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I am not sure if you could get MRI referral directly from GP to a MRI scanner (not literally) anymore, I was told by my GP last year they are not allowed to make direct referrals bypassing hospitals anymore... I hope it varies from PCT to PCT. Maybe insist for your GP to double and triple check.
As for cycling or not cycling, it's a tough one, I have been told to stop cycling completely because my back / neck problem is my C-spine and discs etc, so any bump on the road contributes to the overall picture further down the line... so maybe keep to just commuting for now until you know what's what?
For me, not cycling will only delay what will ultimately happen: prognosis for me is that I won't be able to move my arms one day, so I'd rather another 10 years of fun on the bike and deal with my future disability than get on public transport and delay it for what, 5 years?
As for how serious the problem is according to how much pain you are in, obviously the physio knows what he was talking about. However, I'd argue pain is very subjective, so being able to jump up and down and cycle all day long does not mean your problem isn't serious. Different people have different pain threshold, so yours is high, it could be masking the symptoms.
Anyhow, hope it turns out to be not serious for you.
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ExTra
M_V
Spoke to a physio who also coaches at my work today.
He reckons I'm too mobile and in too little pain for anything too serious (ie sciatica which I'd internet diagnosed myself as having!). Has advised me to work on core stability/muscles and has given me some stretches/exercises to do. I'll make a proper appointment with him depending on what the doc says when I see him on Tuesday.
We get some sort of private healthcare benefits through work but another colleague who was suffering back pain recently says they are useless. You get a telephone consultation which resulted in him being told that he is lazy and overweight, he's a regular cyclist (has previously cycled around world and to every country in the commonwealth, currently rides with a club) and runner and while having a build that's more sprinter than enduro he is certainly not overweight.
If the doc says I need an mri and the wait for an nhs one is too long then I'll try and push for getting that through work but I'm not too hopeful.