Back pain
 

Does anyone have suggestions on how to stop back pain? Been doing exercises/stretches about 4 weeks now. I need to get back on a bike!!!!!

Dave

Is it the bike that gives you back pain? If so, may be that bike is not a fit for you.

If it's not the bike that is causing the back pain, if something else is causing it and you want it gone in order to start riding again, get a second opinion. I had shoulder pain that was misdiagnosed and I was told to do exercises when I should have been put in a sling with complete non-use and it really messed up my healing time.

The members of this forum are not doctors or medical professionals. Their cumulative knowledge about bikes, mechanics and training is phenomenal. However, doctors don't give free advice. Go see one and don't rely on any medical evaluation you may receive here.

I've lived with lower back pain since Spring 1994. When I have a question I go to an MD, not a chiropractor.

Back pain encompasses a wide range of causes and effects.

Where on your back? What kind of pain? How long does it last? Does it come on with cycling? or if not what seems to bring it on? Any other signs? How long have you had the problem?

And those are only the first few questions to which we need answers to have any sense of what may help.

Last week on a couple different rides I was getting fairly intense back pain. I lowered my seat 1/4" and that eradicated it.

If you have persistent back pain, you need to get it checked out by a doctor. You could be doing things to further inflame the problem. And you could prolong a problem and make it more serious. There are many possible causes and no one on the internet can diagnose it for you. See a doctor, get an MRI or whatever tests they recommend. Don't mess around with it - you could end up with permanent damage.

I wake up every day with back and neck pain, have done every day since a 2001 car wreck busted up six vertebrae from my tailbone to atlas. Some days are worse than others. Today was pretty bad so I rested.

Before I get out of bed I do gentle stretches, all the usual stuff the physical therapists give us sketches for and expect us to do on our own.

My usual pre-ride breakfast is coffee, ibuprofen -- sometimes magnesium salicylates like Doan's pills -- and alternating between an ice pack and analgesic cream massages with salicylates, menthol, eucalyptus, etc. Sometimes it takes a couple of hours before it eases up enough to ride.

The first 15 minutes usually range from uncomfortable to outright painful. After that things ease up. Then I try a few short sprints up to 10 seconds, climb out of the saddle for some warmup hills, then ease back for a few minutes to see how I feel. Then, if all goes well, the endorphins or body voodoo kicks in and I feel better. The pain vanishes. That usually lasts most of the day if I'm lucky.

Then I start over again the next day.

But I don't ride every day. More like 4-5 days a week now. My body tells me when I need a rest, although it's decreased from two or three days off to one day off the bike. And I stop about every 10 miles to stretch my neck and back and massage the neck and shoulders. Helps.

A couple of years ago I made concessions to limited mobility with a comfort hybrid, then a more sporty hybrid with riser bars. Tonight, after a year on the sporty hybrid with riser bars, I swapped to flat bars. Tomorrow I'll see how it goes. Should be okay -- I've mostly been riding a road bike with drops the past two months. It was painful the first two weeks and I swore every ride to sell the damned thing. Then not so bad the third and fourth weeks. Now I look forward to it. But the hybrid is a cushier ride and nearly as fast, although it was held back by wind resistance from the riser bars.

Just keep trying, stay within the limits suggested by your doctor. And if you have a physical therapist, he/she will probably urge you to push a little harder than you're comfortable with.

Seeing a doctor.

Have you seen a medical professional yet?

While some of us have experience with back pain, anything we say might be off the point or just plain dangerous for you. See a real doctor, in person. Get the tests done.

Wow thanks for all the responses. I saw my doctor about it a month ago. He gave me some muscle relaxers and that helped a lot, but now I'm starting to go the wrong direction. Might be time for another visit. I wonder if something on one of my bikes (there are 3) is contributing, and if so, which one? Any way to figure that out? I guess that's a good sort of problem to have :)

Dave

Back in mid Feb I pulled my lower back. Its happened before. Shortly after that, I develop sciatica on my right side. Feels like a coat hanger going from my lower back to my toes. I wouldnt wish that pain on my worse enemy seriously.

What works best for me is rest rest rest , exercises and not doing to much. Its been a good six months and im finally getting over it.

Regardless of what back injury you have its best to stay off the bike until you heel.

Has the doctor determine the cause of the back pain? I have had back pain, I cycled with the back pain and cycled to relieve the back pain. Finally I went to see a doctor about the pain and had an MRI and finally back surgery. Best thing that I have ever done, this was about 20 years ago. YMMV.


Go see a neurologist not a GP.

Not a doctor. I'm 60 with documented back pain/issues for >30 yrs...be wary of the knife, it works for some, but more doctors counseled me against it than suggested it...including a specialist that sees and treats military parachutists on a regular basis. It takes some time..think about and chart your activities that seem to result in your pain, then avoid them for a period to see if you feel better overall...later alter how you do the things you want to do to avoid the back issues and exercise to strengthen your core. Examples I can control that have caused me pain: running with a lengthened stride causing muscle pulls and heel strikes, pushing too big a gear on my bike too long, bike fit (think seat height, seat position fore and aft, stem length), poor lifting angles--lifting objects too far forward of the line between my toes and chin, not using knees to lift, poorly designed chairs including poor car seats, straight leg sit ups, improperly fitted shoes, jumping from anything higher than my knees without thought to proper landing, and stretching before athletic activities (yeah, I know, but now I don't and I am seldom hurt). If your pain is persistent, it is not likely to be a quick fix, but neither is it impossible to manage.

I just reread this response. Are all three of your bikes setup the same? In other words, I have three also (MTB, road, and hybrid frankenbike) which I attempted to set up as near the same as possible in terms of seat height and position and reach to pedals and bars...if one of your bikes is odd man out, it may be a contributor (or an indicator the other two need adjustment). Just a thought.

I don't know... Occam's Razor: 3 bikes... few of us buy 3 bikes all at once. How long has this back pain been an issue? Shouldn't be that hard to figure out which bike is the problem... IF a bike is the problem at all. I'm not a doctor, but it wouldn't be my suspicion that the problem needs surgery unless there has been some kind of trauma. Has there? I mean there is no mention of such. That is likely why the doctor prescribed exercises. Which ones? Is the o.p. doing them correctly? Did the doctor suggest Planks? Start planking right now. Work up to a minute. Do a couple every day. My wife took my advice and thanks me every now and then :o. She makes me do them with her, and being a more is better kind of gal we do 2min planks about every morning. Some people do them in sets. 1min plank, 1min rest, 1min plank, 1min rest, etc. - 3 to 5 sets. Again, I'm not a doctor but I guarantee results. Doctors don't know everything. I consider the "see a doctor" advice to be laziness. It isn't much better than no advice at all. Instead I would advise the o.p. to find out as much as they can about the causes of back pain and the treatments, as is possible. Google is great for this. I mean... unsaid so far is the o.p.'s health history. It is entirely possible that with scant insight into key health indicators, that their present back pain could have been predicted. Water under the bridge. Plank o.p. and thank me later.

Unless the doctor advises otherwise, do your stretching and strengthening exercises while the muscle relaxers are working. That's the mistake most folks make with prescription pain meds. They don't take advantage of the pain relief to do the stuff that hurts too much without pain meds.

And, yup, that's what my mom's neurologist and pain management doctors told her to do. But she won't do it. She's allergic to exercise and pain. So she'll take the muscle relaxer and then hunch over in one position for hours over her tablet, reading the news and playing games, and then wonder 10 hours later why her back and neck hurt. It's practically impossible to get folks to change their habits at age 78.

But don't ride your bike while taking strong prescription muscle relaxers. Most of 'em can mess with coordination.

That's your choice, but you're choosing someone who's limited training in the subject involved symptom suppression with drugs and then surgery if/when that doesn't work.

Everything above. Stretch all day. Whenever you're not doing something, take the opportunity to stretch. I've got some "Welcome to aging" juju going on in my SI joint, and while stretching is never going to fix it, at least I can bend over and pick things up off of the floor.

Also, I learned real fast that muscle relaxers and NSAIDs are most certainly not PEDs. I grabbed the wrong bottle and took a muscle relaxer about 30 minutes before getting on the bike. Never got drowsy, no nausea, nothing serious-- I just couldn't get my HR up for anything. Maxed out around 135bpm. The same for 800mg Motrin. I take one before bed, and it's not out of my system until around 10am. So sometimes the first hour plus of a ride I feel like my body is in slow-mo.

Yeah, a 5 mg cyclobenzaprine won't make me too dopey to ride a bike, but the legs just don't see to get the GO! message.

Doc you're 100% right for I am a welder by trade, but I do make and give prognosis and diagnosis and general medical advice for free,,,,but in this case I'd have to have some hands on ,,,,,, thank you

aleve

All that advice about stretching is great, but I'm still standing by getting a second opinion from a different doctor. There is a possibility that the stretches are actually making the problem worse because the real problem was misdiagnosed.

Being told for three months to do stretches and mild weight lifting to fix tendonitis in my shoulder when I actually had a torn ligament that should have been treated with non-use and in a sling is why I still have a lot of pain and limited mobility 6 months after it tore.

For me at 62 strong core=no back pain. I keep very fit with about an hour of yoga a day, for about 4 years now. Keeps me strong and loose without inflaming my old joints.
4 weeks is not enough time to get strong and loose. Imho.