Lower back pain and riding through it

pabloweaver

for a while now I've had a nagging pain, just off centre at the base of my spine. Not changed anything on the bike, altered my position or anything i can really think of.

Its been around longer than I really thought it had ( remember popping pain killers pre long spring rides ) and now its begging to bug ( because it is coming into play when I'm riding )

hence post ...

no restriction in movement, no tender spot ...just a deep ache...

do I ride through it, lay off bike ( brain says yes, heart says no ..) mask it with painkillers ( see previous brackets ! ) or what?

part of me thinks it may be time for a new mattress and part of me thinks it may be sitting typing things like this instead of doing yoga on the Wii !!

any thoughts folks, I dont want to dragging myself to GP for non serious stuff ( relative I guess )

Ta !

softlad

I had similar pain in a similar place a few years ago - nagged for a while and then culminated in a partial disk prolapse, which was not nice...

Go to the docs, just in case - nothing to lose. If it is disk-related he may give you some anti-inflammatories which should sort it before it gets any worse...

pabloweaver

even reading that sounds painful ....

yea I think your right ...Gp's it is ...although I'll probably come out with more ailments than I went in with !

Rich158

pabloweaver wrote:

for a while now I've had a nagging pain, just off centre at the base of my spine. Not changed anything on the bike, altered my position or anything i can really think of.

Its been around longer than I really thought it had ( remember popping pain killers pre long spring rides ) and now its begging to bug ( because it is coming into play when I'm riding )

hence post ...

no restriction in movement, no tender spot ...just a deep ache...

do I ride through it, lay off bike ( brain says yes, heart says no ..) mask it with painkillers ( see previous brackets ! ) or what?

part of me thinks it may be time for a new mattress and part of me thinks it may be sitting typing things like this instead of doing yoga on the Wii !!

any thoughts folks, I dont want to dragging myself to GP for non serious stuff ( relative I guess )

Ta !

Get it sorted, you don't want to mess with your back.

I've just come back from the physio having been told my lower back pain is in fact a lower lumbar strain which is affecting the nerve signals to my upper leg. A quick reaction test on my knee showed it isn't, reacting that is, which is quite scary. I'll now be off the bike for a minimum of two weeks, and god knows how long it'll be before I can train properly again. Given that my leg just collapses when I put any preasure on it I suspect the prognosis isn't good.

markjohnson-coaching

With out doing a full postural assessment & muscular tests it's hard to say for sure but the most common cause of this problem in my 10+ years of working with & rehabilitating clients with back problems the following is the most common causes:

1. weak/inactive lower abdominal muscles (your lower abs stabilize your pelvis)
2. strong/tight quads
3. weak/weaker/tight hamstrings
4. tight glute
5. tight/over active (due to weak lower abs) QL + other lower back muscles
6. tight abductors
7. tight/over active cervical flexors

If you have considerable pain I do recommend getting your back MRI'd to rule out any disk herniation, if you do & it proves negative you need to address all of the above!

Doing ANY exercise after taking pain killers is highly detrimental both skeletally, muscular & to your nervous system.

Doing Yoga on a Wii will also bring limited results, find your self a GOOD yoga instructor &/or a C.H.E.K practitioner to get a corrective program, if you don't do it now you'll be forced by your back to do it in a few months & it will take longer to rehabilitate your spine I guarantee it!

There's a link on my website to Paul Chek's book "How to Eat, Move & Be Healthy" it has 22 stretch tests you can do & will instruct you correctly how, when & which muscles to stretch & there's some abdominal tests in there which you really need to do, to give you a brief idea just how important your abdominal muscles are, every muscle in your body has 2 innovations, your abs have 8!

I also don't recommend anti inflammatory tablets at all! there the fastest way to get a leaky gut causing further problems.

Physio etc will offer temporary relief you have to address the underlying problem/s.

Hope that helps

Regards

Mark Johnson
C.H.E.K. HLC & PT
http://www.markjohnson-coaching.350.com/home_page.htm

Link to book: http://www.markjohnson-coaching.350.com/Community.htm

markjohnson-coaching

Just further to my previous post, to simplify:

Stretch what's tight/strong

Strengthen what's weak/long

Don't exercise if you need to take pain killers

Get your back properly accessed, I recommend seeing a C.H.E.K practitioner for this, if you do they will also access your abs.

On a bike we spend a lot of time in flexion, so plenty of pull & rotation exercises (if your back after being accessed allows it?)

All the best

Mark
http://www.markjohnson-coaching.350.com/home_page.htm

Bhima

I spoke to a bike-fit expert recently. He told me that if you have your saddle height perfect, you'll never (yes, never) get lower back pain. As you increase or decrease the height, the pain will increase in a linear way with each mm adjustment. Also, if you get to within a few mm of the perfect height, you will not notice the pain unless you ride for longer than usual or if you suddenly start pushing massive gears for 10+ minutes (climbing for example). As you get closer to the perfect height, the pain is supposed to be harder to induce. Therefore, you could ride for years thinking you have the saddle perfect but suddenly get pain if you do an exceptionally hard ride out of the blue.

If you've suddenly recently increased your time on the bike or gearing, saddle height is probably the culprit. If not, you can probably rule it out.

The "classic" tell-tale sign of having a saddle too high is not feeling the pain while riding but immediately feeling it post-ride (and having a limp/weak walk from a weakened back if pushing a massive gear is the culprit). If you're feeling it on the bike while riding, it's more likely that the saddle is too low.

Mark2Bikes

Try these stretches - can't do any harm.
http://www.hksi.org.hk/function/triathlon/stretch4.htm
I was recommended these on a previous post.
I had the same problem and doing these AFTER each run / cycle and every morning sorted it out. I think it is from the excessive pulling up on the pedals when we get knackered or just trying to get a bit of extra speed or climb a hill. Tightens the psoas major which pulls on your lower back..
On the leg that sticks out backwards during the stretch you can feel the tightness around the front of the hip. Gently work it a bit either side trying to keep the knee straight. Work for my back.