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Yes, another 13thfm injury thread, and yes, I'm accepting my place as an injury prone wannabe rather than the seasoned rider and racer I want to be, but hey, such is life.
This time it's a lovely bout of sciatica after a painful back spasm while playing with mini-Monk at softplay. The irony is that within two weeks of the back spasm I still managed to hobble out to Girona and put in a pretty excellent week of riding and relaxing, thinking I'd got over the back issue in record time.
Not so, since I've been back the sciatica has been getting steadily worse and I'm presuming I have a piriformis in spasm that just isn't letting go.
Physio didn't seem to think there was much else I could do for the piriformis (I'd asked about dry needling) and I'm suspicious of aggravating the nerve my rolling about on tennis balls or lacrosse balls trying to massage the muscle, feels like I'd just be pummeling the aggravated nerve!
How long should I be giving this before I escalate above my local physio? Stretching and glute exercises (mostly bird dog variations since anything else was too painful) don't seem to help. I'm changing position as often as I can during the working day but the only think that seems to loosen it off is short walks, which is a bit impractical when you're desk based! Getting frustrated enough to start taking sickies but have too much on at work just to sack off.
3 weeks and counting, first CX race of the season already sacked off, 6 weeks till the next one...
Is it an NHS or private physio?
I bit the bullet and have been to see a private physio (who's also a cyclist) about a very similar issue and he's worked wonders. I went from not being able to do more than 3 days a week commuting without considerable pain, to doing my first ever 100 mile ride.
Concentrated first on freeing up and relaxing the area, then on strengthening my core to support my back around the nerve in my lower back/SI area that was causing the Sciatica. Bloody great now.
bash it with that lacrosse balls or other means - I've had pririformis syndrome and that worked for me.
Go to the local running club - there will be lots of people there that have had it and use something like the ball.
I have several problem areas in my legs and arms that fix themselves with cross friction massage - and now I have my jigsaw massage attachments I use these to fix them.
Bruise it up and wait for a couple of days then bruise some more if needed, stretching along the way, and then exercise...
Currently bashing my fixing a bicep femorus which was very sore the other week but now is virtually normal.
A hard foam roller sorted my piriformis out.
Feel the benefit within a week. Much better after 10 days.all gone in two weeks.
Just need to keep up a weekly roller session.
It's a private physio, but am considering another session with my local bike fitter who previously identified that I was squint in the saddle. He's now teamed up with a sports physio so being able to sit on a Retul bike and chat to a physio at the same time seems like the ideal scenario. Funnily enough they also offer cycle specific strengthening classes, just too late and the wrong side of town!
Need to revise expectations for the winter and spend more time in gym and on core instead of just smashing sessions on the turbo I think.
Thanks also for recommendations on rolling etc. will get back on it but just watch out for an of the 'wrong' sort of pain...
My 2p’s worth is this:
At risk of sounding like an evangelist it’s a catch all approach but has helped my sciatica like pain and plenty other people I know too. Worth a try I reckon.
can recommend this :
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00MVKTEE0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
these :
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07LH4H3NP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I self diagnosed a piriformis problem a few years ago and trusted google and you tube to sort it out - worked a treat.
The best stretches were the ones where i could feel the stretch - maybe uncomfortable but not painful.
Item 1 in this diagram was probably the best - gently pulling the right knee towards me helped.
Also sitting on an office chair with the affected leg stretched out and resting on something - again just so you could feel the tension.
I get occasional bouts of sciatic pain. As a full-time bike guide and snowboard instructor, it's more than an inconvenience, as well as being distinctly uncool in the injury discussion front with the other rad-dudes.
Main thing that works for me is anti-inflammatories and never, ever sitting down until it goes away. Sitting down for any length of time, no matter how short, makes it much, much worse. I stand all day and, if I'm going to chill in the evening, I lie on the couch instead of sitting. Always sorts it for me if I get on the case from the first niggle.
Appreciate this may not be the most practical advice if you have a desk job, but could you consider a standing desk or similar?
Its that silly road bike you got addicted to the riding position flattens your lumbar curve and weakens the ligaments holding the spine together
Back to the MTB with you Or get a shopper bike
In all seriousness do check out the normal curves of the spine and what happens on a road bike Its the equivalent of slouching in a chair.
How are your hamstings? A lot of cyclists end up with short hamstrings and of course this tips your pelvis back and exaggerates the issues with a low bar bike
playing with mini-Monk at softplay
Just to check - not a euphemism ? That sort of thing's frowned upon round our way
What helped me and my sciatica ride again were Modolo Dumbo modular butterfly bars on the hybrid just over 10 years ago.
How are your hamstings? A lot of cyclists end up with short hamstrings and of course this tips your pelvis back and exaggerates the issues with a low bar bike
If anything I recall being told I had a forward tilt, e.g. anterior. My hamstrings are usually good, can get more than just fingertips on the floor if that's any measure. Quads and hip flexors are the guilty parties but I thought I was on top of those too.
Going forward (although right now it feels like this will never release!) I think I need to ease off on the turbo sessions and spend more time building up glutes and core, try to protect that piriformis a bit. Maybe sacrifice those dreams of slightly-higher-than-mid-pack CX glory that I was harbouring for this year...
Back to the MTB with you
Ug, so much jolting, so much extraneous effort! Once I can afford a really nice, fast 29er full suss perhaps.
Main thing that works for me is anti-inflammatories and never, ever sitting down until it goes away.
Yeah, I'm on the standing-only regime for now, although even that aggravates it, basically I think I need a 20 minute walk for every hour of standing still... Stopped taking the painkillers as I didn't think they were doing much and just didn't like all the pill popping, will give my kidneys a couple of days off (it's Brutally-alchoholic-IPA-Friday after all!) then get back on the Vitamin I.
Took me a moment to figure out what the jig-saw attachments were for!
if you can touch the floor its not hamstrings that are the issue. What you need are some apehangers!
My piriformis/ sciatic pain was eased after doing a stretching video every day until it eased (about 4- 6 weeks). Look on you tube for HAS Fit sciatic pain relief, about 18mins long.
Having similar problems, I found that the stretches in this NHS video made a huge difference