# Becoming bowlegged **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 21, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461 "2010-07-21T13:51:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461/1 "2010-07-21T13:51:29Z")
Noticed a guy this morning, wearing a bicycle-themed T-shirt, who was seriously bowlegged. Coincidence? Not sure, that’s why I’m asking. How long does it take to become bowlegged, whether from riding horses or riding a bike? And what bows – do the bones actually change shape, or is it a change in musculature? ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461/2 "2010-07-21T14:07:21Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Noticed a guy this morning, wearing a bicycle-themed T-shirt, who was seriously bowlegged. Coincidence? Not sure, that’s why I’m asking. > > How long does it take to become bowlegged, whether from riding horses or riding a bike? And what bows – do the bones actually change shape, or is it a change in musculature? For starters, what do you mean by “bowlegged”. Because different things can cause it. Second, just riding a horse or bike won’t make you bowlegged (although after you’ve been riding a while you might be kinda sore and walk like that on purpose). Third, actual skeletel changes are usually caused by something like childhood rickets. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461/3 "2010-07-21T14:33:35Z")
The guy’s legs looked like a pair of parentheses. Serious separation between the knees as he was walking along (not limping, walking normally). ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461/4 "2010-07-21T17:10:33Z")
Riding a bicycle doesn’t make you bowlegged. Why would it? It doesn’t force the knees apart. By far the commonest cause is childhood rickets. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461/5 "2010-07-21T17:39:49Z")
Okay, so maybe this guy wasn’t bowlegged from biking, but from rickets. Red herring. What about people who _are_ bowlegged from years of horseback riding – what causes _that_? ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461/6 "2010-07-21T18:04:17Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Okay, so maybe this guy wasn’t bowlegged from biking, but from rickets. Red herring. > > What about people who _are_ bowlegged from years of horseback riding – what causes _that_? They aren’t. I know loads of people who have been riding since age four, currently ride horse professionally for a living, and are not bowlegged whatsoever. If you see someone who is bowlegged, it’s because of some other deformity/nutrition problem. By the way, if you’ve “been riding for a while” it doesn’t make you sore. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461/7 "2010-07-21T19:34:50Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Okay, so maybe this guy wasn’t bowlegged from biking, but from rickets. Red herring. > > What about people who _are_ bowlegged from years of horseback riding – what causes _that_? This is the fallacy of cause and effect. “I saw a bowlegged person riding a horse therefore riding a horse makes you bowlegged.” Also a few old cartoons and [a couple of comic strips](http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/b/bow-legged.asp) use this to comedic effect but perpetuate the myth. ETA: If you have ever ridden a horse you know that it does not place any pressure on your legs that would cause them to become bowed, even if that were possible. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461/8 "2010-07-21T19:53:54Z")
Ignorance fought. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461/9 "2010-07-21T20:10:09Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > By the way, if you’ve “been riding for a while” it doesn’t make you sore. If you mean that experienced riders aren’t bowlegged, right. But I’ve seen more than a few inexperienced ones who go out riding for a few hours and then walk around like there’s an invisible bomb between their legs and if they touch it they explode. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461/10 "2010-07-21T20:14:51Z")
What about the “Guido stance”, where people walk around with “bowarms”, for lack of a better word? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461/11 "2010-07-21T20:18:50Z")
Chapped thighs perhaps? The Japanese suffer from bow legs. in Japanese, it’s called O-kyaku. I’ve noticed it a lot when I visited Japan. Nearly all the japanese women on the street had them. [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ek20060919wh.html](http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ek20060919wh.html) ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461/12 "2010-07-21T20:23:01Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > If you mean that experienced riders aren’t bowlegged, right. But I’ve seen more than a few inexperienced ones who go out riding for a few hours and then walk around like there’s an invisible bomb between their legs and if they touch it they explode. IME, I used to teach horseback riding and I have not seen inexperienced riders to walk bowlegged – they are generally stiff around the hips, and the part that hurts most is the hip ligament that you _overstretched outwards_, sometimes giving them a stiff, awkward walk . But no, I have not seen “bomb between the legs” walking stance you describe. Perhaps its a guy thing – people taking beginner’s riding lessons are overwhelmingly women, so women/girls are about 98% of my teaching experience. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461/13 "2010-07-21T21:01:06Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > The guy’s legs looked like a pair of parentheses. Serious separation between the knees as he was walking along (not limping, walking normally). That’s exactly the way I’d describe it. My Great-grandma had childhood rickets and the bones of her legs were definitely curved. With her ankles together, you could pass a basketball between her knees. . . with room to spare. Hypothetically. In reality, the long housedress would have been in the way. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461/14 "2010-07-21T22:40:10Z")
I’m dramatically bowlegged as described, and as seen [on Google Image Search](http://www.japantimes.co.jp/images/photos2006/ek20060919wha.jpg). As far as I know it was from birth, but I’ll ask my poor mother if I had rickets or anything. Around age four, my pediatrician encouraged me to sit Indian style (or possibly NOT sit Indian style) to facilitate straightening out the legs–or at least not making it worse. No effect. Now it’s just something to show off at parties. /Caucasian ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461/15 "2010-07-21T23:36:32Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > They aren’t. I know loads of people who have been riding since age four, currently ride horse professionally for a living, and are not bowlegged whatsoever. > > If you see someone who is bowlegged, it’s because of some other deformity/nutrition problem. > > By the way, if you’ve “been riding for a while” it doesn’t make you sore. While I basically agree with your post the last sentence isn’t entirely correct. Riding a bike subjects you to the possibility of developing saddle sores. Lot’s of riding doesn’t make you immune. Professional bike racers will sometimes get saddle sores. They do everything they can to prevent them. No underwear under the riding shorts, keep the area very clean, wash the shorts after every ride and apply creams to prevent friction. Saddle sores are misery and something that can take you off the bike. Break the skin and they only get worse unless you let them heal. A former professional bike racer told me that Bag Balm was his salvation. If you Google Bag Balm [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bag\_Balm](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bag_Balm) you learn that it used to contain a trace of mercury what seems to have caused the almost instant healing. Of course now, Bag Balm is a good thing but the mercury is no longer an ingredient. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461/16 "2010-07-22T01:17:43Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > If you see someone who is bowlegged, it’s because of some other deformity/nutrition problem. > > . I’ll have to beg to differ there. My Dad was very bowlegged and his doctor swore the cause was him standing and moving on cold concrete surfaces for most of his work life. I am very slightly bowlegged and my doctor tracked it down to me riding style on my Harley. With a different bike, some changes in riding posture and exercises off the bike, its gotten quite a bit better from being able to pass a baseball between my knees to maybe a golf ball. Nutrition may dominate the causes but it (and birth defects) don’t (pardon the expression) stand alone. Twick - I wonder if his was posture? It would have been interesting to see if he looked as bowlegged after walking an hour or so as he did right off the peddles. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461/17 "2010-07-22T01:22:51Z")
Wanted to clarify but missed the edit window. With my Dad it was bad enough that he got two full knee replacements. They had bowed by the time he hit 70 that he had trouble walking. I did ask about rickets but he claimed never to have had them and the doctor pretty much agreed. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-bowlegged/547461/18 "2010-07-22T02:22:50Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Twick - I wonder if his was posture? It would have been interesting to see if he looked as bowlegged after walking an hour or so as he did right off the peddles. My inferring he was a bicyclist was based on the T-shirt he was wearing – dunno how recently he had dismounted, he walked past me on the platform while I was waiting for the train this morning.