Bad back and road bike

[MattDB]

Hi, I just wondered if anyone has had a similar experience and could offer any advice or suggestions - relating to my bike, or alternatively things like stretches or exercises.

I'm 6'6" and people often ask 'do you get a bad back' and I've never really understood this problem until probably the last 12 months when it seems to have seized up. I've had an on and off knee problem for years and physios thought this was linked to lower back. I've had good results previously with chiropractors and physios but this last bout is causing me more problems. I've been discharged after 7 months of physio with the diagnosis of 'chronic pain'.

I've been cycling for years and the past 6 months been riding a Felt F95 road bike, I do 6 miles each way per day (4 times per week) and the ride home is very steep. My back doesn't feel uncomfortable on the bike although my knee can struggle sometimes. I 'feel' that there is a glute activation problem, on my RHS I don't feel like my backside is working the same as my left but I could be wrong about this. I've stopped biking for a week on a couple of occasions and this has had no effect at all.

Just wondered if anyone had any thoughts as I'm now having to think about stopping cycling to work which is my main source of exercise.

 

[jack smith]

My lower back aches after having a slipped disk, tilting my saddle nosed down solves it, make sure the rest of the bike fit properly first though

 

[HarryTheDog]

I have had a "seized" back 3 times in the last 5 yrs and last one one was so bad I had xray and scan which showed 5 deteriorated discs and a slipped disc. ( not unusual for someone in their fifties). Have you had a scan? A friend of mine had knee and back problems, had a scan and they could not believe he manged to walk into the consulting room, he had calcium growths on his vertebrae pressing on his nerves in his back. He just had a operation to remove them and his knee and back is much better. So maybe insist on a scan as they seem to be guessing.
After 7 months of physio I would have thought you would have a whole exercise regime going, If your physio never gave you one then they were rubbish. Did they not give you any stretches/ exercises as physio is usually mostly self help.
I have quite a little regime. It was imposed on me that a flexible back was a happy back. Most of my regime is found in the yoga for cyclists book but my main ones are lying on my back, knees bent and swing my knees left and right as far as they will go. Another is lie on my front and do reverse leg raises , intitialy straight leg then bent pushing upwards. Also strong abdominal's help your back but traditional sit ups are bad for your back. I do knee raises whilst hanging from a dip bar. I have several others including several stretches for glutes,hamstrings, quads etc because I am very unflexible apparently ,but it takes 20 mins 3 times a day as I have other problems now as well.

 

[vickster]

My cycling physio has me doing step ups, squats and waiters bow for glute activation

Pay to see a good sports physio, preferably one who has a focus on cycling. Mine charges £45 for 30 minutes. The initial hour was £60 and a full hour bike assessment £80. Do not attempt to start a YouTube stretching programme without supervision if you have chronic issues as you do

Forget NHS physio for chronic musculoskeletal issues.

As above however, get a scan to see if there are mechanical rather than muscular cause for your backache. Of your back and your knees! Have you actually seen an orthopaedic specialist for back and knees?

Your height will be a distinct disadvantage when it comes to your back, we are not actually designed to stand upright as we do!

 

[MattDB]

I have had a "seized" back 3 times in the last 5 yrs and last one one was so bad I had xray and scan which showed 5 deteriorated discs and a slipped disc. ( not unusual for someone in their fifties). Have you had a scan? A friend of mine had knee and back problems, had a scan and they could not believe he manged to walk into the consulting room, he had calcium growths on his vertebrae pressing on his nerves in his back. He just had a operation to remove them and his knee and back is much better. So maybe insist on a scan as they seem to be guessing.
After 7 months of physio I would have thought you would have a whole exercise regime going, If your physio never gave you one then they were rubbish. Did they not give you any stretches/ exercises as physio is usually mostly self help.
I have quite a little regime. It was imposed on me that a flexible back was a happy back. Most of my regime is found in the yoga for cyclists book but my main ones are lying on my back, knees bent and swing my knees left and right as far as they will go. Another is lie on my front and do reverse leg raises , intitialy straight leg then bent pushing upwards. Also strong abdominal's help your back but traditional sit ups are bad for your back. I do knee raises whilst hanging from a dip bar. I have several others including several stretches for glutes,hamstrings, quads etc because I am very unflexible apparently ,but it takes 20 mins 3 times a day as I have other problems now as well.

Thank you - I found it a bit frustrating and I'll def look at the yoga for cylists book - Re: exercise regime - no - I'm not someone who likes to diss the NHS but it was a different physio nearly every visit - 6 or 7 in total and they kept saying they needed to do an assessment before giving me different exercises to last time so I didn't feel like I made too much progress. I asked if I could have a scan and was told that it wasn't worth it as there isn't any damage to bones or tendons - maybe I need to be more pushy?

 

[Milkfloat]

I am 6'3. My NHS experience has been pretty poor. Went to Doctor with leg and back pain. First Doctor diagnosed 'old age', I waited a month until I was in serious pain and went back, was diagnosed with vein problems in leg. I got them to refer me to a physio privately who doubted all this and did what she could. After a few weeks she said to be more forceful in the Doctor and to get referred to a proper spinal consultant privately. I did this and he immediately diagnosed disc issues with sciatic nerve problems. I had an MRI and low and behold, two prolapsed discs and lots of degeneration. One of the prolapsed discs is pushing against the sciatic nerve going into the leg. I have had an expensive course of IDD therapy (stretching by machine) together with Chiropractor work and a nerve block injection. Unfortunately this has not worked enough and the leg pain is still pretty bad. So I am going in for an operation in next couple of weeks to slice off a bit of the discs and do some decompression.

Funnily enough, the cycling has been good for my back, about the only expercise I can do without being in severe pain.

My recommendation, keep plugging away until you can actually find someone who can help. Good luck.

 

[Mrs M]

Sorry you're having lower back pain.
Have you tried an osteopath?
I have had back issues for the last 11 years after an accident and three ops. (One botch job and two fix it's)
My second surgeon recommended cycling and visiting an osteopath. I was sceptical at first but he was right.
May be worth a try, good luck.

 

[Mrs M]

P.S.
Spent months trailing along to NHS physio appointments which were a complete waste of effort.
Did better at the gym with the Swiss ball and some weights.

 

[HarryTheDog]

I asked if I could have a scan and was told that it wasn't worth it as there isn't any damage to bones or tendons - maybe I need to be more pushy?

I have free medical insurance from my work so went straight to a consultant, my wife had a persistent bad back and went the NHS route who refused to give her a scan, my wife's private physio seemed to know more than the local quack and NHS physio who found that treatment was not working and referred her for a MRI scan, we paid around 400 quid for our own lower back scan though if we had waited we could have got one during slack time for 200 quid. Then took the scan back to the NHS who then saw, yes she needed treatment for a facet cyst and vertebrae out of alignment. She only has one back and she followed her gut instinct. Depends how bad your back is, on how much fuss you want to make or how much money you are prepared to spend, note I think you you still need a referral from some professional for even a private scan. Or as suggested a osteopath.
Oh and the suggestion of a proper bike fit ( like the reutil system or specialist) is a good thing, it may throw up something else like one leg shorter than the other causing a problem. ( my daughter has one leg 2cm shorter than the other, which caused hip and knee problems)

 

[doog]

,

 

[Pat "5mph"]

I'm 6'6" and people often ask 'do you get a bad back' and I've never really understood this problem until probably the last 12 months when it seems to have seized up.

I've been cycling for years and the past 6 months been riding a Felt F95 road bike,

I'm by no means an expert, being 5ft nothing and never having had back problems (I'm 52) in spite regularly lifting/pushing/pulling heavy loads at work ... until ... I got a new bike!
Riding it up a steep hill, for the first time ever I felt pain in my lower back. I dismissed it to the steepness of the hill, thought nothing of it, continued riding the bike.
Then a few months later, while stretching for the (flat) handlebars of said bike, I pulled a muscle in my lower back, very painful, had to seek help from a sports physio.
He fixed me, still I could feel that riding that bike was inducing the start of another injury, while my other bikes felt ok.
Eventually I took a few comparative measurements, lowered the saddle a good bit in minor increments, the back problem disappeared.
If scans rule out other issues, it's worth trying changes in your bike set up.

 

[MattDB]

Thank you - I will try these tonight! I've been foam rolling and using spikey balls to try to stretch out the sore bits and getting a lot of 'cracking' noises.

 

[NorthernDave]

"NHS physio isn't great" not my words, but those of Mrs ND's consultant orthopedic surgeon when we raised the issue. He was unsurprised that she had lost faith in them and was paying for private physio.