Nasty leg pain after riding

Does anyone else have to deal with this? After I've been riding hard - say a 3 hour ride at trot, canter, and gallop - if I sit down for more than 15 minutes on a chair, or driving my truck, I get the most unbelievable breathtaking pain in one leg or the other. It's not a muscle cramp. It runs from my groin right down to my ankle and I can't put weight on the leg. It usually takes 15 minutes or so to run its course. Nothing stops it - applying heat, cold, smacking the leg, flexing - nothing! Sometimes I think I must have sat on a nerve in my butt, and other times I think it's my socks or breeches cuffs that are too tight and are cutting something off. I've spoken to a G.P. and an internist about it but no one can figure out what's up.
I'd love to know if any of you have had this happen, and if so, what did you do about it, and what the heck is it?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Linda White on November 5, 2010 at 11:45pm

Gee, I didn't think about the downhill part making it worse, but now that you mention that, the last ride had several really steep hills and I did lean back to help my horse - I bet that did contribute to it. Plus, my mare is a Canadian and she's big barrelled. Not trading her in though..... We do lots of changing pace rides, lots of trotting and cantering, some gallops, some jumping. I just die on the walk-only rides, but it's my knees that hurt then, not my whole leg.
This hip saver saddle pad - is it the ThinLine Ultra Thin pad mentioned above? I can see how a saddle pad would make the horse happy, but how does help the rider?

Permalink Reply by Marlene Thoms on November 6, 2010 at 9:39am

The pad I mentioned, hip saver (not the seat saver which is for sore seat bones from a hard saddle) by Heather Moffett (sp?), goes on top of a wide-ish saddle to add a bit of twist. A lot of saddles apparently fit men better than women and this pad addresses that, although you might get some ribbing from western fellas who think anything out of the norm is fodder for jokes. I switched from a Barefoot treeless to a Sensation Treeless saddle because the Barefoot plus my Barelly horse was "too much of a stretch". For a quick and simpler interim solution I would try just walking for a few minutes on the down hill. And take ibuprofen before longer rides. I am really fortunate that my knees are one of the few places on my body that don't hurt (yet) but I hear sand grinding in them when I bend them. For knees, you might find a longer stirrup helps, I usually ride at almost dressage length (similar to western length), but you might need to shorten up if you are jumping. I can generally ride the long downhills now, so I think as my core muscles strengthened it helped the hip thing. I noticed the uphill downhill difference because my ride is often a long uphill stretch (where I had virtually no hip pain), followed by a long rocky downhill (where it got pretty bad). I don't usually need to walk for a break now, so it may get better for you too.
And if you are north of Toronto, there is a 95% chance you are short on Vit D. According to the latest experts Canadians need about 4000 IU (that's not a typo) per day, especially in winter, and it will take the rest of the winter to get your body stores up, but you might begin to feel some benefit in a few weeks. Of course be sure you get dairy or a calcium/magnesium supplement daily too. We all are so particular about our horses nutrition, but doctors don't tell us much about human requirements.

Permalink Reply by April Keays on November 7, 2010 at 2:19pm

Okay, here's my two cents worth. I've been dealing with pain for some years now. It's mainly been in the groin area and lately has started running down the inside of my thigh and right down into my ankle and big toe. I have a cronic problem with my hip joint so everyone, including my family doctor assumed that this pain was being caused by that. I had xrays done and an MRI, but both showed only mild to moderate arthritis in the joint so certainly not enough to be causing the pain I was in.
I used to run 5 km a day but over the last year or so that gradually dropped down to 3 times a week, then twice a week to now where all I can manage is a fast walk. It was also taking me three days to recover from a half hour riding lesson!
Here's the kicker, even though the MRI showed very little arthritis the specialist was still encouraging me to consider hip surgery. I declined and did some research on my own. It just so happened that one day when my leg was throbbing quite badly, my boyfreind began to massage that big muscle that runs from outside of the hip, around into the groin and down the inside of the leg to the knee. I just about hit the ceiling! That's when we started thinking that the doctors were all wrong and it wasn't the hip at all, but soft tissue.
Sure enough, I spoke to a massage therapist and she referred me to the chiropractor who works out of her office because he is apparantly very good at diagnostics and will not hesitate to refer a patient to someone else if he can't help them. My current chiropractor has been working on my hip for about a year now, with no success, so I felt that it was time to try another avenue.
The first visit with this new chiroprator was so uplifting! After a twenty minute discussion he agreed that it was not the hip joint at all. Cracking the bones wasn't going to help and surgery would not have made any difference. He has me coming in for Active Release Theropy three times a week which seems to be a combination of acu-pressure, stretching and reflexology. It hurts like hell, my muscles are so tight and so knotted up that pretty much everywhere he applies pressure I'm clutching the side of the table. But it's working!
After four visits with him I can feel a difference, the pain is on it's way out!
This has turned out to be a longer reply than I had intended, but I'm feeling so much better about things now, knowing that I have finally found someone who knows whats going on and how to treat it.
I would suggest to talk to a massage therapist, or if you can find someone who advertises Active Release Therapy go directly to them. I hope this helps to narrow down the possiblities and start getting this delt with, as there is nothing more frustrating that to be in pain and no one knows why!

Permalink Reply by Linda White on November 7, 2010 at 11:43pm

I am so appreciative of all the people who took the time to send me their experiences and opinions on this subject. It's frustrating to deal with by yourself when the medical people can't find an answer. I guess all these experiences and "fixes" just go to prove that, as consumers of medical services, we are entitled to keep asking until we get the right answers. I have emailed these replies to my chiropractor and when I see him next week, we will decide what to do next. He, too, is good at referring patients to anyone who can help them when he cannot.
Thanks, everybody, and keep on saddling up. I always say that if my joints and other parts are aching, I'd rather be on a horse feeling lousy than sitting on a couch feeling lousy.

Permalink Reply by Marlene Thoms on November 12, 2010 at 1:20pm

Update on nasty leg pain: How's it going Linda, any improvement in your leg pain? I have recently discovered a possible help. One, I am taking a magnesium supplement in the hope it will relax muscle/tendon spasms. Also I tried the generic version of Robaxicet (Walmart version is cheaper), essentially methocarbamol and acetaminophen. I've had two nights of far better sleep and virtually no pain in my groin, and a few other locations improved somewhat. This isn't something you can take in the day, but the pain relief seems to carry over somewhat to the day time. perhaps because lack of sleep can also increase pain in general.Or maybe the muscles are less painful if they haven't been in a spasm all night. Also it doesn't make me feel dopey in the morning which Tylenol 3 does, so I don't like that stuff. It's not a cure, but it makes the ride more enjoyable to know I get the benefits of the exercise without so much discomfort afterward.

Permalink Reply by Linda White on November 12, 2010 at 3:58pm

Those sound like reasonable things to try - thanks. I met a man last night who has had the same problem after riding - he says lots of hockey players have it too - and he goes to a sports acupuncturist for relief. I'd try that except that I'm in the boonies and it's a good 2 hours to get to an acupuncturist, and also the pain only occurs in the hours after a hard ride.
Currently I'm dealing with back pain from a freak accident. I came off going over a jump in the woods on Tuesday and slammed into a tree. Fortunately, I was wearing my Phoenix vest which absorbed most of the shock, but my unprotected butt slid down the tree and it's bruised and scratched up. I'm starting to think I need to wrap myself in bubble wrap before a ride. Maybe NOT coming off is the better solution.

Permalink Reply by Marlene Thoms on November 12, 2010 at 7:34pm

Ouch. Good on you for wearing your vest, probably saved a couple of ribs. Falling hard is such a bummer (no pun intended). I ate dirt twice this summer when my Guy was going through a spooky phase.The third time I landed on my feet, no idea how I did that, but I much prefer that, and recommend you try that next time. Take care of yourself, it does take a few weeks sometimes for the bruises to heal, as long as your nerve is intact. Good luck. Hope your feeling better soon.

Permalink Reply by Mari on November 12, 2010 at 8:46pm

I agree with Marlene about the Vitamin D supplements and also the cal/mag: All ladies over 50 need cal/mag, and that's a good reminder to me because I have it but often forget to take it; I remember my morning supps but cal/mag is a nighttime supplement.
Also, I want to say once again that I'm beyond impressed with your choice of disciplines, Linda. It sounds like you ride the way I did when I was a teenager. I switched to dressage decades ago. :)

Permalink Reply by Linda White on November 12, 2010 at 10:09pm

Thanks - but to put it in perspective, dressage takes patience, concentration, long term goal setting - and I have shortages in that department. I was always a squash not a tennis player, a down hill skier not an alpine skier. I love risk taking and speed and I've never been good at taking slow determined steps and building them up to something impressive. I just don't have what it takes to do dressage and I admire those who do. But I think any of us who are able to get on a horse on a regular basis are pretty darned lucky and we should never take it for granted. What a great life!
I will get some calcium and magnesium, thanks, and I will start taking those Vit Ds on a regular basis.

Permalink Reply by Marlene Thoms on November 13, 2010 at 1:58pm

You said it better than I could Linda. I admire dressage riders, but I just don't have that kind of discipline. Yup, used to be a downhiller too. but hey, there's people out there putting their heads to the problem of nutty people like you and me who probably take a few too many risks, check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXS-lnn2wY0
If it's good enough for jockeys, it's good enough for me! I think the two point air jacket already helped a rider in the Rolex this year survive a serious fall with relatively little injury.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqhVF6Hfz8I&NR=1&feature=fvwp
I hope the horse was okay. Next, armour for horses.

Permalink Reply by Linda White on November 13, 2010 at 9:45pm

Gawd....chilling ride at Rolex! I've never heard of an inflatable jacket; maybe that's my next move. Hmmmm, Christmas is coming. ;-)

Permalink Reply by Karen Murphy on November 16, 2010 at 7:35pm

I certainly agree with you, expecially on the last point. Some people may think we are gluttons for punishment, but the world looks so much better from the back of a horse!