We all know kayaking uses your hips. “Hip snap!” we all hear when learning to roll. And we use our hips when bracing, boofing, surfing, catching eddies and more. In fact, apart from your shoulders it’s probably the joint we work most when kayaking.
I should know. After 30 years of kayaking and, yes, even C1ing, I started having horrible hip pain when getting into my boat and while paddling. When I finally broke down and went to my doctor I was referred to a sports specialist surgeon who took a few X-rays.
The diagnosis: an increasingly common repetitive sports injury for whitewater boaters called FAI, or Femoral Acetabular Impingement. The problem was deep down in the hip socket and refers to “a condition in which one or both bones of the hip joint are irregularly shaped, causing them to rub against one another. The friction between these bones can cause tears in the labrum and damage the articular cartilage, which may increase the risk for osteoarthritis”.
I had the version where there were bone spurs growing off the Acetabulum bone (which surrounds the head of the femur in your hip). And I wasn’t alone. I know a few other good Seattle-based kayaker friends who received a similar diagnosis and subsequent surgery. Both Ben Kinsella and Darren Albright had survived surgery on both hips for repairs. Each had been experiencing terrible pain as the labrum was getting cut into by this affliction.So, at least I knew what I was in for.
We could have headed this off at the pass maybe by paddling boats with roomier foot beds, stretching, yoga, or not going so aggressively once we started paddling the half slice (squirting aggressively is bad for the hips apparently). The surgery to repair this is sort of brutal, it involves a slight dislocation of this hip in traction. This creates enough room for the doctor to go in laparoscopically, and drill out or file down the bone spurs. With the problem corrected it is about a 4-7 month recovery time.
With a lot of PT and maintenance stretching I am able now to enjoy kayaking again and able to mountain bike, hike, and hope to rehab enough to snowboard this winter. Remember to stretch and if you are experiencing this, head it off at the pass. The more your joint casing or Labrum is damaged the worse the situation will be after a repair.
Some folks who are over 50 chose to go with a full hip replacement which can have as little as a few months recovery, but the new joint will have a lifespan. I went for the resurfacing, knowing that down the line I might have a full hip replacement. Well, getting old sucks but it sure beats the alternative.
—By Nick Hinds