The hydraulic shock absorber includes a cylinder assembly to define working and reservoir chambers. A piston rod (4) a rod guide (7) which guides bounding and rebounding strokes of the piston rod, and an oil seal (11) contacting with piston rod to seal an opening of the cylinder assembly. The rod guide includes outer (72) and inner (74) supporting sections.The inner supporting section also includes outer wall sections which are coaxially arranged with a preselected interval between. The outer walls section is spaced from an inner wall of the cylinder to provide flexibilty to the rod guide in cooperation with the inner wall section. The shock absorber further includes a reinforcement partly inserted into the oil seal to provide flexural rigidity to the outer supporting section 72 of the rod guide
