My wife has had abouy 5 months of hip pain now that is intermittent, but is defintely worsened with riding. It seems to have stemmed from a long ride that long ago, and has been vexing her since. She took 6 weeks off, and started back at an easy pace, but has had recurrence. It is felt largely in the deep gluteal area - posteriorly - not anterior. It occasionally radiates down the anterior thighs, though not in a radicular nerve pain kind of way, but rather an aching. She is only 30, and so I doubt osteoarthritis. My latest thoughts are that it is some gluteus medius tendonitis or bursitis deep in hip - or perhaps iliopsoas tendonitis.. Anyone else have any thoughts or similar experience?

More importantly though I am wondering if anyone has suggestions concerning changes in bike setup/fit that might help, or at least minimize what appears to be an overuse injury. Thanks.

I had, and occasionally have, deep hip pain on my left side. It was so bad in the summer of '01 that I took ten days off of the bike. I finally saw a physical therapist who was very familiar with cycling. OK, VERY familiar with cycling - it was Phil Liggett's wife. No kidding. Very quickly, she diagnosed inflammed ITB. For me, the pain settled in my left hip after riding. What to do??

At her suggestion, and suggestions from this board, I stretched and stretched. I went to www.howtostretch.com I looked up info on ITB and did the stretches religiously. Eventually, the pain lessened from a 9 out of ten to about a 2. Occasionally, I still get the pain but only when I haven't stretched in a while. Case in point: right now. I rode 50 miles this afternoon and have some tenderness in the hip. I stretched this evening and will spend 20 minutes stretching tomorrow.

Beyond that: get your wife to a good LBS and make sure her fit is OK.

I had, and occasionally have, deep hip pain on my left side. It was so bad in the summer of '01 that I took ten days off of the bike. I finally saw a physical therapist who was very familiar with cycling. OK, VERY familiar with cycling - it was Phil Liggett's wife. No kidding. Very quickly, she diagnosed inflammed ITB. For me, the pain settled in my left hip after riding. What to do??

At her suggestion, and suggestions from this board, I stretched and stretched. I went to www.howtostretch.com I looked up info on ITB and did the stretches religiously. Eventually, the pain lessened from a 9 out of ten to about a 2. Occasionally, I still get the pain but only when I haven't stretched in a while. Case in point: right now. I rode 50 miles this afternoon and have some tenderness in the hip. I stretched this evening and will spend 20 minutes stretching tomorrow.

Beyond that: get your wife to a good LBS and make sure her fit is OK.

IT band syndrome may be the cause, but as I read Thorns description I thought of piriformis syndrome. To stretch that area, you need to lay on your back and bring one knee to your opposite shoulder. You should feel a pull in you butt.

The link Paul provided shows stretches for the IT band that don't seem as if they'd stretch the IT band. If those are the stretches worked for you, Paul, I would say you didn't have IT band syndrome. I guess it really doesn't matter, as long as you feel better.

If some online advice doesn't work, then you should see a PT or chiropractor.

it could very well be a nerve thing, possibly sciatica or a bulging disc.

i have a herniated disc which manifests its symptoms in two ways. one is a general tightness in the lower back, and if it gets bad enough, a feeling of the back about to spasm. worst case is the back does go into spasm.

the other is if the back does spasm, or sometimes it manifests just by itself, is a pain deep in my left buttock, often with a companion ache in the hamstring or the big tendon on the outside back of the knee. what i assume is the spasm has caused the muscles in the hip joint to tighten, and the large nerve running down the leg also gets pinched a little bit.

i do stretches to lengthen those constricted muscles. at first, it hurts more after stretching, but eventually as the muscles lengthen and the tightness eases, stretching makes the hip feel better.

My "diagnosis" was generally self done. Mrs. Liggett nevered used the ITB term...merely stating that I was very tight on the left side and stretching should relieve it. The ITB syndrome diagnosis seemed to fit with what others on this board reported. Either way - I try to stretch more often now. I lift weights twice per week in the gym, but start each lifting session with 15-20 minutes of stretching. After yesterday's ride, I've learned that twice a week is not enough.

I am suffering with the same thing -- same kind of pain in the same place -- though suffering less than I was a year ago. For me, this has been a stubborn problem.

Time has helped, as has stretching. Stretching the piriformis, as bsdc suggested, has been particularly helpful. You can do a Google search on piriformis syndrome and get lots of hits. Here’s a link to site that might be useful.

http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/piri.html

You may want to send your wife to PT to check for biomechanical issues, and if the PT knows cycling, you might want to have bike fit looked at. The PT I went to knew cycling and was particularly interested to see me on my bike to see if my hips stayed level while pedaling.

My experience with this problem and PTs and MDs so far has lead me to understand that this type of problem is very difficult to diagnose, and even if accurately diagnosed, there isn’t a lot that can be done to provide a “cure.” I declined to have an MRI once the orthopedic explained that the MRI could aid in the diagnosis, but that the treatment wouldn’t change; that he’d continue to recommend I stretch regularly.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that with time and stretching, I have been able to ride. I’ve done several 100+ mile rides this summer and commute to work on my bike most every day. There’s still an issue down there – not really a soreness now, more of a tightness – but it only really flares up if I’m doing a particularly hard effort. Then, I know it’s time to back off.

Good luck with this. If your wife does find something that works, please let us know.

Thanks.

Kg1