Rower's hematuria
Posted: July 26th, 2019, 5:25 pm
I had a physical exam over twenty years ago, about a year after I began using the C2. My doctor told me that there was a fairly large amount of microscopic blood in my urine. At no time did I actually see blood. He said that could be a sign of something serious and he wanted it checked out by a urologist. After having a kidney scan and a cystoscopy (quite an unpleasant procedure), the urologist found no cause. This kept up for a couple more years and my physician suggested another appointment with the urologist, just to be sure that the diagnosis was correct. Although I was certain nothing was wrong because if it was somethng was quite serious, I would have noticed it, I made it anyhow. I had a second cystoscopy (also unpleasant, but at least I knew what to expect). Again, nothing was found. A subsequent urogram several years later also showed no pathology.
The consensus of medical opinion was that I have rower's hematuria. In my case, it was probably due to microscopic tears in my enlarged prostate which were caused by the pressure of sliding back and forth on the seat of my rower several times a week over many years. I was told that if I wanted to get rid of it, I should stop rowing for an extended period of time--at least a month, possibly even longer. Even then, there was no guarantee that the level of blood would decrease. Because I know that its appearance is meaningless, I ignored this advice and I continue to row as long and as hard as ever. Over the past few years, the amount of blood hasn't gone up and it remains invisible. Every time I have a urinalysis, I always mention the fact that microscopic blood will be present, possibly in fairly large quantities--and I'm always correct.
The consensus of medical opinion was that I have rower's hematuria. In my case, it was probably due to microscopic tears in my enlarged prostate which were caused by the pressure of sliding back and forth on the seat of my rower several times a week over many years. I was told that if I wanted to get rid of it, I should stop rowing for an extended period of time--at least a month, possibly even longer. Even then, there was no guarantee that the level of blood would decrease. Because I know that its appearance is meaningless, I ignored this advice and I continue to row as long and as hard as ever. Over the past few years, the amount of blood hasn't gone up and it remains invisible. Every time I have a urinalysis, I always mention the fact that microscopic blood will be present, possibly in fairly large quantities--and I'm always correct.