Anybody been diagnosed with a “stress reaction” in their pubic bone?
I assume I was injured by running, but can cycling cause this? I was cycling much more than I had been running.
Any advice on recovery? I had groin pain for 5 mo, but just had an MRI. I start my IM training in April, so am a little nervous about healing time.
Thanks
Pelvic fractures are notoriously poor-healing. What did your doctor say?
(((hugs)))
I had a similar injury that sidelined me beginning in May (just after MIM) until about Thanksgiving - almost 6 months. It hurt so bad that I was sure that I had a hernia, but the MRI said otherwise. My Doc and PT prescribed rest and lots of stretching. I did a little water treadmill work, but not much. I’m good to go now and running up to 10 miles. When I don’t stretch post workout, I sure feel it later on in the day (or next). I’ve got to build-in stretching time to my training whereas before I never did. so far, so good.
Good luck.
Which bone in the pelvis? I had stress fractures in both the left and right inferior pubic ramus. These are essentially the bones you sit on when on the saddle. The left present 10 days after Gulf Coast 08. The right showed up in July. I couldn’t run and walked with a bad limp. MRIs confirmed. I was put on Celebrex and told not to run for 6 weeks. Unfortunately, although I could ride and swim while on celebrex, i noticed a lot of swelling after riding. I also altered my already severely flawed swim stroke and made it worse. I stopped swimming. When I stopped the celebrex, i couldn’t ride due to the road vibration.
Different docs will tell you different things on stretching. I would recommend starting a calcium supplement (consult your doc) and stretch gently several times a day. After a couple weeks, I’d try to get in with a PT for help stretching the hips, quads and hamstrings. You will also need to work on pelvic stability and core work in general.
My Stress FXs were pretty bad. Although my doc said i’d be back in 6 weeks, I missed Vineman and IMFL. It took me most of 10 months before i could run and ride without pain. I also altered my bike position and changed saddles in an attempt to get comfortable. The John Cobb V-Flow Plus was great early. I couldn’t ride without it. I’ve since switched back to my arione tri.
Good luck.
My stress reaction is just right of the pubic symphysis in the pubic bone. Its near the origin of an adductor muscle. It started out feeling like a tight muscle, but worsened over time. Its most painful after running.
My MD told me not to run for 6 wks, and only do activity that don’t irritate it. Not now, turning over in bed is uncomfortable, so I’m limited to swimming with easy kicking.
My MD thought running probably caused it, but like I said, I was doing more cycling. Can the seat, or seat positioning cause it? Or pulling of the adductor muscle on bone? My MD didn’t know. I want to start spinning to maintain cardio and bike conditioning, but am worried it will prolong healing.
Thanks everybody for the info.
Just be very careful with these…You may want to send a PM to austin79 who’s experienced with that (more than she wanted). I’m sure her experience will tell you to be careful…
Based on the research I did, I would bet your hips, quads, hamstrings, gracilis, and adductors were all extremely tight. The pubic ramii are not load bearing bones, meaning they generally aren’t strengthened by weight/load bearing. The tinsel stress caused the injury. If you had recently increased your mileage, that would play a role as well. Cycling likely played a role in the issue as you caused those areas to become tighter.
You might want to research Chris Legh. He had a pelvis issue. I think Herbert wrote an article on it.
Is the pain limited to the groin area for this type of DX you have?
I have been dealing with hip/groin/glute issues for 3 months now without improvement. Saw MD - did xrays of SI joint, hip lower spine etc (all ok from a bone perspective) prescribed anti-inflamatories and PT. Been with PT for a couple of months now. No running or cycling during all this time. PT thinks muscle imbalance/motor control issues so been working on resolving those based on prescribed activities. Was told to try light runs after my last session to see how i held out. Well, after a 2.5 km easy run it’s still there - pain comes in deep glute, front and side muscles around the hip joint - right side only. Man this sucks. Not sure where to go next. Very concerned that this will not resolve itself.
Same issue here as buhl is describing. Started a couple of weeks ago as I began tue/wed/Thursday runs on the higdon marathon plan. I was already running 3-4 days a week, but not consecutive days. Coinciding with that was a bike refit where I found my seat had fallen down more than it should have. I was trying to get used to it being a lot higher (28 deg knee angle) when my issues started.
All I know is it hurts to lay down, turn in bed, and any type of leg lift…all on the right side. It doesn’t hurt at all while biking or swimming…just running. I am assuming it was caused by running, but can’t be sure. HAven’t run for 10 days now and it’s not at all better. I guess the good news is here is no lump.
An x-ray will only show obvious bony issues… It sounds like you need an MRI.
My pain is in the groin and medial thigh. - no glut.
Good luck.
MRI of pelvis. X-ray generally will not pick up a stress fx. It will show new bone growth later, however.