Back pain

Dude, ask to see another doctor at the practice, I think you've been really let down by your GP... Go back and get a referral to a back clinic...

St Thomas's have a really good one... Good luck!

You could always try going to A&E of the pain is that bad...

My back pain is getting worse and worse, despite doing all the stretches proscribed to my by my physio. I can barely do 50km now without being in serious discomfort.

It's really getting me down. I was honestly considering just selling all my bikes and kit and getting back in to motorbikes last night. I just wanna ride my bike quick and not be in agony, why does that seem to be too much to ask?

Unless there is something catastrophically wrong with you then you should be able to overcome it. Have you had a bike fit?

Unless there is something catastrophically wrong with you then you should be able to overcome it. Have you had a bike fit?

3 fits in 5 years, including Scherrit in December, with a follow up in March this year. I've been seeing a cycling-specific physio with regularity for 10 months, and doing 45 minutes of stretching a day since October last year. I've recently changed my stretching regime, on advice of my physio, which is supposed to completely correct the problems with my hips and hamstrings which is causing my back pain.

Earlier this year I could ride 100km at pace, no problems. Now I can barely do 30. I'm now worried that all the physio's I've seen are missing something, and that all my stretching is in vain. It's properly doing my head in, as cycling is my proper relaxation, empty-your-mind, stress relief exercise and when that's causing me trauma I feel like I'm going to have a fucking breakdown.

I was thinking about going to Cyclefit, as they also get a good rep. However, I'm loath to spend even more money on fit and physio if they're not going to get it right / fix the problem. If I can't fix this within a year I'm just selling all my bikes and fucking it off.

Oh wow. Very surprising. Scherrit is excellent IMO, and he cares about his customers and his work. It might be worth getting in touch with him to let him know of your woes. I wouldn't be surprised if he gave you another appointment for free / cheaps. Your body has likely changed with all the work that you are doing so perhaps your fit is no good now.

I honestly don't think it's a fit thing - the pain has fluctuated despite nothing changing on the bike. The physio I've been seeing is Nicola at Velophysio, which was his recommendation. She's been extremely helpful and attentive, but something is just not right and I feel like I'm banging my head in to a brick wall about it.

Hmm. I have nothing else. I feel for you, back pain whilst riding truely truely is horrible. I hope you figure it out soon.

I'd still 1+ Hovis' suggestion of calling Scherrit up about this.

Has anyone ever had a cervical epidural steroid injection? I just had 1 yesterday as a last resort as pain has been getting a little out of control lately. Had a neck injury few years back and neck, upper back and right shoulder are pretty much in constant pain / ache etc, and right arm feels pins and needles etc. Anyway, I was told to expect some localised pain around the injection site for a couple of days, which is near the top of my spine, but oh man, I have been walking like a robot all day, can turn my head up and to the left, but nothing else... GP says it can happen but I am not convinced... think I have a headache coming on as well... Over 24 hours, not felt any improvement at all...

Anyone has had this procedure done?

Over the last year or so I've had a bit of stiffness in my neck and trapezius muscles. I think it's down to my badly fitting bike. It's not been much of a problem until the last month, when I started working out again to try and improve my core (just body weight stuff, pushups,pull ups, planks, dips etc)

Since then I'm in agony. I've tried a variety of stretches to try and work it out, nothing's working and I'm probably making it worse.

advice?

I'd always advise internets diagnosis, it's better than seeing a professional in person.

^^^^^^^
The most loaded with irony, silvery and goldy post ive ever seen

No shit DJ thanks for the input. Helpful as ever. You weren't that smarmy to me in real life when I sorted out your custom titanium brompton. I guess the internet warrior lives on.

So, to anyone who actually wants to help- Having never had to deal with this before - what's the route to go down. Standard GP? Or all they going to do is refer me to see a physio? Considering it will take two weeks just to see my GP I might aswell cut out the middleman. Osteopath? Chiropractor? Would it be better looking for place that deals with sports because of the cycling element?

Seriously, back pain is not to be messed with. A good Physio would be a place to start.

My other half had back pain last year, did some internet research and did not see a Physio. A minor prolapsed disc prolapsed again and became a much more serious problem. Given all the different things that can happen asking people for advice here is very dubious territory, what has helped one person could make things much worse for you.

Don't wait for a gp referral, it takes too long. Most of the time the solution will be doing appropriate exercises, but accurate diagnosis is needed. It depends on wether there is an alignment issue, trapped nerve, a muscular stiffness. This is why I think getting advice from on here is not a safe or wise thing to do. Sorry I offended you.

An accurate diagnosis needs 'someone who knows' to see you. Your GP should be able to examine and diagnose or refer you to 'a man who can'. Physios can be helpful. I am wary of chiropractors and not sure about osteopaths.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n_LG6sJ5os

....Sorry....

Just push, push, push... GP, bone doctor, get x-rays, MRI, anything you can and as quickly as possible...

I kinda had to fix myself, most of my physios gave me the wrong or inappropriate exercises so I had to figure out something that worked for me... Still have bad days but much better than I used to be...

Moved house last week, lots of bad lifting on my part meant my lower back has been feeling a bit sore/ stiff on one side for a few weeks now. Getting the bikes out of the shed this morning and something suddenly got a lot worse. Moving the bike around was a struggle, by the time I got to work I could barely walk. Cue an hour wait in the local NHS walk in and a taxi ride home, and I'm now laid up in bed on co-codamol. Just managed to stand up straight for the first time since this morning, although bearing any weight on my left leg is still painful.

If this passes relatively quickly I'm going to take it as my cue to start taking much better care of my core. My work has a free gym membership, as well as yoga/ pilates / stretching, what can be done in there to help?

what can be done in there to help?

See a physio.

Work with them to identify what is causing the problem, and work with them to find exercises that ease & strengthen the right bits.

Any other suggestions are based on rampant speculation.

Also, squat when you lift. No exceptions

Possibly also get an MRI done if the Physio suspects a prolapsed disc.

In August last year, I suffered an L5/S1 extruded disc. I think I have been 'lucky' in one way, the excruciating pain subsided fairly quickly and now I'm pretty much OK in the back, I get the odd ache, but it's manageable.
However, my remaining issue is nerve damage. During the day last year when pain peaked, I experienced increasing pins and needles and numbness, primarily in my left foot, but also in my calf and hamstring area.
Over time there's been a definite improvement, it used to feel extremely tight and I had significant loss of strength. However, these improvements were over the first 3 months, not so much since. I can still ride my bike, but I fatigue quickly and I'm weak on hills and sprinting.
I've been told by a neurologist and spine consultant that it's a case of waiting 9 months to 1 year and nerves may recover..or they may not. If not, I'll never cycle again in the same (admittedly average) capacity. It's also very uncomfortable to walk without shoes, particularly on cold, hard surfaces.
Perhaps this can serve as a warning, I wasn't previously aware that back issues could lead to semi permanent or permanent nerve damage.
The physios and consultants I've seen have been through my work health scheme so maybe not surprising that they are only really interested in getting you pain free, not back to how you were previously in terms of fitness.

So my problem is that I don't know who to turn to for help now, whether I can speed/aid recovery or whether it is a case of fingers crossed, wait and see. Web searches bring up very little.

So I was really wondering if anyone else had experience of this? Did you recover? Has anyone had success with any nerve recovery methods?

Have been suffering increasing back pain for the past few months. One Physio thought it was a sacro iliac problem, another Physio and my GP were convinced it was a slipped disc. An osteopath I know said the only way to really find out would be an MRI scan, as the pain could be SI joint disfunctional, slipped disc, infection or a tumour and without a proper scan any diagnosis would be guesswork.

At the weekend things got really bad and I ended up in A&E. Yesterday I revisited GP and got a referral letter for an MRI and stumped up the cash and went private and had the scan done within £90 minutes.

Results came through today, spinal cord is slightly impinged (but not on the side I have been feeling pain) and I have degenerative disc disease in two discs. The course of action is to find adequate pain relief and Physio rehab exercises. It is actually a huge relief because at least I now know that basic activities such as riding won't actually be making things much worse - at the weekend I exhibited potential signs of corda equina which can lead to paralysis, thankfully this is not what I have got.

So for now I need to find medication to relieve the pain and let the aggravated nerves calm down, and find very specific exercises to strengthen around the weakened discs. I would agree with the osteopath who said to me "diagnosis, diagnosis, diagnosis, get an MRI asap". Otherwise I was going to continue doing things that were going to be of limited benefit.

Right now I want to cry, my back/neck/c spine problem has progressed to a new chapter. Since about 2 weeks ago, there are certain moves I make would make my right shoulder/upper arm extremely painful, a type of pain that makes me want to scream. Most concerning is that I can't rise my arm when this happens, went to the GP yesterday and she gave me some tablets for nerve pain which was recommended by the pain clinic earlier this year, it might help, it might not, but I am worried that the side effects will get the better of me like they always have, as it's a type of drug that I am fairly sensitive to.

I am waiting for another injection that hopefully would help for a few months, but it won't cure the problem. A neurologist I saw a few years ago said that it might come a day when I cant move my arm anymore, and I am worried that this might be the beginning of it. GP doesn't seem that concerned, I have half a mind to go to A&E, but I also know deep down it would be a waste of time as I can still move my arm. I want it gone, I have never been this despair and I don't know if I am really this despair or if the side effects of the drugs are messing with my brain.

Diagnosed with L5/S1 extruded disc after getting MRI and had first session with physio on Wednesday. Are they supposed to make things worse before they get better?