As some of you may know, last month in June, I was an idiot and overdid it (my body may be 55, but my mind thinks I'm 20)...

-------cut 'n pasted from an email to my sister (who's a retired RN)--------
Looking back at the sequence of events from early June:

(1) Hit golf balls at the driving range. Did a full powered, go-for-it, 100% full golf swing with a 4-iron and nailed the ball out 200 yards! But when I came back around with my backswing, I gasped, and just stood there, because I felt this instant hot burning pain in my lower back (L5/S1). Stupidly, I ignored it with the "no pain, no gain" mentality.
(2) June 18th was the blood drive at Glen Allen #131 Masonic Lodge. I donated a pint of blood, and felt fine.
(3) June 19th, I decided to go out on my Fuji road bike, and do a "marathon bike ride" and went out 26 miles out into Manakin Sabot area and back home. The freakin' day after a blood drive, and my body was still a pint low!! Duh!!!
(4) June 21st, I drove down to Richmond's "Pony Pasture" area and went running 3 miles. That's when I instantly knew something was wrong. My body was so dehydrated from too much physical exercise too soon after a blood drive. My lower back screamed at me, and my entire right leg got all tight and painful. Instead of stopping and going home, I stupidly continued on and fought through the pain, and limp/jogged the remaining way back to my truck.
(5) June 25th, realizing something was wrong, I wanted to "test" my body to make sure. I got back on my Fuji road bike and only rode to Deep Run Park (about 7.5 miles or so) from home. I was fine, except my right leg freaked out when I got into some hills, and tightened up and grew weak.
(6) June 26th - I **FINALLY** get it into my thick skull that I messed something up and need to go to the doctor, so that's when I went to Patient First and had blood work done.

That weird enzyme called CPK (Creatinine..something) was elevated due to the back trouble, sciatica, and muscle tissue in my right leg. But otherwise, I would be fine. No running, no bike riding, no anything for a few weeks and go see a neurologist for a 2nd opinion.

I went to the neurologist this past Friday and felt fine. He did all sorts of tests, took an x-ray, tested my nerve areas, tested my reflexes, etc... and found nothing major wrong. From the x-ray, I slightly "popped" the disc in my back a L5/S1 back in June when I was hitting golf balls. Through exercise and stretching routines, I will be okay and it will heal on its own. It could have been A LOT worse!
---------------------end of cut 'n paste email to my sister-----------------------

Now, with all this being said... My main question for all you well seasoned, older riders...

I just "tested" myself on my old C&V Fuji road bike and did a very easy, very gentle, 6 mile ride throughout neighborhood side streets. I was perfectly fine and had no problems, no hip pain, no leg pain, no tenderness of any sort. At the beginning of the ride, I could feel a little twinge in my lower back, but nothing terrible that would cause me to stop. But yet, when I lowered myself into the "drops" of the Fuji's handlebars, my back felt better, like it was stretching out or something! Explain that!

You should get a fit from a bike shop. I've seen practically every Youtube video on fitting and I still get a bike fit when I change something up on my bike. Sometimes, lowering your handlebars takes tension off your back and stretches you out.

I haven't touched anything on my bike. My old classic '85 Fuji is perfectly fine and just goes and goes and goes... I wrenched my back when I was hitting golf balls at the range, and stupidly tried to ignore it thinking it will go away on its own. Worse thing I did was continue physical things immediately after donating blood (I'm also one of the blood drive coordinators with Masonic Lodges), instead of waiting at least a week. Lesson learned!

I have very similar issues. I found that easing into riding was smart. As you know, core strength and hip flexibility are important to help rectify the problem. If you ride beyond the stamina of your core, you'll probably get symptoms. So ease into it.

Also, while you're riding (and doing virtually anything in real life) learn to engage your core muscles so it becomes more automatic eventually. If you haven't seen a good PT, go see one and have him/her teach you exactly what muscles are involved (it's more subtle than you may think), how to engage them, and some specific exercizes and stretches to do..... and do them!

I'm doing fine on the bike and my back is about 95% back to normal*. I started with serious back pain, and very, very painful spasms in my glutes and radiating aching and pain to the calf. Now I hardly feel any pain and when I do, it is very mild and short lived.

*Normal for my age and wear and tear - I'm mid-60s

OP is correct. A lower position is better for the lower back. I think the lower position opens the aft edge of the vertebral joints, which eases pressure on the nerves which exit the spinal column. My understanding is that nerve pressure is what causes the pain we call sciatica. I have one fractured and healed vertebra, thin disks, arthritic facets, and lumbar stenosis. I ride my road bikes with the maximum drop to the bars which the frames allow and riding these bikes is the best back therapy there is, although hiking in the mountains is good, too. The combination usually keeps my back pain-free. I've done 18 hour rides and 10-day unsupported backpacks as an old fart. It's all therapy and it takes a lot of therapy to keep me going.

If you think you have sciatica, even if it's diagnosed as such be a doctor, if you can go see a registered massage therapist. THere's a muscle in the back near the sciatic and that muscle is know to RMT's as "The GREAT Mimicker" because it mimics the pain of the sciatic. However massage therapy can correct that muscle.

Cheers

Thanks... I have a bunch of exercises that I do at home that the neurologist prescribed. If I want, I could go to for PT (they'd have me do the same exercises).

One thing I failed to mention the first time. When they did an X-ray, they saw the slight "tip" at L5/S1 in my spine that I was born with and have lived with for 55 years. It's best explained like this: Take both your hands and make a fist. Your left hand index finger & thumb is L5. Your right hand index finger & thumb is S1. Now touch your left hand and right hand fists together, making sure the sides of your index fingers and thumbs are touching one another on each fist. All the knuckles on both hands represent your spinal column. Now, very slightly separate only your thumbs from one another, creating a tiny little gap. Bingo! That's the "tip" I was born with, and is commonly and crudely referred to as a "swayback mule". Stretching it out provides relief, which is why bicycle riding is wonderful, but yet jogging can cause occasional pain in my hips.

For years I was diagnosed with Sciatica because of a bulging disc in L5/4. Then a chiropractor took XRAYs and discovered I was bone on bone in my hips. My Primary care doc ordered a cat scan and indeed, I was bone on bone in both hips. The pain resembled sciatica.


Get a good complete workup. I had both hips replaced in 2008 and have been forever grateful for a good diagnosis. I still have the bulging disc, golf, hike and ride more that the past 20 years.