Hip Arthritis Rowing on the water

[gesingerl]

Has anyone had any experience with hip arthritis and rowing? I'm planning a hip replacement in Jan 2010, doctor has encouraged me to stay active, it doesn't bother me when I row on the water or erg for the most part, painful in the evening. Recently started to wonder how this may affect the set of the boat when rowing on the water..... does anyone have knowledge of what affect it may have? I dn't feel that I am favoring a side but when recently rowing in a double we found that we were leaning to Port (my bad hip) unless I focused on hard Port pressure.

[Robert Wildes]

A little bit.

A sports medicine doctor told me I had osteoarthritis in the right hip after viewing a couple of X-rays during April 2008.

I've mostly ran since that time, but have been rowing regularly for a bit over two weeks now.

[juan-john]

I was born with congenital hip dysplasia on my left hip, which means long walks, runs and standing up for long periods of time get painful after a while. I know at some point I'll need to get the hip replacement surgery, but I'm putting it off as long as I can. Rowing helps, very little pain, although my left leg does get a little numb/tingly sometimes. It's a lot quieter than working out on a cross-country ski machine (which, I gotta admit, is the best workout for hip problems, imho). Biking/swimming is also good.

What I like about the C2 more than any of those other options is the rhythmic breathing it forces you to do as well as the ability to log your workouts and compare yourself to other folks, kinda like the Nike Plus system for runners.

Hope this helps.

[pmacaula]

Gesingerl - I have a similar issue with my right hip. Had surgery to remove an osteochondroma from the top of my femur many years ago & they grafted some bone from elsewhere & put in pins, etc. The range of motion has never come back - can only lift to 90 deg and not quite straight when standing. Will eventually have to have hip replacement, but not until things get really bad.
I had rowed competitively before the surgery & thought I could not go back.
Started erging again a while ago & started sculling in a 1x this past season.

For an old guy, got fairly competitive, doing a high volume of both erging & OTW - 6 days/week and over an hour per day on average (over 2 hrs/day leading up to the head races this fall) & no problems in terms of pain, etc.

The single is rigged normally (starboard about 10mm higher than port).
I compress fine on the my left side, but not so well on the right. As a result, I don't really get my upper body 'over' my hips at the catch & lose some power because I have in effect already opened at least half of my back at the start of the stroke.

On the erg is ok, though I have to be careful to ensure I am on the seat properly and am holding the handle the same way with both hands (don't overload one side).

OTW (like you) it has been difficult to be consistent enough to keep the set right, but did ok in the races.

Not sure if that really helps you, but it seems that if you can adjust your rowing style in a way that allows you to be consistent, the set will come.

The one adjustment I am considering is a custom fitted seat top, as I have noticed that I sit much 'harder' on my good (left) cheek than on the bad one. Hoping that a fitted seat will allow me to sit more evenly and in comfort. Won't know until the spring, as water is a bit hard here right now.

Cheers. Patrick.

[juan-john]

Forgot to mention that I also bought the neoprene sticky cushion that C2 sells, which helps a lot. Now if I could just find those old padded sailing shorts I used to have, I'd be golden...