run a 38 in a tournament it is tender and stiff the next day or so. I assume it is caused by me skiing like a spider monkey on crack.

 

I do wonder if it is caused by pushing my off side turn or the forces at edge change going to on side or....

[cragginshred]

@Horton that is helpful info to be able to do a little differential diagnosing for you.

You can try and analyze the cause but at the end of the day you have a sore hip flexor if I am translating 'fleshy pocket above joint' correctly.

 

Here is a hip flexor stretch I would do in the PT clinic.

 

 

 

[Horton]

@cragginshred I keep watching that video and still do not see any beer.

[cragginshred]

:D

[jimbrake]

Funny, I'm feeling this same thing for the first time this year. LFF, right hip pain. My back binding is rotated (not canted) out to the right like it always has been, so it doesn't seem like that would be the cause. My front binding is canted (yes, canted) left, but has been for years, so not that either. I've been consistently coming out of my onside in a better position on the D3 yellow ARC, so apparently better skiing is worse for me. Too many years of hanging onto crap position out of that side so now my body is like "what are you doing?!"

[ESPNSkier]

BOS comes through again! Really happy to see this post as this same issue has been bothering me this summer (LFF/right hip) and at 60 years old I was starting to really worry about a permanent hip issue. Thanks for the exercise post @cragginshred, I will also give this a try.

[B_S]

Yep, hip flexors take a beating with the slalom stance, as mentioned above. I'm very sensitive to it, being that my spine looks like a slalom skiers path through the 1st to balls. Tight flexor, coupled with curvy spine, equals very misaligned hips and big knife in lower back style pain. Lots of proper stretching and a very good massage therapist will help if it gets to be more of a curiosity for you. Also, lots of core strengthening exercises!

[thager]

@jimbrake I had the same problem a few years ago. Rotated rear binding back to center and problem went away.

[brettmainer]

Same problem when I ski a lot, which wasn't this year. I don't see the association with "on side hip" though. I simply think about it as back hip. Mine runs from hip down the very outside of my thigh, to the point where it becomes so weak it is a limiting factor in my skiing. If feel it more on my offside pull.

 

Things that have made it feel better are rotating rear binding slightly outward, not skiing as much, and spending as much time as I can LFF to "unwind". When I lean on a rope on the dock, I do it LFF. When I do side bends on the back extension device at gym, I do them LFF.

 

I suppose the best cure would be to change your stance to LFF. When the right hip starts hurting, switch back.

 

On a serious note, I wonder if this affliction is confined to those who use a rear boot. Do any RTP users have the same problem?

[DanE]

@Horton Are you still on Rstyle for rear? If you rotated that boot with the factory holes that is a crazy amount of rotation. I was mounting up an Rstyle to try when I skied with Kris Lapoint this spring and he cautioned me about it, luckily I had already custom drilled the plate to my normal stance.

[liquid d]

Trust me, it'll all get better as you get older...hahaha....arthritis, bone spurs, and the labrum wears/tears out on slalom skiers. Stretching helps. woohoo, then surgery! I wish my duct tape could have fixed!

[gregy]

I opened up the holes in the boot on my R-style so I could rotate some more. If I used the hole in the plate it was either too much or too little rotation. I used a yellow paint pin and outlined the big flat nut that holds the boot to the plate so I can see if it slips.

[A_B]

I am RFF and my right hip pointer always hurts after hard skiing.

 

I did find another stretching video, no beer but good audio explaining how to do it.

 

[block]

I have had this pain in varying degrees over the years. Three years ago it was very sore( it hurt and made it hard to sleep) ,just before our September tournament I was coming off 2 ball, which is my offside and felt like someone hit me in the hip. I got on the platform and determined that my hip was not stable. I went to my orthopedist did an MRI and found out that I had torn my IT band. It ended my season. I let it heal and rehabbed over the winter.

It is strong now but if I get on my back foot--- it gets very very sore.

I went back to a toe loop on my back leg to try to help, its the same as with a back boot.

I'm getting old:(

[ToddL]

Interesting. I've felt that pain before. Not so much this year. One change this year is that I rotated my rear binding past center. Yes, right rear toes are to the left of center, as in pigeon toed. I did this after reading in Fin Whispering about how the rear boot rotation impacts on vs. off side turns. I was looking for more rear leg hip forward stance approaching my off side turn (LFF, so approaching 2-ball). I was slightly rotated open with rear foot. I moved it back to straight and liked how it improved my off side turn. Moved it a hair further past straight and liked it even more.

 

I wonder if the open rotated rear biding actually aggravates the rear leg hip flexor pain due to putting more stress on it when trying to move hips forward coming into the off side turn.

[Beastmode]

Great thread! I have been dealing with this issue for two seasons now. When I over train (12+ sets a week) I feel like I have a pinched nerve in the hip joint. I do stretch alot and when I tone down the training It changes to a dull ache instead of a pinching sensation. Im Rff and have used aReflex supershell and RTP all season. Just went to my old Rear Radar Vector boot in Aug, but using it loose top laces so its still like a rear toe with lateral heel support. Hip issue only shows up when I ski 3 to 4 days in a row. Guess I need to listen to the body! lol

[VONMAN]

Happened to me last year, RFF skier coming up to 3 ball to drop in, like a knife in my right hip let go of the handle. Had to take a week off for the pain to go away. A week later, same thing. So off to the doctor, get a x-ray, doctor says I just pulled a muscle. Took ten days off. Good to go since then, I was 65 years old when that happen.

[DaveD]

@horton. Does it concern you that everyone else that has the same problem is 20-30 years older than you?

[mopowpow]

I get the same thing, RFF and tight left hip flexors. Mine gets worse as the season continues. Sometimes I'll wake up in the middle of the night in a fetal position and can't extend my hip. When doing the suggested stretches for the left hip, flex the left glute. The glute is the opposing muscle and flexing it will give the hip flexor a better stretch. Also, get in the gym and work those glutes! Squats, deadlifts, RDLs, hip bridges, hip thrusts, etc. I'm a personal trainer and spend a lot of my time working on this issues with my clients that are desk jockeys.

[skinonstop]

I am a month away from 60 and averaged 10 sets a week since June. Rff and left hip and the back the leg hurting under the hamstring, no back pain. Tried massages, adjustments,

and went to the orthopedic for x-rays. the problem wasn't the hip, but the L-4 and L-5 were pinching the sciatic nerve. after reading these posts I'm going to try to adjust the rear binding outward to see if that gives any relief.

[cragginshred]

**Physical Therapy perspective**

All muscles have origin and insertion points thus a tight hip flexor (which occurs simply by driving to and from the ski lake) always translates into load on the origin section which is roughly your lumbar spine and rear portion of the pelvis.

 

This 'Load' causes pressure on the low back, discs (weather you have symptoms or not), decreases stride length while walking, puts pressure on the SI and L-5 junctions as well as your para spinal lumbar musculature.

 

Here is the kicker*** Massage to the hip flexor or illio -psoas is next to impossible to it's

deep orientation in the hip muscle complex. 'Adjustments' or grade 5 mobilizations as PT calls them are helpful to get you skiing again but do not address the CAUSE -tight hip flexors.

 

Massage to the low back feels good as well as the e-stim or TENS units but they are just a modality to get you feeling good to ski and do your daily stretching.

 

Good news is @Horton you can drink beer while stretching your hip flexor après skiing!

 

Restoring the elasticity to the muscles is what addresses the Cause as opposed to chasing symptoms with massage, adjutments, taking Advil or more all of which have their short term value.

 

Here is an old video I did. Fwd to 3:45 for my Three planes of motion hip flexor stretch I do in the clinic not covered in the above vid. The above vid does have a cool tweak of adding the quad in by putting the block under the toes.

 

 

[cragginshred]

@ToddL outward rotation is what PT's call an open pack position which is less stressful than a closed pack -internally rotated position. So that's part of the rationale with toeing out the rear foot -more stable on the offside and less stress on the hips.

 

Try this, toe in you rear foot in a stride stance on land then drive your hips forward. Then toe out and do it. Also test your balance in a similar manner. You should be way more stable toed out.

The femoral head follows the foot. The ankle has no real rotation of it's own. Pigeon toed folks have internally rotated hips rest of the world hangs out externally rotated.

[Drago]

@Horton flex you back leg more ;)

[roberto]

John, I used to get the same! I put it down to one of two things.

 

1) You are getting old.

 

2) Pushing through the back foot on the onside pull to gain back lost time on skis that are too slow at the buoy.

 

Recommended remedies:-

 

1) Keep skiing, don't worry the madness stops in a few weeks and you can take 5 months off.

 

2) Sit on the sofa with Danger and watch the Disney channel all afternoon. (Works with my daughter! Snow white, Dumbo, Jungle book....classics, I never appreciated how brilliant they were. Bonus is; the wife doesn't know I hurt like hell she thinks I am having Dad time)

 

3) Buy a Denali, the pain has gone away this year! No ****, I just don't hurt this year. Point and hold, no need to yank your guts out.

 

4) Drink more beer?

[Horton]

@cragginshred I went on a binge Thursday to see how many 35 I could run back to back. Two 32 and six 35s later I was bushed. The next day my hip was back to the old sore and grumpy state

 

Today I was picking up my old 90 pound Labrador to put him in the back of my truck and sore hip went Pop! Currently I'm sitting in an uncomfortably hot bath tub drinking scotch. Needless to say I'm going to be rereading your previous comments and watching your videos over and over and over and over again.

 

I've never actually felt the pop before. I do have a history of fascia and bursa inflammation injuries.

[Horton]

@MrJones any bad advice you with to add?

[lpskier]

My right hip bothers me. I am LFF. I stretch the hip before I ski. I get a lot of relief from my chiropractor.

[WaterSkier12]

Got an X-ray Horton?

[UWSkier]

For me, it's always the piriformis that acts up. Doing stretches like @cragginshred shows around the 5 minute mark of his video seem to help. There are a few different ways to hit the piriformis and lower back. Pigeon yoga position is a good one. So is lying flat on your back and swinging a leg over. Google piriformis stretches. Lots of good ones. You can also roll it out on a foam roller if you sit on your trouble hip and put your ankle from the same leg on top of your bent knee of your other leg (drive leg for rolling). That feels effin great.

[Horton]

@WaterSkier12 holy crap i hope an X-Ray is not needed. I assume the issue is all soft tissie.

[WaterSkier12]

Hope so too Horton!

[Horton]

apparently this injury is far more common that I knew. As usual I get twice as many text messages and phone calls on a subject as replies in the Forum.

[brettmainer]

Ice and IPA reduce inflammation better than the hot bath / scotch combo. Not a good sign to have hip pain from 35s in May. If it persists, you may have to substitute double or even triple IPAs.

 

[Horton]

@brettmainer Yea @skidawg already called me a dumbass for using heat too soom

[gregy]

So what the verdict? Years ago I was getting up from one of those couches you sink into. Felt a pop in my hip. Doc said I tore the Labrum. Nothing we can do about it, now days they can though. My hip popped every time I move it after that for few years it finally got better.

[cragginshred]

 

 

 

@Horton sorry I just saw this. ICE mostly. Make a gel pack with 2 cups rubbing alcohol and 6 cups water in a good quality freezer bag. Get most the air out then double seal into a 2nd one. Let it sit overnight for a great home made gel pack.

 

Regarding what you described - a flexion or forward bend under a load with a resulting pop= not good. Do you have any numbness/tingling or dull pain down leg, into foot or centered in the hip?

 

The body is a chain reaction of events. A tight calf can limit the chain from the ground up. Tibial roation effects the femour and the pelvis then the low back. IR/ER (internal or external rotation tightness in the hips and effect the chain reaction toward the foot too. That's why I like 'functional stretches from the ankle to the hip. See my True stretch vid-dorky and from about 5 years ago but hopefully it helps. These are all easy to replicate in a doorway or on the dock with a chair for your foot and a door jam or something to hang onto.

 

***Huge caveat here is: limit the range of motion when flared up and listen to your stretch receptors. More later on that.

 

I still use heat too via the hot tub to stretch the hip flexors get into extension ect.

 

The X-ray suggested shows bone only , an MRI will reveal soft tissue should disc involvement be present. I can do a self assessment video to provide a 'quick and dirty' clinical type self assessment and how to immediately start to conservatively manage these sorts of things we all have going on.

 

The kicker is you guys need to help me get into -32 this summer!

 

******I just re watched the 1st video and feel like those stretches done with gentle range and not going to your max tissue tolerance would be better than the True stretches in the above vid in this acute stage of healing.

[Horton]

@cragginshred

I do not have any numbness unless I mix percocet and scotch. Sadly I do not hurt nearly bad enough for that. So No Numbness.

 

I got a massage yesterday and have been stretching a little. Your videos are pretty helpful. I feel 80% I mostly only hurt when I sit wrong. I assume I am going to be back at it soon.

[Horton]

I saw a PT this week and determined that I do not have a major issue. The new theory is that OSHD (One Side Hip Disorder) is caused by lack of overall flexibility. Tight muscles above and below the hip put additional strain on the small stabilizing muscles in the hip and over load them. So looks like I have to learn to stretch.

 

I was able to ski twice yesterday without any pain so all is good.

[brettmainer]

I still think you should ski left foot forward for a while

[UWSkier]

OSHD let's rename that On-Side Hip Dysplasia. :)

[Lars]

Don't knock it till you've tried it, but whenever i'm feeling tight in the hips I always go for the Asian squat!