Predisone for stretching?

[go4gold]

Ok, so I'm tossing around an idea. I am looking to do a 4-6 week trial with predisone (under MD supervision of course) to help alleviate hip discomfort and take advantage of the increased range of motion of hips and stretch them out to give my hips better range of motion for Olympic lifting.

Brief history on me- I have the tightest hips ever, so tight couldn't come close to bringing my knees to my chest. I couldn't even bend at my hips far enough to put on a snow board. I always ran funny, and so on. Even had trouble bending at my hips to tie my shoe laces. I've always been active (football, wrestling, Track, olympic lifting). I did fairly decent with what I had and was pretty competitive as well. Even got to national level lifting, but had to power my movements just because of the difficulty squating under the weights. I have had been diagnosised with FAI (femoralacetabular impingement) since I was 22, now 33. This is where the hip impinges due to bone growth and abnormalities with how the ball and socket joint fit. This causes pain and reduces ROM. I have had the open surgeries and hip scopes to correct the problem. Now this resulted in freeing up my hips a bit more, but not to the point where I can do even close to a full deep olympic squat. Now I stretch and stretched, but my problem is that my hips get so aggravated from one day of stretching, the next few days, my hips feel 10 times tighter and hurt. My hips actually feel better the less I stretch and ROM is at its greatest. But never can do a full squat.

Goal- To use trial period of predisone to increase flexibilty in hips. Pedisone had the greatest impact on this hips when I tried it many years back before my surgeries. So good, that I had close to normal range of motion even with the impingement. My hips felt great. I want to use this drug for a trial period to really stretch the hips out so that when I taper off, there will be some loss of ROM as I come off the drug, but there will be more ROM then what I had before I started the drug and hopefully enough to do a full deep good squat. Even bring knees to chest. I figure 6 weeks can really result in some greater flexibility. As of now, I can't stretch my hips without really aggravating them and setting me back. I have spent the past 20 years trying and never got any real improvement. Its a catch 22. Now according to my Ortho doc from the surgeries, the impingements should be gone, so that looks good. So I figure I should be able to go to town on the stretching.

Any thoughts on this idea and thinking it may work or atleast give me some improvement? And I am aware of the side effects of predisone, but not too concern with them. Thanks for any input on this.

[Soar]

You have been a member longer then anyone else I've seen yet..

OP if you're doing it with a doctor I say giver.

[go4gold]

Well not confirmed with my doctor yet, but I'll know my rheumatologist will give it a try. He's the one that ordered it in the past to see how I respond. But I'm sure he'll try it again since I responded to it well before! I just looked at when I became a member, damn, how time flys

[lovbyts]

I guess it's one of those if the benefits outweigh the risks.

[jseek]

Short course of steroids shouldn't adversely affect u too much
Tough hip condition but yes, get that rom. Only through movement does hip cartilage truly get "food"...no Movement means bad joints after a while.
Wide foot stance on squats or leg press should help with isolating hip flexion, without pinching anterior hip structures...

[PistolPete33]

Have you looked into hip resurfacing? I had my right hip done last year and I feel great.

[jseek]

Clarification
Flexing knees to chest not a big deal in my books as u are pinching everything in between femur & pelvic to get that mornings...
Flexing knees along the "V" of the pelvis so ur knees end up outside ur shoulders would be the goal...that movement is pure flexion ....
Of course, squatting then...go wide so as not to pinch femur to pelvis again...

[go4gold]

I have looked into the resurfacing, but still fairly new. Success rate is not to impressive yet. Plus I don't want hardware in there. Maybe down the road!
I will do everything I can to take advantage of not having any inflammation. I will try and hit the flexor a for sure. The flexors, piriformis, and psoas will be my main focus. Ill have to get those hamstrings as well. I'll go wide stance squats, but all my movement will be focused on improving close stance squats for cleans and snatches. No heavy lifting will be done, all focus will be on my rom, getting stronger has always been easy, so not worried about that, plus think I will be so much stronger if I was flexible. But your right man, I think improved rom results in healthier joint preservation. But in my case, I have to maintain it. It will be a use it or lose situation. I am determined to have those comfortable ATG up right squats. It will feel great to hit those perfect cleans and snatches!

[ironbeck]

Imo predisone is a bad choice for "stretching"

[go4gold]

I have tried everything you can think. PT, yoga, constant stretching, cortisone shots, multi surgeries. The prednisone was the only thing I have tried that have me the greatest rom and by far! It was quite amazing and never had anything compare to the results I got it. It's only short term to relieve the extreme tightness I get just by stretching alone. I'm talking about stretching enough to give me normal rom, I don't care to do splits and stuff like that. Short term steroids shouldn't really have any long term adverse reactions.

[jseek]

Please note, that continued knees close together will repeated impinge, cause a temporary "itis" of joint/muscula/tendon/cartilage....
So temporary prednisone use to get movement back, but then returning to the exact same thing that caused the problem... Well I admire the dedication and in ur situation may be the only path ur life needs to take....it's gonna be a tough road.
If u are determined to continue , consider working with a coach and trainer that understands ur situation, and come up with a better plan that limits the narrow knee squat position....during training anyways, and spares the narrow position for limited reps per month/week/training session.
We've all been athletes of some sort and had to make some choices so we understand. But to continue the same training lifting competition cycle afterwards....then truly what's the point of limited gain flexibility with a strong anti-inflammatory only to stop the stuff and continue the aggravating activity
Your hips are for life , lifting...while now seems that way, ...is not so much.

[go4gold]

Thanks for the info man. It's great advice. When I mean by close stance squat, just not wide like a powerlifter squat. Just high bar, mor upright, and knees are more then welcome to v out, as long as I can hit a controlled deep squat for Olympic lifts. The condition is pre-exsting (congenital). The lifting has never made it worse, just was never able have normal rom in hips from as long as I can remember. The impingement should be gone, but hips are aggravated only due to many years of lack of rom. When first tried prednisone, it was before the surgeries. I want to try it now that the abnormalities are removed. I hope to get to a tipping point where stretching will continue to improve. I just truly have one of the tightest hips any one has seen. The prednisone is to suppress the discomfort and stretch the muscles and ligaments out. My hips are messed up to begin with, but I'm hoping improved hip rom will mean improved quality of life, not just for lifting. It interfere with everything, very frustrating! It's all still just an idea I'm tossing around. But I do think it has potential to give me some type of improvement and relief. And I totally get what you mean by knees together squats causing impingement, this will be avoided. Thanks for the pointer!

[go4gold]

Not being able to bend at my hips is also leading to back discomfort. I figured I'm s treed either way, so why not try and fix it. But this all isn't just for lifting, lifting just happens to be a hobby I truly enjoy.

[jseek]

Yes, hips are handy.
1) one of the biggest reasons pitchers in baseball tear rotator cuffs is due primarily to weak hips...leads to overthrowing the arm
2) stiff hips means that something weaker and not as robust (such as your lower back or knees) winds up moving too much or twisting or overworking...and breaks down...leading to chronic knee/low back issues
So I understand what you are going through. And I've tried to outline some points to keep in mind when training.
Train smart. Good luck with ur current plans.

[go4gold]

Well thanks again man, I'll keep you updated. We'll see how it goes!