Lower back Pain

Cyclo2000

Okay so my back seems to have been made by Ribble anyway, but my god it's getting worse after (and during) Ive been out on the machine.
Last night I had to come home early for fear I wouldn't be able to get off the b*gger.
So - I turned me stem round so it's more upright. I refitted the Cannondale bars which were a wee bit less rigid than my Deda ones. I dropped the saddle half a centimetre. Anyone think of anything else that might help?
Any suggestions gratefully received. I'm off to the doctors to see if he can help.

Usquequaque in Ventus
Just once I would like to be called "Sir", without someone adding "You're making a scene".

Pirahna

Go to the doctor.

joshw

Shorter stem

monty_dogcp

Stttrrrreeeeeeeetttccchhhhhh - seriously do some stretching excercises and some core stability excercises both to lengthen your hamstrings and work the muscles in your lower back. A visit to a physio is going to be more beneficial than the doctors. If it persists, seeking expert help on bike-fitting would be a worthy investment.

il_principe

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Monty Dog</i>

Stttrrrreeeeeeeetttccchhhhhh - seriously do some stretching excercises and some core stability excercises both to lengthen your hamstrings and work the muscles in your lower back. A visit to a physio is going to be more beneficial than the doctors. If it persists, seeking expert help on bike-fitting would be a worthy investment.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Seconded. I suffered from bad lower back pain - ended up visiting Cyclefit who got me set up properly. They noted that the problem was partially caused by my tight hamstrings. I now stretch religiously atfer every ride and rarely get any back pain at all. Need to work on my core strength more though.

My Best Bike

Unknown

Thirded. Stretching and core stability worked for me in alleviating lower back pain. I bought a Swiss ball and do some stretching and sitting on it for 30 minutes most evenings. Since starting this my back hasn't, touch wood, been a problem.

Unknown

Fourthed. Did some when my back ached and it helped big time, then stopped. Pain has returned and I'm too lazy to start stretching again. [:I] Only happens on my road bike and it sure as hell make me less efficient at transferring power to my pedals.

hevipedal

and ditto

also when your back hurts take the pain killers the doctor said to use. Pain killers are not bad they are good; when you are in pain. This is important because when your back hurts there is a tendency to tense up and resist where it hurts. This distorts your back and can in the long run make it worse. So you take the pain killers and continue to use it sensibly. And make sure you are fitted correctly on the bike.

<b><font color="red"> Hevipedal </font id="red"></b>
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Things to make it look good.
I'd give it to you if I could, but I borrowed it.
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51yrs old and Proud of it - Made it to 87kg 2 more to go for the target.
Pedal to Paris Sept 2007

Asterixcp

You say you <i>lowered </i>the saddle, however I find the saddle <i>angle</i> is important too. I find if the nose is too high I get lower back ache after a few miles. It doesn't have to be a big difference.

It feels odd at first to change the angle and on a Brooks the nose looks a tad <i>too</i> low until I sit on it.

Pour vivre heureux, vivons le v‚lo..

Anonymous

I damaged my spine in an accident, but I found cycling has improved it no end, I use to only ride MTB as I liked the sit up style riding, two years ago I bought a Thorn club tour right size frame, but with a short top tube it fitted just great and since that day I have ridden over 10,000 miles with out any problem

Non Omnis Moriar

Unknown

I was having serious problems, mainly on one side. Visited an osteopath, turns out I had an imbalance and was basically taller on one side of my body than the other to compensate for it. Couple of bone cracking sessions and regular stretching, no problems. As soon as I neglect the stretching the problem starts to reappear

My bikes - http://flickr.com/photos/82587774@N00/

JWSurrey

Ditto pretty much everything above - Cyclefit get good reviews.
My osteo spotted a hip rotation that means my left foot ends up taking more of the weight.

I have fitted ITM Marathon bars to my Audax machine - swept back tops give me a multitude of positions that I miss on the other bike - Problem is I find it a little less easy to use the drops.

I've heard good things about the gel inserts you can put under your tape. Am using a thickish cork tape.

monty_dogcp

If you've ever crashed and landed on your hip your pelvis might be out of alignment- this can give the impression of one shorter leg and lead to pedalling problems - a visit to the physio / chiropracter should sort you out.

TrekVetcp

Everything you altered on the bike will put you more upright, therefore the lower back will be carrying more weight. Is that a good idea when it hurts anyway? I would put everthing back where it was and concentrate on the stretches as above, plus strengthening of the back; try Prone Arm & Leg Lift (put it in Google). Works for me.

--
Q. How do you find your Speedplay pedals?
A. Easy, I keep them at the ends of my cranks.

Cyclo2000

This imbalance thing interests me. I feel as though I'm standing with my pelvis tilted, one hip higher than the other kinda thing. this is bound to be impacting on my pedalling, hence lowering the saddle a bit.
Went back to the docs and he's given me some pain killers to go along with the anti inflammatories I've been taking. Theory being if I'm not in constant pain I might be able relax a bit and let the damn thing heal.
My problems are all muscular rather than skeletal, do ya think a manipilator of some sort could help this kinda problem?
I've been doing some core exercises but it's a vicious circle, I've to be very carefull not to agravate the back. I have been neglecting the stretches partially for the same reason!
Anyways, I'm off the bike till the weekend.

Usquequaque in Ventus
Just once I would like to be called "Sir", without someone adding "You're making a scene".

Tetedelacourse

Definitely Cyclo. Muscles get inflamed and tense trying to support an imbalance or misalignment. I found chiropractic made a huge difference to my lower back pain. That was football related rather than cycling related but regardless of cause, it made a huge difference.

I got cracked in various ways on a regular basis (oo-er) and was given the following as "homework".

Apply an icepack for 20 mins every 4 or 5 hours - the cold helps to reduce the inflamation and allows your bones more chance to align properly.

A good set of exercises to strengthen lower back muscles (once you're aligned correctly) are "card table" ones. Assume crawl position on floor, on hands and knees, with hands directly beneath shoulders and knees directly beneath hips.

1. Extend left arm slowly out in front of you til fully extended and parallel with floor. Don't hold it there, but don't jerk either. Return to floor slowly. Repeat 10 times then do likewise with right arm.

2. Straighten left leg slowly out behind you until fully extended. Retain posture (of card table, or a dug if you like!). Don't hold it but don't jerk either. Place back on floor in initial position. Repeat 10 times. Do likewise with right leg.

3. Combine both of above in gecko with hot feet style. Left arm and right leg, 10 times, then right arm and left leg.

Takes a while to get through it all but there's no easy way to do this. Also not good in public.

Stretching v important too but these measures specifically address the pain once you have it.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey little thing let me light ya candle cos a momma I'm sure hard to hannana, yesaran

Nigel Bennett

Drink lots of water. 2 or 3 litres a day in addition to cups of tea and the like. More if you're riding a lot in hot weather. Why? Because it keeps the discs of your back inflated and cushions them, thereby removing much of the cause of back pain.
Seventeenthed or whatever - also do some stretching exercises.

Cyclo2000

Interesting stuff , tete.
As to the water bit I'm already good with that Nige. Have been for years. Thanks, though.

So stretching, eh?

:-)

Usquequaque in Ventus
Just once I would like to be called "Sir", without someone adding "You're making a scene".

Coochcp

I used to get terrible lower back pain when I started, even when I stretched (I stretch quite religiously after exercise gets easier the more you do as you get more flexible).

I started doing back and core strengthening exercise every day after my commute in the morning, the difference after about 4 weeks was amazing so I continued and have added some upper body exercises as well, now not only does my back not hurt very often but my climbing seems to have improved.