Iliac Artery Endofibrosis
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- jules21
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Iliac Artery Endofibrosis
Postby jules21 » Thu Jul 26, 2012 11:43 am
i decided to get back into racing this year and was going OK for a little while, before i suddenly started losing form. on tuesday i got off the bike with soreness around the pubis (?) on the RH side, pretty much where this condition is supposed to arise. my RH leg also gets more tired/reaches its 'lactic' limit than the left.
i've had this soreness before, but just put it down to general soreness. but on tuesday there was a very pronounced lump in that spot, which i suspect is the dreaded hardened artery. it's gone down a bit now, but the GP has suggested i go and see a cycling sports injury specialist.
has anyone else had this? the surgical fix appears to carry significant risks
- gorilla monsoon
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Re: Iliac Artery Endofibrosis
Postby gorilla monsoon » Thu Jul 26, 2012 2:19 pm
And I hope everyone has the good manners to resist those tasteless "lump in my pants" jokes.
- jules21
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Re: Iliac Artery Endofibrosis
Postby jules21 » Thu Jul 26, 2012 2:25 pm
i remember reading a post on another cycling forum a while ago, where a female member posted a question about 'saddle issues', and the trail of moderator-deleted posts underneath itgorilla monsoon wrote:And I hope everyone has the good manners to resist those tasteless "lump in my pants" jokes.
- PawPaw
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Re: Iliac Artery Endofibrosis
Postby PawPaw » Thu Jul 26, 2012 3:14 pm
It's a lot more common to get a sports hernia (with lump) or have hardening of the anterior labrum of the hip joint, which can cause pain in this area.
In addition, your weakness might be due to concomitant lumbar spine nerve root irritation, which is also much more common.
Other suggestions that might reduce symptoms:
- losing weight to decrease visceral fat putting pressure on base of pelvis.
- low fat diet to decrease artherosclerosis and associated thickening of arterial walls.
- put your bars up to decrease hip angle
- use a lower cadence to reduce number of compressions of soft tissue at top of pedaling stroke.
- ride a bit more out of the saddle and on the bars
- cut total cycling time by 10-50% for a month, then progress back in slowly. and schedule a month off the bike 2-3 x a year.
- toolonglegs
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Re: Iliac Artery Endofibrosis
Postby toolonglegs » Thu Jul 26, 2012 3:23 pm
Scans show nothing. There is also no lumps to feel.
From what you describe it doesn't sound like you have it ( but I am not a doctor )... But from what I remember that he said... There is often no pain, it only really occurs at or near maximal effort, your faulty leg just loses strength due to lack of blood supply, it isn't dangerous, but yes the operation to fix it is serious.
BTW... He also said that unless you have an underlying problem that was there since birth... Then this usually only occurs in cyclists doing big big km's over a number of years ( read 15-20k plus a year or the equilateral hours ).
BBTW... Just reread your post... There is no lump to feel with this condition. You iliac artery is buried deep. The lump in the area is probably one of the many lymph nodes in that area... Get it checked all the same.
How's your psoas muscle on that side and hip flexors?. How's your body weight?. How's your saddle position?.
- jules21
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Re: Iliac Artery Endofibrosis
Postby jules21 » Thu Jul 26, 2012 3:59 pm
- doc (GP) recommends it's not a hernia - unsure if that discounts sports hernias but i assume so
- yes, i have some back issues - no idea if this is related or not
- i don't do pro km, but i have done probably ~10k over last year (haven't measured).
- it's not especially painful, it just gets tender and flared up the other night after riding. there is definitely something holding me back in producing power, which naturally is the main thing on my mind
- i do most riding on a MTB, which is a pretty upright position
- i'm not overweight - BMI 22-23
anyway i might try and see a specialist.
- PawPaw
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Re: Iliac Artery Endofibrosis
Postby PawPaw » Thu Jul 26, 2012 4:00 pm
there's another occlusive condition called intermittent claudication, a peripheral artery disease, which doppler ultrasound, arteriography and angiography are used to confirm.
- toolonglegs
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Re: Iliac Artery Endofibrosis
Postby toolonglegs » Thu Jul 26, 2012 4:05 pm
I do know that testing for this problem is quite difficult and scans will show nothing as it will only occur when in cycling position under heavy load with the big muscle groups constricting the artery.
- jules21
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Re: Iliac Artery Endofibrosis
Postby jules21 » Thu Jul 26, 2012 4:10 pm
paw paw, i'm confused about how to access proper treatment. my GP is pretty switched on, but he just tested for hernia and ruled that out, before recommending i see a sports medicine specialist. i will do that, but don't want to spend $100s only to find it was a simple diagnosis.
- toolonglegs
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Re: Iliac Artery Endofibrosis
Postby toolonglegs » Thu Jul 26, 2012 4:21 pm
I would be seeing a doctor who deals in lumps in the groin ( for get what they are called ) before spending a lot of money on the artery problem... look online at pictures of where the iliac artery runs through your body... it is very deep.If you could feel a lump in your iliac it would have a huge strong pulse.
- PawPaw
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Re: Iliac Artery Endofibrosis
Postby PawPaw » Fri Jul 27, 2012 9:30 pm
Unfortunately, no one clinician can diagnose all conditions well. that's the price we've paid for "specialists".
- jules21
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Re: Iliac Artery Endofibrosis
Postby jules21 » Fri Jul 27, 2012 10:45 pm
TLL - the lump is definitely on/near the surface, not quite in the groin (not sure where that starts and ends) but that bit where you get hernias (and it's not a hernia, according to GP).
- toolonglegs
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Re: Iliac Artery Endofibrosis
Postby toolonglegs » Sat Jul 28, 2012 3:05 am
Lymph nodes near the groin.... http://www.umm.edu/imagepages/9000.htm ... they can get hard and sore.
- jules21
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Re: Iliac Artery Endofibrosis
Postby jules21 » Sat Jul 28, 2012 11:35 am
hopefully the latter! it's definitely just blown up and gone down, so i'm hoping that means it's not malignanttoolonglegs wrote:Don't hope this is the cause... if I had been identified with this I would have given competitive cycling away.
Lymph nodes near the groin.... http://www.umm.edu/imagepages/9000.htm ... they can get hard and sore.
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