Anyone experiencing some hip flexor soreness/pain when driving? I have had my MC for 2 weeks know and after driving today for an hour I had bad hip flexor pain on the right side. I did a search and can't find the post of someone else mentioning this awhile back. I thought that the person was just a wimp or something and then it happend to me. Sheesh. I thought it might be how the seat was adjusted that was causing me the pain. I adjusted it for the other hour ride back home and it is still sore. Any thoughts??

 

Is your wallet in your back pocket?

 

No, not at all. I put my wallet either in the glovebox or on the euro parcel shelf. I am 5' 11" and am still trying to find just the right seat adjustments but have not had the bad hip soreness until today. It still hurts. Kinda takes some of the joy out of the motoring.

 

My cooper doesn't do that ( basic seats ) but my "S" does.
right leg/hip plays havac with me. can't go much more than an hour with out it acting up. The sports seats feel better when you first get in the car, but the in the long run, the basic seats don't bother my right side.
I tried up/down, fwd/back can't figure it out.
your not alone!

Glenn,

 

:smile: :smile: :smile:

Cheers!
Clover

 

The most I've driven my MC, (with standard seats), is about 3.5 hours. I was amazed at the lack of lower back discomfort. My other cars have me squirming and adjusting the seat after about an hour, the MINI was much better. I did, however, wish for a center armrest.


R.E.

 

it sounds like you need a walletlectomy. Seriously people who sit on their wallets can have problems. i know i have to take my wallet out sometimes.

Earl

 

SCURVES - I would agree with you that this sounds like a simple solution...just take your wallet out of you back pocket...EXCEPT...I'M A CHICK!!! I don't carry my wallet in my back pocket...



I do have sports seats and am wondering if that is some of the problem.

 

:smile: :smile: I had regular seats in my first MINI, an all-Pure Silver MINI Cooper, and the seats were okay. I now have the leather sport seats in my all-Jet Black MCS, which includes the lumbar adjustment, and I LOVE these seats! They are fantastic!

Cheers!
Clover

 

Both Minis I've owned have had sport seats... have done a 24 hour nearly nonstop drive from Cleveland to Mass and back with no pain. Maybe females have a different body structure that could be causing the pain? Who knows...

 

I've got sport seats in my MCS. The only sore areas I get are my neck and a little bit down into my shoulders. I use a lumbar support pillow behind my neck to help prop it up. Sorry, never experienced hip pain other than when I wore my wallet in my back pocket...once removed the pain was gone.

_________________
Happy Motoring!A MINI Vacation In Vegas 2004

 

The only problem I had was butt-numbness after a whole weekend of driving the majority of every day. Kept happening on the way home (to FL from NC). Just too much time spent on those sport seats I guess.

 

>>I've got sport seats in my MCS. The only sore areas I get are my neck and a little bit down into my shoulders. I use a lumbar support pillow behind my neck to help prop it up. Sorry, never experienced hip pain other than when I wore my wallet in my back pocket...once removed the pain was gone.
>>
>>_________________
>>Happy Motoring!A MINI Vacation In Vegas 2004

I have a MCS with space cloth sport seats, and I also found my neck and shoulders to be sore after a long drive. I think it is because the lumbar support sticks out so far that our shoulders end up off the seat and not supported..... But I would not be surprised if your pain in the hip/leg area is caused by MINI's seats. These MINI seats just are not very comfrotable for me for long drives.

 

Thought that a day of rest might help. HA HA I felt fine when I entered the car and then by the time I got to work I was feeling the hip thing again. DANG Just keep hoping that it will go away or that I'll get used to the seats. Or that someone will come to the rescue and tell me what they did to adjust the seat the get rid of the soreness/pain.

 

Try adjusting your seatback tilt or your seat height. There's a lot of combinations that should give you a more comfortable ride. In your first 2 hour drive, you already experienced sore hips, so the second hour of driving (even after adjusting the seat positioning) probably didn't help because you were still sore.

Most of us find the MINI sport seats quite comfortable, although you are not sitting on a bed of feathers, mind you, but the seat keeps your "seat" nicely cradled snug.

I'd really try the different adjustment combos, and write them down so you can remember which combo felt most comfortable, then settle for one.

BTW, do you have cloth or leatherette or leather seat covers?

 

zgokart - I have leatherette sport seats.

 

Try leg lifts:

Lie down on your back on your floor.

Place your arms straight against your sides with your palms down, underneath your butt.

Keeping your legs straight and parallel, lift them to about 45? and repeat slowly.

Do maybe 10 reps and then work your way up everyday.

Crunches will help your hip flexors too.

 

I have the mcs and i do find my lower back straining on longer trips.[leatherette seats]. I bought 2 small rectangular pillows;one for each seat ; and it helps relieve the strain a great deal. The sport seats are great except for that. good luck with it.jomo

 

hip flexor pain on the right leg? strange. maybe keeping your right heel off the floor too much, you aren't allowing your hip flexors to rest enuff. perhaps, when you switch from brake to gas, you have to actually raise your heel off the floor. i kinda like to leave my heel planted all the time, and just pivot my foot from side to side to apply brake or gas.

maybe you strained it unknowingly and it only came out while driving?

or could it possibly be a low back problem that appears to be hip flexor strain? if you're not familiar with low back problems, ie. physical therapy or chiropractor, you may be surprised to learn that a number of low back problems can manifest themselves as hip/thigh/knee/foot pain or numbness with or without any corresponding low back pain? i have a patient right now who was referred for a patellofemoral, knee cap, problem along with a low back pain. as her back pain resolved, so did her knee pain.

i've found the mini's seats, regular or sport, can be very uncomfortable for some people, myself included. there simply is not enuff low back support to maintain the correct amount of lumbar lordosis, or inward curve of the spine. try a simple towel roll placed in the small of your back. scoot your butt all the way back to the backrest, lean forward and place the roll, about 3-4 inches in diameter, just slightly above your belt line. i actually use a lumbar roll from a PT catalog.

if you get low back pain/hip pain with any other kind of prolonged sitting, or with other activities, plus you get a stiff back upon getting up from sitting, i'd highly suspect a low back problem.

 

I have the unomfortable hip too. I am a man and do not sit on my wallet. it is the first think to come out. but the pain is in the high part of the thigh where the seat bolster is. I think it is to high or not soft enough. but it is a pain in my side to. I get uncomfortable within 30 minutes. I noticed it from day one when I drove 600 miles home. I have tried multiple positions and none has remidied the pain. I have a cooper s with space cloth. I may get to the point where I take the seat apart cut out the bolster and make a new one out of softer foam.

 

I get bad hip pain too - I've had the MINI since June and it's gradually come on over time. Now I am only in the car 15 minutes and I get cramp in my left hip and pains down my leg. I thought it might be from using the clutch etc..

My chiropractor noticed the problem and looked at my car seat. He believes the seat tips too far back (I use nearly the lowest setting) and this is causing pressure on my hip.

The problem is that to flatten the seat, you also have to raise it as it all works on one adjustment (sports seats w/ leather). So, now I have a flatter seat but my head almost touches the roof - I feel way too high in the car.

Anyway, we'll see if this helps. I'm seriously looking at a replacement seat - any good recommendations??

-Jonathan

 

Will a Recaro fit?

Sometimes hip and back pain are caused by tight hamstrings. Daily stretching should help.

Also, too much thigh support can cause problems.

Good seat design is a science and an art. I rode 700 miles non-stop in motorhome based on a 3 ton Ford chassis. The ride was aweful but the seats were amazing... never suffered a single pain.

Too bad the stock seats are so poor in the Mini.

 

Could be the problem is you cannot adjust the angle of the seat bottom independently of the seat height like you can in my fleet car (cheap) Ford Taurus.

I sure wish MINI had a power seat option, as I do not care for their seat bottom angles when I get the height I desire.

These things bother some people, and not others. The sport seats are OK, but I find myself driving with a small pillow at the base of the seat because for my bad back the lumbar is too high, and there is absolutely no support below it. Maybe it bothers one in 1,000!

Before you go out and buy new seats, keep playing with the height until you find the angle that causes less pain. And after awhile your body may adapt to the car.

Good luck.

Regards,
Red

 

Yes, I think that it's the angle of the seat. I have driven a Toyota pickup for 14+ years before getting my MC. The flat bench seat of my truck vs. the angled and contoured sprots seats of the Cooper are quite different. As time has gone on I have noticed that it is not really the hip flexor as much as my rt. hip....upper/outer side of the glut. It's such a drag as it kills the fun in driving. I have raised the seat but it hasn't helped. I need to drive it every other day to give my hip a rest. I am determined to figure it out...or perhaps my body will adjust in time. But in the meantime life sucks. :???:

 

Reggie,

Do you think it is possible to have the dealer re-gear the seat so that it stays "flat" when it is lowered so you have the needed headroom?

I know how you feel. I was not comfortable when I got the car either, my fix was a tiny pillow and seat time. Now I am just fine.

Hope you find a solution.

Regards,
Red