Concept2 Forum

I recently started rowing for the novice team at my university, this October. After about a month and a half of doing medium to high intensity workouts on our C2 machines and rowing once and a while on the water, I developed what I thought was a groin pull on my right leg. After a really strenuous workout in the morining, the muscle region around my groin started to hurt, and later that night when I tried to row again I had to stop because the pain was too bad, before it really started to hurt, there was a popping sensation in my right hip.<br /><br />After going and seeing the school trainer for about a month (icing, stretching, stimming, heating, etc...) and taking the whole winter break off (except for swimming) the pain went away and I tried to row on a machine again...and had to stop after just three days of medium intensity workouts. I saw a sports doctor who said I had "snapping hip"...he gave me new stretches and put me on Naprosyn for a week, and after two weeks I felt better again. Two days ago, I got back on a rowing machine and then got back on a boat the day after. On the C2 I did not feel much pain or snapping but in the boat I could definitely feel my muscle "click" over my hip every time I took a drive. Today my leg has been aching and I am afraid that this whole mess is going to start all over again...<br /><br />Has anyone else every had this type of problem before? I am completely new to this sport (I was a swimmer in high school) and my coach has never heard of this injury before. Does anyone know if there is a better way to heal besides stretching (like medicine or therapy?) or am I just getting back to rowing too soon? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Oh god, the exact thing happened to me. Instead of snapping, I called it popping hip. I went to a ortho doctor, got it checked out. Wasnt supposed to run, do some swimming kicks that would aggrivate it and definitley not erg. It is the byproduct of overuse. However, my coaches, ehem, didnt follow doctors orders and in turn ordered me to do everything normally..if I got off due to the pain it was attributed to laziness so I never did that. Big mistake. My hip still hurts from time to jtime and this is a year later, a full year later. You need to give it time, I'd say 2 weeks. See a doctor, trainers dont know what they are doing for the most part. Mine said it was "bursitis" when really it was much different. Hips are very diverse and it could be because of poor ilial-tib band stretch, an effect of a back injury, or many more. Anyways, your hip pain is likely to shoot down your leg or into your butt which both suck and running is the absolute worst thing I have found to do. Definitley take time off, heat and ice, sleep on your back NOT your side, and stretttttch!

thats just gross, man i hope i never grow up thats just wierd, a poping hip...

<!--quoteo(post=55917:date=Feb 15 2006, 06:47 AM:name=Ben Rea)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Ben Rea @ Feb 15 2006, 06:47 AM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>thats just gross, man i hope i never grow up thats just wierd, a poping hip... <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />You know how it is, when you are born it's cold and wet, and the lights are too bright and then it gets worse... <br />

<!--quoteo(post=55379:date=Feb 9 2006, 07:58 AM:name=bsorb)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(bsorb @ Feb 9 2006, 07:58 AM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>I recently started rowing for the novice team at my university, this October. After about a month and a half of doing medium to high intensity workouts on our C2 machines and rowing once and a while on the water, I developed what I thought was a groin pull on my right leg. After a really strenuous workout in the morining, the muscle region around my groin started to hurt, and later that night when I tried to row again I had to stop because the pain was too bad, before it really started to hurt, there was a popping sensation in my right hip.<br /><br />After going and seeing the school trainer for about a month (icing, stretching, stimming, heating, etc...) and taking the whole winter break off (except for swimming) the pain went away and I tried to row on a machine again...and had to stop after just three days of medium intensity workouts. I saw a sports doctor who said I had "snapping hip"...he gave me new stretches and put me on Naprosyn for a week, and after two weeks I felt better again. Two days ago, I got back on a rowing machine and then got back on a boat the day after. On the C2 I did not feel much pain or snapping but in the boat I could definitely feel my muscle "click" over my hip every time I took a drive. Today my leg has been aching and I am afraid that this whole mess is going to start all over again...<br /><br />Has anyone else every had this type of problem before? I am completely new to this sport (I was a swimmer in high school) and my coach has never heard of this injury before. Does anyone know if there is a better way to heal besides stretching (like medicine or therapy?) or am I just getting back to rowing too soon? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!<br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br /><br />I had something similar.<br /><br />Stretch warm muscles - try hip circles 5 mins each way after an erg (works for me). Also, try 3 X 500mgs Glucosamine tablets a day. That is good for joints. <br /><br />Give it time.<br /><br />Do report back on your progress.<br />Richard

<!--quoteo(post=55929:date=Feb 15 2006, 08:27 AM:name=BobD)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(BobD @ Feb 15 2006, 08:27 AM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--quoteo(post=55917:date=Feb 15 2006, 06:47 AM:name=Ben Rea)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Ben Rea @ Feb 15 2006, 06:47 AM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>thats just gross, man i hope i never grow up thats just wierd, a poping hip... <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />You know how it is, when you are born it's cold and wet, and the lights are too bright and then it gets worse... <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />o thanks, that gives me confidence in life.......... <br />

From your description, I am assuming that the pain you have is on the inside of your leg. There is a syndrome called "snapping hip syndrome" which often refers to tendon inflammation and or bursitis of the iliopsoas tendon and its adjacent bursa. The ileopsoas muscle is composed of the iliacis and psoas muscles which conjoin to form a single tendon which inserts on the lesser tuberosity of the femor. This muscle group acts as the major flexor group of the trunk and hip. That allows you to "jack knife" your body by bending forward at the waist as in a situp or to raise your thigh when lifting your knee and marching, or when returning to the beginning of your stroke, with your knees up near your chest before your push off. The psoas muscle attachs along your spine, as far up as the L2 vertebral body (thats almost to your ribs), it will cause hollowing of your low back, and pain in the low back on the same side as the injured hip. If you lay on your back, you will have more space between the floor and your low back on that side, may notice more difficulty flattening that side of your back down to the floor. Another test for tightness in the ileopsoas muscle is to lay on your bed on your back, lower edge of your pelvis at the edge of the bed, legs hanging off. Bring the knee on the normal side up to your chest (holding it with your arms). The (injured) leg still hanging off the edge of the bed should hang down, allowing the knee to drop below the horizantal.. If there is tightening of the psoas muscle, the knee may actually be positioned above the horizntal plane of the bed. <br /><br />What to do? First, I would recommend rowing strapless or semi strapless to take the force and pressure off during your return phase as you bring your body into the jackknife position.<br /><br />I would spend considerable attention to stretching. If a muscle belly is tight, it loses its elasticity and places undo stress on relatively inelastic tendon fibers which then become inflammed and or tear. It also places stress on the bursa for the tenden. Bursa are small fluid filled sacs which essentially act to lubricate the motion of a tendon across another structure such as a bone. More tension in the tendon, more pressure on the bursa, the bursa gets pissed off too.<br /><br />Stretches which extend the hip, stretches for the deep muscles of the hip (glutes) and the hamstrings. Why the hamstrings? because tension in the hamstrings tilts the pelvis which places additional load on the psoas muscle, the muscle you are trying to unload.<br /><br />I assume that the doctor you saw gave you a range of exersizes to help you stretch the above muscle groups. Unfortunately the majority of the muscle belly is either deep in the pelvis or lower abdomen, making it difficult to manipulate by massage, triggerpoint therepy or manipulation, however, these things can still bring benefit by relieving pressure on the ileopsoas produced by other muscle groups. <br /><br />Your doctor has you on naprosyn, a nonsteroidal anti inflammatory (NSAISD), this is good for decreasing inflammation, and symptomatic relief, but will not correct the problem of excessive tension in the muscle group. As you have already found, neither will rest. The underlying problem of spasm, shortening and increased tension in the muscle must be corrected with stretching, physical modalities eg massage etc. and correction of technique and muscle imbalance to prevent overuse of the muscle. <br /><br />In addition to stretching, I find that keeping myself well hydrated ( urine clear or light yellow), and a magnesium supplement very helpful to maintaining my muscle health. Also stretching after exersize, while the muscles are warmed up is most useful, and least likely to cause microtear injury. <br /><br />I'm sorry, I'm getting a bit long winded here... one more idea and them I'll quit (promise ) Be careful about taking NSAIDS prior to exersize. They act to decrease pain and inflammation, but also to decrease renal blood flow. If you become dehydrated during excersize renal blood flow decreases further, and you run the risk of permenatly damaging your kidneys. Long term use of NSAIDS also promotes the formation of gastritis and stomach ulcers and cause a large number of deaths from bleeding ulcers each year. <br /><br />