Newbie. Advice on running

NH1

Hi

I am a ultra marathon runner and have been struggling, increasingly, with hip pain over the past 12 months. I’m 56 so have possibly destroyed my body !

At a physio appointment last month he was convinced my hip is showing arthritic change. I followed up with a doctors appointment. He was a not interested. We filled out the Oxford Hip Score and it came out in the mid 40s. He won’t send me for an X-ray as he says it will just show some arthritis.

In terms of running he said to carry on and get a bit of physio!

I have done so and have decided to do another ultra marathon in 2 weeks time. My head is in a place this is my last one.

My father had 4 hip replacements so I am not sure if there is a genetic issue here.

Has anyone any experience of trying to run with arthritic pain ? Ironically when I run I’m pain free. I stiffen when I sit etc. I’m worried I might be making things worse as I run around 50 miles a week.

Conscious I’m in nowhere like the pain that many of you are in but hopefully someone can give me some guidance and support.

take care all.

[Deleted User]

Hi @NH1, welcome to the Online Community! It's lovely to have you here.

I see that you are an ultramarathon runner (wow!) who has been experiencing hip pain over the last year due to arthritic changes and is looking for advice. I hope someone with personal experience will weigh in, but for now you might find these links helpful in some way:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/your-experiences/your-questions-answered/your-questions-on-walking-and-running/

https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2020/september/ways-to-help-manage-hip-pain/

Do keep it up with the physio and let us know how you get on.

Best wishes, Sarah (moderator)

wazz42

Hi @NH1

Welcome to the community, I haven't seen many marathon runners here but exercise is good for OA and as long as you are not increasing your pain from run to run then it seems it is doable.

I was told that pain levels should return to pre exercise levels within 30 mins or so, which may be helpful for you. Another thing I did was keep a pain diary, for you it could be a run diary so you have a pain score you can compare week to week - pre run, immediately post run, 30 mins post run which would help you to work out the best distance for your body. It seems your GP isn't worried about it and you are finding lots of benefits from doing it which is in your favour.

I would think it was worth doing hip exercises as well, there are lots on the website https://www.versusarthritis.org/ - maybe incorpotate them into your warm up routine etc

Take care

xx

Lilymary

I hate to say it but the general advice with arthritic leg joints is low impact exercise is best, eg swimming, walking or cycling. Pre op (and frankly, post op) running was impossibly painful in my hips. I know quite a few fell runners who ended up with operations on ruined knee cartilages. Your pain levels will tell you when your hip has had enough, but yes, running can increase the rate of deterioration. Just a life time of hiking, and genetics, did it for mine. My surgeon post hip replacement said "not many of my patients take up running".

As a very fit runner your muscles are probably so well developed that your hips will be able to tolerate a bit more of a pounding better than most, but there will sadly come a time when the hip damage will be so bad that you may need to rethink your exercise regime.

NH1

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

I will do the race which is in a few weeks time and then take a call on where to go next.

I will seek some further physio advice on what action I should take.

Hopefully if I cut out big mileage training runs then the inflammation might settle down a little.

I also incorporate a bit of Nordic walking into my training so might see how I get on doing more of that. Hopefully that will be kinder to the hips

Elyons

Hi NH1 newbie here - I am really interested to hear how you got on with your running following your original post last year

my issue is OA to the knees rather than hips - although have niggles there too - my plan is to change exercise regime but would ideally still like to include a short weekly run - I am not at your ultra level just a social runner really and stopped marathon running 9 years ago when my knees first started swelling .......if you have any updates insights I would be keen to hear from you

MillieMc

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/comment/683820#Comment_683820

Wish you the best!!!