On the point of jacking in driving as I find I’m almost incapable of walking after prolonged spells behind the wheel - anything over 1hr30 I start to feel discomfort in my thighs, 3hrs and it starts to get painful, moving my legs and raising myself off the seat bring only temporary relief.
When I exit the cab my joints are stiff and I have pain (like toothache) in my leg joints, and it takes a while to loosen off.
If I could take breaks to suit myself I could manage with 15s & 30s but breaks have to taken at depots/hubs so some stints are close to the max 4hrs 30.
Puzzling thing is that otherwise I don’t have a problem with walking and regularly cover a brisk couple of miles with my dog at least once a day. Pretty sure its not DVT or Arthritis.
I suppose what I’m trying to ask in a roundabout way is does/has anyone else had this?
I get something similar but not so extreme.
After more than 2 hours driving I get out the cab and can barely walk for the first few steps, I look like a right weirdo half limping / shuffling along.
It clears up after 50 steps or so (yep ive counted).
I initally put it down to autos and CC as we have very little to do with our legs on a long cruise but am also wondering about my seat position. Its an Actros and the pressure on the bottom of my thighs is noticable from the seat.
Not to mention my bottom hurts as well after more then 3 hours in the saddle, but thats another story.
Perhaps its old age and I’m just one heavy cough away from needing incontinence knickers.
I’m sure it’s something you should ask your doctor about chicane. I get quite a lot of pain in my neck on longer runs and also find the seat belt uncomfortable. My doctor helpfully explained that all of the vertebrae in my neck are worn, and that nothing can be done about it, but that was 10 years ago and it’s improved since then so what does he know… The answer for me is to move around a lot and do a kind of exercise where I roll my shoulders. I also experience what you do to a certain extent, and once I have the cruise set I move my legs a lot and do a little marching or stamping on the floor.
Apart from that drinking a pint of whole milk every day seems to have helped me.
Try taking fish oil tablets, great for joint lubrication. Do some simple leg stretching exercises, quads, hamstrings, hip flexors, glutes. Most people know the quads and hamstring stretches and for the hip flexors and glutes put the ankle of one leg just above the knee of the other so you legs look like a figure 4 then holding on to something sit down as low as you can go and hold it for 30- 60 seconds before switching legs.
You could also consider doing a few Pilates classes at your local gym. Great for stretching and flexibility plus they are often full of Yummy Mummy’s so the view ain’t bad either. If you are a member of a gym you could ask one of the staff to write you up a program focused on getting flexibility into the leg muscles and joints.
chaversdad:
My left leg gives me nothing but trouble , its never been the same since i stopped driving a manual
Opposite here. Since our job involves a lot of country lanes and farm tracks, you tend to be constantly up and down the box and going home with the left hip throbbing like a good 'un. I was the first one at our mill to get an i-shift, and I noticed the difference immediately. Mind you, there’s a fair bit of walking about in our job as well, if you’re getting grief I’d suggest that a quick walk about every time you stop wouldn’t be a bad idea, even if its only up and down the lay-by a couple of times.
Mostly Axors and the seats are a bloody disgrace, jointace gel on my legs, flight/compression socks helps to a certain extent, taking Omega3 & vitD I stay out of the cab until the last minute, do the foot stamping etc.
Been to the doc but he wanted me to take Codeine, Paracetamol and Ibuprofen together but I think they’d just compound the problem and codeine makes me feel like ■■■■ anyway, so just take Ibuprofen when it gets really bad.
chicane:
On the point of jacking in driving as I find I’m almost incapable of walking after prolonged spells behind the wheel - anything over 1hr30 I start to feel discomfort in my thighs, 3hrs and it starts to get painful, moving my legs and raising myself off the seat bring only temporary relief.
When I exit the cab my joints are stiff and I have pain (like toothache) in my leg joints, and it takes a while to loosen off.
If I could take breaks to suit myself I could manage with 15s & 30s but breaks have to taken at depots/hubs so some stints are close to the max 4hrs 30.
Puzzling thing is that otherwise I don’t have a problem with walking and regularly cover a brisk couple of miles with my dog at least once a day. Pretty sure its not DVT or Arthritis.
I suppose what I’m trying to ask in a roundabout way is does/has anyone else had this?
It could be a sciatic nerve problem, or even spinal stenosis (a family member has spinal stenosis) and there symptoms are almost identical to yours, any driving over 60mins and they are in pain, but can walk for miles with no problems.
The only real solution is the quack lads - don’t leave it and hope, you’ll regret it at some point. Circulation issues could be many things and hearts have been broken!
chicane:
Been to the doc but he wanted me to take Codeine, Paracetamol and Ibuprofen together but I think they’d just compound the problem and codeine makes me feel like [zb] anyway, so just take Ibuprofen when it gets really bad.
Waste of time going to doc for anything these days. They’re that busy with long queues of patients that they don’t have time to properly diagnose problems anymore so their “solution” to any problems are either 1) anti-depressants or 2) pain killers.
Fred, agreed, possible circulatory issues should never be ignored.
Trouble with GPs is they’re too tuned into skivers than want a doctors line, old dears that just want someone to chat to and panicked parents who’s kids have a sniffle, someone who is genuinely struggling and just wants to get the problem sorted so they can get on with their job/life seems beyond their experience.
Defiantly sounds like sciatica. I have it, and even though I had a major spinal operation to try and relieve it, it’s still there. Took 3 years of fighting the various GPs to do something.
As said above, they don’t care for this sort of thing, as it’s not a simple “here are some tablets” case. Still worth persuing though.
Sounds crazy, but yoga or Pilates could solve it. It’s basically when the nerve gets trapped, if it only happens when sat, then some exercises to loosen the area up could resolve it.
Sadly mine is trapped due to the vertebre/discs in my back pressing on it, they removed two discs and fused the vertebrae, plus shaved them down a bit, but I still have it almost 24/7.
chicane:
On the point of jacking in driving as I find I’m almost incapable of walking after prolonged spells behind the wheel - anything over 1hr30 I start to feel discomfort in my thighs, 3hrs and it starts to get painful, moving my legs and raising myself off the seat bring only temporary relief.
I suppose what I’m trying to ask in a roundabout way is does/has anyone else had this?
Yes. Turned out to be two prolapsed discs in my lower spine which were compressing the spinal chord. Never had any back ache with it though but had horrific pain down my legs. Ended up having back surgery at the ripe old age of 22. Being in my early 20’s, getting cured and feeling indestructible I then took the ■■■■ and did the same to the one above those two and this is now inoperable and I’ve got it for the rest of my life. I’ve suffered it on and off for the last 20 years. One thing I have noticed is the more I move about, the better it is. If I have a couple of weeks off sitting around at home its worse. At my worst point post op I got to a point I couldn’t make it from the truck to the goods in office. I ended up having 12 months off work.
Currently I’m limited in the types of work I can do, basically nothing with too much pushing or pulling, no lifting at all, and even the trucks and type of road I can drive down. Drove an Iveco on Thursday and Friday night which involved a bit of bumpy A road and by Sunday the pain was back again. I drove last night but am going to be taking the next two off.
You need to see your doctor NOW. This is something that if left to continue can end up in paralysis.
sounds like arthritis /old age to me ,
i have got it myself ,never been to doctors , best not to
if you go doctors and get referred to a specialist there could be problems at your 5 year medical
self diagnosis is more accurate , and self medicate is the best option
unfortunately there is no cure , you just have to live with it
i find the only thing that helps is ibuprofen tablets, they are brilliant
take 3 ,200 mg ,2 hours before your shift starts
EVERY OTHER DAY
Try visiting a chiropractor. Worked for me some years ago, my local GP had tried pills, cortisone injections, the bloody lot; moved to Derby, registered with new GP and mentioned the problem to him, he sent me for physio which cured the immediate problem, and recommended I find a good chiropractor/ osteopath and visit them every six months or so.
Sounds quite simple but make sure that your seat isn’t tilted too far back. Ensure that both feet are comfortably flat on the floor when in your normal driving position. A seat too high at the front can easily restrict the flow of blood to your legs, which is what sounds like is happening here.
Also, as others have said there are plenty of excercises that can be safely carried out whilst driving ( especially in an auto with CC).
I’d agree with the maoster. I used to get pins and needles and numbness but always sat with the seat really high. This restricts blood flow to your legs causing problems.
May sound a silly question but do you get cold feet? This is another side effect of restricted blood flow.
chicane:
On the point of jacking in driving as I find I’m almost incapable of walking after prolonged spells behind the wheel - anything over 1hr30 I start to feel discomfort in my thighs, 3hrs and it starts to get painful, moving my legs and raising myself off the seat bring only temporary relief.
When I exit the cab my joints are stiff and I have pain (like toothache) in my leg joints, and it takes a while to loosen off.
If I could take breaks to suit myself I could manage with 15s & 30s but breaks have to taken at depots/hubs so some stints are close to the max 4hrs 30.
Puzzling thing is that otherwise I don’t have a problem with walking and regularly cover a brisk couple of miles with my dog at least once a day. Pretty sure its not DVT or Arthritis.
I suppose what I’m trying to ask in a roundabout way is does/has anyone else had this?
sounds like you are a bit fat mate
it could be water retention in the legs
chicane:
On the point of jacking in driving as I find I’m almost incapable of walking after prolonged spells behind the wheel - anything over 1hr30 I start to feel discomfort in my thighs, 3hrs and it starts to get painful, moving my legs and raising myself off the seat bring only temporary relief.
When I exit the cab my joints are stiff and I have pain (like toothache) in my leg joints, and it takes a while to loosen off.
If I could take breaks to suit myself I could manage with 15s & 30s but breaks have to taken at depots/hubs so some stints are close to the max 4hrs 30.
Puzzling thing is that otherwise I don’t have a problem with walking and regularly cover a brisk couple of miles with my dog at least once a day. Pretty sure its not DVT or Arthritis.
I suppose what I’m trying to ask in a roundabout way is does/has anyone else had this?
sounds like you are a bit fat mate
it could be water retention in the legs
DR VILLA OF TNUKCSI 