Back pain: Doctor told me to quit cycling... what next?

priory

For many people including me cycling is the only thing they can do because they have a bad back. tt and racing I cannot guarantee, but do what you can do.
i was in critical care ward a few months ago and had whole body ct and mri scans, spinal surgeon came down and was impressed that i was still walking let alone cycling 200k audaxes.
don't stop, find what you can do.

Herbsman

Re: getting a referral to a physio, does this have to be via my GP?

priory

in our area you can phone yourself into physio, just get the number from the surgery or phone a local physio dept to find out.
also look at nhs choices and patient uk , search 'back pain'

the local ctc will probably have a gp or two in it or you could phone round the local surgries and ask which of the gp's are keen cyclists(and what do they mean by keen)

ColinJ

MattC59 wrote:

Tell him to f*ck off, and see another doctor !

I have a shoulder problem. My doc waggles my arm about, and told me to take 3 Ibuprofen per day for two weeks. Guess what ? It dulled the pain for two weeks, now I'm back to square 1.
I asked to see another doc and he's sent me to see a shoulder specialist.
Result !!

Agreed!

I know a woman in her 70s who was very active, still working, and who enjoyed hilly walks in the Pennines. One day she got hit by a speeding taxi, knocked up into the air and dumped in the road about 15 feet away.

She complained about back pain afterwards. Her GP said that "aches and pains are a fact of life for a woman of your age, don't worry about them." She was prescribed painkillers and sent her on her way.

This went on for some time. Repeated trips to the GP didn't help and the pain wasn't getting any better.

Eventually, the woman insisted on a referral to a consultant who found that she had cracked and displaced vertebrae. He spotted them before he even put his hands on her back, and confirmed his diagnosis with an x-ray.

Ask for a second opinion.

tiredout

I hurt my back at work a while back and carried on working and cycling until 1 morning I couldnt move. After the usual trips to the GP I found a private physio, it cost a few quid but saved my life ( iam self employed and lift all day every day). First she assessed me and found I was almost s shaped when I stood and I couldnt even stand on one leg!. I had 3 sesions of accupuncture ( would never have believed it but it worked) and she taught me how to walk, sit and stand again.
I set up all my bikes to fit better, do wii fit yoga everyday and raised my cadence/ lowered the gear I ride. I have no pain, cycle on and off road and lift every day trouble free. All this is due I believe to her giving me specialist one to one care based on my needs. What price for a pain free life?, i say nothing is too much!

Herbsman

tiredout wrote:

What price for a pain free life?, i say nothing is too much!

As long as it works, yeah I agree!

gwillis

I have a buldged disc in l3 and 4 which as a result gives me a loss of feeling in my left leg... For a while I couldn't cycle but now I live with it and can cycle (gp told me to) I'm awaiting a MRI and hopefully an injection or 2 will sort. I'm really careful now with lifting etc and found minor tweaks to my bike have helped me also, ibuprofen is worth taking before and after rides as well

sungod

ask for a referral

if gp refuses, change gp

if specialist waffles/fudges/stalls, change specialist

i had years of excruciating pain from cluster headache because my gp and multiple specialists didn't know what was wrong

in the end i bought a huge book on headaches and figured it out, paid for private referral to one of the professors who wrote the book, after a few minutes he told me what it was and said he suspected i already knew, prescribed nasty but effective drugs, sorted, i got my life back

i was brought up to believe doctors know best - but they are just as fallible as the rest of us

never accept a doctor's opinion if you aren't happy with it, it's just their *opinion*

BelgianBeerGeek

Ask to see another doctor.

Sometimes they just have no sympathy for what you are doing, or what you are aspiring to do. The default answer is: "well, stop what you are doing and then the pain will go away". Shame they don't do that for the donut scoffers.

I saw a GP at my surgery a couple of years back about a chest infection that would not shift and he said take the pills and MTFU (not his words) as he was doing the Hampshire Hilly Hundred and I was being a wuss (again not his words)

Your NHS, I assume you pay for it, get the answer you want.

Good luck

Richard_D

BelgianBeerGeek wrote:

Ask to see another doctor.

Sometimes they just have no sympathy for what you are doing, or what you are aspiring to do. The default answer is: "well, stop what you are doing and then the pain will go away". Shame they don't do that for the donut scoffers.

I saw a GP at my surgery a couple of years back about a chest infection that would not shift and he said take the pills and MTFU (not his words) as he was doing the Hampshire Hilly Hundred and I was being a wuss (again not his words)

Your NHS, I assume you pay for it, get the answer you want.

Good luck

You obviously have had some issues with your GP to think they do not regularly tell the donut scoffers to ease up and your final comment explains why so much money is wasted with unnecessary antibiotics. Yes all taxpayers pay for it but abuse it and we may all end up finding you have to pay for it point of service as well.

To the original OP ask for referral it is your right. A properly fitted bike should not be causing back ache though it might delay its recovery.

BelgianBeerGeek

My point here was to be firm with your GP, sometimes they are a bit thrown when you have a specific complaint (their general fall back position is "well, stop it then" - ask any runner).

If not, then ask to see another. It can't hurt.

Richard_D

I have no problem if that was what you meant, your original post came across a bit more agressive.
Questioning the diagnosis and challenging their reasons is one thing demanding the answer you 'want' is another.
Most GPs I have dealt with have encouraged exercise rather than 'Well stop it then'. They may have suggested moderating the amount but never a complete stop.

El Gordo

Of course there are good doctors and bad doctors and sometimes their advice may be wrong.

My only point was that an awful lot of people turn up at their GP's complaining about pretty minor stuff that if rested for a couple of weeks will clear up by itself. No need to waste NHS time and money by demanding to see a speciaist in the first instance, especially for stuff like sports injuries which are unlikely to get worse by resting for a week or two.

snailracer

It is possible to sink infinite medical resources into one patient, so where does one draw the line?
Bike racing is not an essential activity. IMO the GP wasn't unreasonable by discouraging the OP. In terms of healthy exercise, racing until it literally hurts is self-defeating.