Hip Pain and Cycling - Need some advice
Last Friday while playing 9 holes of golf (I'm not a golfer, I merely own clubs) my left hip really started bothering me. I was able to ignore it because the blisters on my heels from my new golf shoes hurt more than the hip. I finished the planned 9 holes and went on to work. The pain continues to today, Tuesday. It is worse when I first get up from sitting down. The first few steps are quite painful and then it seems to get better as I walk but there is some pain with each step. If I stand on my left leg just right I can make it hurt, especially if I stretch the hip to the left. But there’s no pain when sitting or lying down. The pain is right at the hip bone, not lower where the leg bends.
On Saturday I was supposed to go for a 70-mile ride and decided I better not. I was worried that the repetitive motion of cycling for that long might irritate my hip. Plus being in limited positions for so long didn’t seem like a good idea.
The pain doesn’t seem to be getting worse but it definitely isn’t better. Advil helps but doesn’t eliminate the pain. I’ve iced it some but that doesn’t seem to do anything. I’ve done a few stretches but that makes me a bit nervous – am I helping or making it worse?
My questions – should I refrain from cycling until this is better? How long should I go before seeing a doctor? Quite frankly the pain isn’t unbearable and normally I would wait this out for weeks before even considering seeing a doctor but I’m training for my first STP (2-day 200 miles) and it is getting close (mid-July). I need the miles and I’ve already lost one training weekend. But I don’t want to do anything to make this worse and I’m not sure I can go the distance the way it is now.
Your advice appreciated