injury sciatica leg pain....

ngow123

I am a keen cyclist and enjoy both road and mountain biking, and cover a few coast to coast trips each year. Last year we completed the reivers and following that i thought i had pulled a hamstring. So following painkiller/physio, to find it was sciatic nerve. I havbe had acupunture and that disn't work. Numb calf shooting pain down my left leg. Mri scan next to find that its a prolapsed disc and either injection or operation which is called a PLIF. Asked how did i do this, could it be from cycling, but told can happen over time from your general life and not just blamed on thing alone. Does anyone know any different.

My operation is booked for the end of the month. Read reports from other patients that you recover at your own pace and back to normal eventually.

Has anyone else had a similar problem or operation or know someone who has, has it affected your cycling

My concerns are that i can get back in saddle again and the operation will not affect the cycling position.

nevman

I`m in pretty much the same position and like you was told that it isnt cycling related but can affect half of us at any time (prolapsed disc).One of my club mates had the op.10 years ago and it hasnt recurred and he`s a long distance rider so there is every reason to believe in a full recovery.Keep us posted as to how you get on.

Stevo_666

I've had sciatica twice, once in badly 2002 and again not so bad in 2009 - think it was partly brought on by running and tennis, neither of which I do much now. I actually took up cycling again in 2009 as a back friendly (i.e. low impact) form of exercise and have not had any repeats of the problem so far.

BTW check before you have any sort of op. In most cases, rest to allow natural healing does the trick (plus maybe a bit of physio/osteo type treament). I was advised at the time that operations were only in severe cases that wouldn't go away otherwise or were so painful it had to be done, and that there were some risks that the op would not work.

andrewjoseph

had back problems for years in my late teens and twenties, especially after being buried in a small rock fall underground, eventually correctly diagnosed in early thirties, needed surgery to fuse two vertebra together.

Sorted for a while then got injured in work causing further back problems, but the original surgery worked and the bones not damaged.

Ride mtb and road several times a week but take a lot of time and effort to make sure my riding position is sorted.

sandyballs

Had a double discectomy on L4L5 and L5S1 last may. Cycling has kept me sane. I was back on the bike after 8 weeks (doctors orders). Completed a 60 km road race that nov. have ski'd for 3weeks and have no problems. Had a great physio program through work that really helped. Am building a Giant TCR Advanced with full Red for this years season.

Do what the doctors and physio tell you and i hope all goes as well as mine.

ngow123

Thanks for your replys guys, has helped ease the nevres, also means all the new cycling kit i was given at Christmas measn i can get to use it. I will follow the doctors orders and hopefull recover in time.

I will post an update once i have had the op. It's only the one disc that has prolapsed, not sure of the the numbers that they class it as. so finger crossed and hoping another great year in saddle.

Thanks neil :P

nevman

Stevo 666 wrote:

I've had sciatica twice, once in badly 2002 and again not so bad in 2009 - think it was partly brought on by running and tennis, neither of which I do much now. I actually took up cycling again in 2009 as a back friendly (i.e. low impact) form of exercise and have not had any repeats of the problem so far.

BTW check before you have any sort of op. In most cases, rest to allow natural healing does the trick (plus maybe a bit of physio/osteo type treament). I was advised at the time that operations were only in severe cases that wouldn't go away otherwise or were so painful it had to be done, and that there were some risks that the op would not work.

My specialist said just this on Monday at the first examination-he went through the options and an op was last here.Live with it,if you can`t,then an epidural is next then a discectomy.I`m taking his advice although I cant help but think that an op would sort it immediately.

andrewjoseph

Epidurals didn't work for me, I found them very painful, worked for a few days then faded off. To prevent pain I would have needed one every week.

Give them a try though, may be a good option for you.

al_kidder

If you've had full diagnostics that showed a ruined disc, maybe the operation is the way to go. In my case, a couple of years ago I went to sleep fine, and woke up next day almost unable to walk. Put up with it for a few days then went to a doctor to be told I'm just getting old, with a prescription for Ibuprofen. Another couple of days and I was at my local windsurfing spot where a gastroenterologist instantly diagnosed sciatica. Back to the doctor for more painkillers and CAT scan and ultrasound, showing mild arthritic degeneration of Lumbar spine. Physiotherapy was suggested.
Back to the beach, and a plumber told me that he had had chiropractic treatment for the same thing and after 6 treatments it had never reoccured. So I went to see the chiropractor. He put me on a bench that stretches and flexes the spine for a few minutes before he did a kind of body drop onto my back and a sharp spine stretch. I was very sceptical about the treatment, but it worked. After the first session, I gave up on the painkilers. So maybe a 30% improvement. Another 10% next time. I went along to several more sessions with diminishing returns before he passed me over as a patient to his new partner, who was kind of a fat slob and warned me off cycling, saying that was the cause of the problem. OK.....bye, bye.
Back on the bike, and doing some stretches and the remaining pain has gradually diminished. I've upped my miles, and had no problems so far, apart from going down a size in trousers, which makes my sister think that I'm a bad example for her anorexic child, but that's beside the point.
To me, chiropractic treatment makes no sense. Surely your spine has grown into whatever conformation best fits whatever you do, so just giving it a quick bash isn't going to have much effect. It might be coincidence, but it worked

Giraffoto

I had a microdiskectomy (keyhole version of the non-micro diskectomy) back in 2006, having been pretty much crippled by back pain for over a year, and was back on my feet in 24 hours. I've had a few twinges since and have to watch what I do to my back, but it's never been as bad as it was before.