How bad is this?

Before I get to my problem I want to give you some background info. I'm 16 years old, have been riding for just over 9 years, have never broken any bones or fractured anything riding ever. I'm starting to think I have internal type injuries from various falls and stuff though.

See whenever I ride for more than an hour in any saddle {english or western} my knee starts to sting. At first its just pin pricks but after another hour or 2 its so bad. When I finally get off my leg can't hold me sometimes. That really can't be healthy right? Also, my shoulder. I don't know what I did to it but sometimes when I'm riding it really starts to hurt. If my horse is being really strong and needs A LOT of half halts my shoulder starts to hurt so bad that I HAVE to walk because the pain gets to much to continue fighting with my horse. Plus if I'm doing stalls {there's 20 at my barn} my shoulder will start to ache. Lastly my ankle. About 2 weeks ago I rolled it when I fell off my horse jumping bareback. I landed on my feet and was fine but since I'd been taught to not let go of the reins my horse kept going and pulled me causing me to roll my ankle. I got back on the next day but it still aches and really hurts.

Non of this can be good right? I shouldn't have knee and shoulder problems at 16 right? What should I do? My mom wants me to get a physical, is that the right way to go, jsut to evaluate whats going on with my body?

Yes you should see a doctor. You can have problems young or old.

Although pain when riding isn't that uncommon. I have knee pains in my right knee if I jump. I used to have jump lessons and not be able to walk for a bit after. Weak joints run in my family. I get ankle if I ride after not riding for a while.

I'd look for muscle strengthening exercises for the specific area, and try and build muscles to support your legs.

I also started riding with much longer stirrups if I wasn't jumping. It helped a lot. I also purchased some bendy stirrup irons which helped heaps.

I agree, you should see a doctor. At the very least bring up your concerns at your next regular checkup. Sometimes injuries just clear up, and other times, especially if you keep using the muscles etc. while they're trying to heal, it can take a lot longer to set itself straight.

I've heard tales of people seriously injuring themselves and not knowing it - things as serious as cracked vertibrae.

Even healed injuries can effect you later. My sister broke her ankle a few years ago (non-horse related accident), and it even now effects her riding - that ankle won't drop like the other one, boots hurt that foot, that kind of thing.

If I were you, I'd bring it up with my doctor.

Thanks guys. And yea my mom thinks bad knees run in our family cause she has bad ones and I believe my aunt does too. I'll definitely mention to my mom that a doctors visit would be good.

Think about it this way - if your horse was showing signs of knee and shoulder pain, you would call the vet. You should be no different =P

Yes see a doctor but also joint supplements.
I started feeling a little achy in the knees and ankles when I used to ride everyday, and I got some high quality OTC glucosamine to prevent it from escalating. I think it may help in your situation too. But first SEE A DOCTOR! That's always good.

When you go in for your physical describe to them just how you have described to us, what is going on.

I have fibromyalgia, and compression fractures in my back so somedays, while riding is still amazing, it can hurt! Bad joints, all together, run in my family, so it's no surprise that alot of posting can make me sore, too!!! There are various pain management things you can do for those though, so make sure the docs don't skip out on anything...you could have anything from early onset osteoarthritus, to vitamin D deficiency.

It may or may not be horse-related. Unfortunately many of us are prone to certain types of problems. Like I have back issues sometime out of blue. Doctor is the best way to go, you also want to explain him/her how you feel, when, how often, etc.

I'm 16 and have massively bad knees. I knew both my parents had knee issues and 10 years of riding certainly has not helped. About 2 weeks after I started have knee pain, I went to a doctor. Turns out it was patella tracking disorder, arthritis, and cronic tendenous (in BOTH knees). I had to go 5 months without stirrups. Do 3 months of physical therapy. Take an anti-inflamitory and joint supplment. And currently have a nice array of 4 different kinds of knee braces (2 of each). And to this day, I can only ride once within 24 hours with stirrups, any more then that, stirrups have to go. If I had waited any long to get things checked out by a doc, then they said I would have had to gotten double knee replacements.
So with all that bein said....GO TO A DOCTOR!!!!!!
Yes the news you receive may suck, but I was still able to ride. And if I had gotten the knee replacements, I wouldn't have been able to. Genearlly with these things the sooner the better.

I know people who have had knee replacements and they still ride...some people I know have had a knee and a hip replacement, and they still ride too...guess it all depends on what the doc says you can and can't do...and I know for me, it would take a whole lot more than a "new knee" to keep me off of horses, hahahaha!